Tesco Company Pestle Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tesco Company Pestle Analysis - Essay Example This particular store was operational up to 2010. The brand’s first supermarket was opened in 1956 in Maldon. Tesco underwent organic growth in the 50s and 60s, while also undergoing acquisitions up to its peak ownership of over eight hundred stores. In 1957, the company bought seventy stores off Williamsons, two hundred outlets from Harrow Stores in 1959, two hundred and twelve stores from Irwin’s in 1960, ninety seven from Charles Phillip and in 1968 bought a chain from Victor value. At its inception, it specialized in drinks and food, but diversified into software, internet services, music and movie downloads, telecoms, electronics, and clothing. In 1987, Tesco completed a hostile acquisition of forty supermarkets from the Hillards chain for approximately ?220 million. 2. Pestle Analysis The pestle analysis is a tool that is vital in the comprehension of decline or growth of the market, thus creating better awareness of the direction, potential, and position of the b usiness. The tool is utilized for the measuring business activity in a company. Pest is an acronym for political, Economic, Social, technological, Legislative, and environmental factors (Cadle et al, 2010 p6). These are used for the assessment of the market or unit of organization. The headings used in a Pestle analysis are situational review framework and can be utilized reviewing company ideas, market propositions, direction, position, or strategy. Pestle analysis is an important tool when used in workshop sessions, on top of being quite simple to use. It is also quite useful in sessions that involve brainstorming, as well as for strategic planning, research reports, product development, and market planning. Since this tool is virtually external, it is best completed before the SAWOT analysis, which is more based on internal and quasi external factors (Cadle et al, 2010 p6). The headings in a Pestle analysis give the company a manner in which to examine the external scene surround ing it (Cadle et al, 2010 p6). It is possible to become too involved with internal issues while working in a company that the external issues are relegated in importance. The fact that these issues could have a huge impact on the success of the company makes their status vital. Ignorance of these issues could put the company’s future endeavours in doubt. The headings are as follows: Political This particular section involves the identification of political facets that impact on the organization. These are issues on politics within the company itself, political issues in the organization’s region or base, and political issues on the international and international stage (Williams & Adrian, 2007 p34). In an economy that is increasingly global, political changes affecting a particular country have an effect on legislation and business in other countries as well. The motor industry is one such industry that is affected by political changes in overseas markets. In case moto r car importation restrictions are loosened in a particular country, then countries that deal in motor vehicles will get an opportunity to export more cars into that particular country. It is however essential to realize that these companies will only benefit if they had produced adequate cars for the increase in export orders. Via keeping a close eye on any developments, such companies are able to better anticipate and prepare for these kinds of scenarios. The company can get enormous knock-on effects from these changes, with increased need for more sales team

How change in oil prices affect the stock market of GCC prices Assignment

How change in oil prices affect the stock market of GCC prices - Assignment Example The abrupt fall in oil prices has a varied effect on the world economies. Most of the oil producers will face economic recessions, and the value of their currencies will depreciate, owing the reduction in the purchasing power. Major oil producers will lose their funds, owing to the abrupt decrease in value of oil. However, the US and other oil consumers have no major worries, and the drop in the prices of oil proves to be a positive movement for betterment of the economy (Mirhaydari, 2014). The history of oil prices encompasses varied changes though this may appear as the major decrease in the 21st century. Before the industrialization and increased dependence on oil, prices were low. However, the increased demand for oil resulted in an increasing value of the crude oil. It has remained this way for a long time until now. Much of the world still depends on oil, though major economies, such as China, USA, and Europe as a continent, have minimized their consumption, narrowing the market (Stefanova, 2014). The price fall may be attributed to this demand change. The stock markets of GCC will be adversely affected by the decrease in the oil prices worldwide. The reduction in the GDP of these nations will amount to decreased spending, and thus there will be a reduction in the demand for shares and stocks, minimizing the trade occurrence. A stock market crash may be possible since there will be significant effects on the countries’ economies. The prices of stocks will fall, because of the prevalent low oil prices. Oil is the largest export in these countries, and thus a reduction in the money in circulation, which limits consumer spending, resulting to poor performing stock markets (Morris, 2015). Oil prices are at their lowest state in the 21st century, resulting in varied effects on the economies of different countries. The US, Europe, and China are some of the

Factors Affecting Call Centre Employees Motivation

Factors Affecting Call Centre Employees Motivation Many people are currently working in call centres and much more are expected to work in them in the near future. Motivation of these call centre employees is of utmost importance so as to refrain them from leaving their work. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to dredge out the factors that affect the motivation of the employees working in call centres and to contribute to research in the area of motivation among call centre employees. Method: The method that will be used is through questionnaires, where employees will be able to complete a set of questions which will specifically address the subject of Motivation amongst the workers. Benefits of the study: This study will be of great benefit as it responds to the call for more investigation into the factors that de-motivate call centre workers to perform. It will further be of importance to call centre managers who, through considering this study will be able to rethink their approaches to productivity, particularly on how they could better motivate their staff to achieve higher output. INTRODUCTION Almost all consumers have had experience with call centres (Anton, 2000; Dean, 2002). Why are they essential? Call centres are strategically important to many organisations because they are often the major customer interface, and they can provide a service-based competitive edge using high volume, low cost delivery via telephones (Callaghan and Thompson, 2001). Call centres are a growing part of the service industry in many countries and a substantial amount of call centre jobs have been created in this sector in recent years (Baumgartner, Good, Udris, 2002; Holman, 2003; Moltzen Van Dick, 2002; Wegge, Van Dick, Fisher, West, Dawson, 2006). Researchers already recognised that service work, that is, work in call centres was stressful according to a study carried out by Donovan in 1920. The conflicting demands for both quality and quantity, and the emotional nature of customer interactions all contribute to the strain that call centre workers experience (Varca, 2006). Moreover, scho lars have shown that call centre workers are under great pressure to meet their productivity goals at the same time as delivering quality customer service (Deery et al., 2002; Kinnie et al., 2000; Singh, 2000). As a result, call centre work carries with it high levels of employee stress. Consequently, the call centre employees need to be constantly motivated so as they demonstrate keenness and enthusiasm for their work. Motivation is simply the process of arousing and sustaining goal-directed behavior (Nelson Quick, 1997). One of the managers primary tasks is to motivate people in the organization to perform at high levels (Moorhead Griffin, 1992). The Hawthorne Studies conducted by Elton Mayo from 1927 to 1932 showed that views of how managers behave were a vital aspect of motivation and improved performance. This study brought to light the fact that peoples psychological and social needs have to be taken into account to make them feel important and thus motivate them to work. In addition, the work of Maslow in 1943 provided a major impetus to employee motivation since he put forward a theoretical framework of individual personality development and motivation based on a hierarchy of human needs. Likewise, Herzberg and McGregor also developed theories of motivation . Herzberg was of view that to motivate workers to give their best, proper attention must be given to a different set of factors, the motivation or growth factors. Additionally, McGregor argued that the style of management adopted is a function of the managers attitudes towards human nature and behaviour at work. He put forward two suppositions called Theory X and Theory Y which are based on popular assumptions about work and people. The ingredients of motivation lie within the employees themselves. So, managers should have the knack to motivate their de-motivated employees since, as mentioned above, employees at call centres face a lot of ordeals. Moreover, organizations are made of their individual members. The individual is a central feature in any workplace whether acting isolation or in a group, in response to the expectations of the organization. Where the needs of the individual and the demands of the organisation are incompatible, it can result in frustration and conflict. So, managers have as main aim to keep the motivation of their employees at a high level so as to achieve desired results and performance. PROBLEM STATEMENT Call centres are facing a major problem these days, namely absenteeism which can have a large impact service quality. Due to this problem, there is fewer staff to handle customer interactions, wait queues tend to swell and call centre employees are under high work pressure. This tends to impact directly on their morale and similar behaviour may be fostered in those left to carry the can. Call centre work is very monotonous due to highly repetitive nature of the job. Thus, call centres run the risk of the employees easily losing enthusiasm and becoming demoralised. Moreover, call centres provide limited career opportunities and they risk losing their best people if they cannot provide adequate career prospects. Talented employees lose interest in their work; they become de-motivated and stop working towards the high standards they set up before. Additionally, call centre employees have to work in night shifts which pose a problem to them. Employees, mainly the female staff fear workin g at night for security reasons. Social life is almost inexistent for them, since they work all the time. They also face problems such as inconvenient postures due to computer work and high noise level. It can thus be deduced that the work of these persons is not so simple and very demanding. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study has as aims to determine the factors which affect the motivation of call centre employees. Its objectives are to acknowledge the problems faced by call centre staff so that the managers of call centres take necessary incentives to motivate their staff. This will help create a better working environment in which each employee will thrive. Besides, this study will benefit to the learning population who may be doing research on this particular topic. METHODOLOGY There are two types of data that can be collected, namely primary data or secondary data. Secondary data is data which exists already and which has been produced by some other person. It is known as secondary research because the person using it is the secondary user of the data. Primary data, on the other hand, refers to the process of generating and collecting original data from the intended operation for an organisation. It is the organisation which determines precisely and accurately what information is needed and from whom it is needed. It then sets about acquiring the data. Primary data sources are obtained by using one or more of the following techniques such as observation, surveys, experiments and questionnaires. To proceed with the study, primary data will be used, namely questionnaires. A questionnaire is a tool used by to deliver questions to respondents and then noting down their answers. Three types of information can be collected while using questionnaires. Fact: data such as demographic information, age, gender and so on. Opinion: beliefs, attitudes, feelings and knowledge. Motive: knowing peoples reasons for a particular belief or action. Questionnaires will be used since they will help to compare results as all the employees of call centres will be asked the same set of questions logically related to the problem under study, that is, factors affecting motivation. Thus, their responses can be added meaningfully. At around 150 questionnaires will be distributed to the employees. Firstly, the method of sampling used will be convenience sampling. Convenience sampling will enable me to give the questionnaires to any person whom I know, who will in turn give them to other colleagues to be filled in. Cluster sampling will also help me distribute the questionnaires. This consists of drawing up a list of clusters that together comprise the whole population and then selecting a sample of clusters (by using simple random sampling). The call centre employee population is conveniently divided into groups. For example, there are employees doing morning shifts and those doing night shifts. So, questionnaires will be given to these two groups accordingly. BENEFITS OF THE RESEARCH There are several benefits of the research. Firstly, this research may be used as a tool for managers to motivate their staff. Managers, as well as employers, will get a glimpse of the factors affecting the performance of the employees and through this; they will be able to implement several measures to encourage them to work. For example, it could be found that employees value getting access to training and development programs (Shah and Bandi, 2003). Having access to vocational training is perceived as a real job enrichment and benefit, so the organisation would highly benefit from it. Furthermore, through this study, the employment rate could increase. Since managers would be aware of how to attract and motivate their staff, more and more persons would be eager to join the call centre industry. As a result, the rate of unemployment will decrease, hence benefiting to the Government and the society as well. Amongst these target audiences, that is the managers and the Government, the re is also the learning population which will get benefit from it. Students may use this study as a means to acquire more knowledge on call centre industry or even use the data to carry on with their projects. WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ACTIVITIES ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Research Proposal ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Introduction ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Collecting research articles ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Meet employees ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Literature review ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Define research objectives ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Design questionnaire ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Write research design ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Conduct the survey ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Analyse data ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Write recommendation ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Write abstract ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Write conclusion and reference ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   Finalise and submit dissertation ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   ÂÂ   GANTT CHART The Gantt chart (time plan) shows the number of weeks taken to complete the dissertation. This research is extended on duration of 15 weeks. BUDGET ANALYSIS LIST OF EXPENDITURES ESTIMATED COST/Rs ÂÂ  Stationery ÂÂ  200 Printing of questionnaires 500 Transport 1000 Internet 800 Telephone bills 500 Other unexpected expenses 2000 ÂÂ   ÂÂ   TOTAL 5000 While conducting the research, several direct and indirect costs need to be taken into account. Expenses such as printing and photocopying of questionnaires and transport need to be catered for. Moreover, a budget is also being allowed for unexpected expenses which may crop up in the course of the research.

Attacked by a Friend :: essays papers

Attacked by a Friend Long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Really only four years ago on a Friday night in a small redneck town just west of Atlanta. We had just moved to a new home in the same city. My younger brother had a friend, whose name is Jason, spend the night at our new home. As the Friday evening wore on, I mostly stayed in my room on the internet. I did the best as I could to be as anti-social as I could. However, at last, all of the people I was talking to on CompuServe signed off and I was left all alone. Therefore, as hard as it was for me to go to my brother’s room and play with him and his friend, I did it. I had a blast. The night was actually turning out to be not so horrible. As the night wore on we continued to play, and then it happened. I swung at his face in a joking manner and with out realizing it, Jason had pulled out a knife and it had cut me. Instead of pain, I felt a surge of pressure being released and I knew what had happened was not good. As I felt the knife cut into my arm, I could see blood shoot across the room. Immediately I grabbed the cut on my arm and ran to the bathroom sink! Turning my head to yell at my brother I screamed, â€Å"Nathan, get the first aid kit!† The bleeding was not slow; it kept gushing out, with no control at all! Then Nathan returned. â€Å"Here you go!† He said as he handed the box to me. Turning my head to him I said, â€Å"That’s not going to work you idiot!† As I lifted my thumb from top of the wound more blood shot out and was stopped only by the wall. Now what do I do? Oh no! I am going to have to tell mom and dad! I am in so much trouble right now. So I told my parents and was taken to the emergency room in Douglasville, GA. When I first arrived to the ER we where told by the attendant to hold on, so I took my thumb off the cut for a second and when the woman saw that she let me in immediately.

Human Resources Performance Appraisals

This paper should include sections on the strategic advantages of performance appraisals, potential forms of bias within the appraisal system, as well as how performance appraisals can contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives. Performance appraisal is considered a key tool for managerial needs of today’s organizations and is the process by which organizations evaluate job performance. A performance appraisal system usually requires a manager to rate each employee’s performance according to performance criteria’s that have already been established over a period of time.Performance appraisal systems also provide a basis for planning improvement as well as means for determining merit increases, transfers and even dismissals. The most important purpose or goal of the appraisal is to improve performance and hence productivity in the future. Performance appraisals allow employees to see where they are at and managers can get valuable information from emplo yees to help them make employee's jobs more productive.As a result of appraisals, managers’ control over work and results may increase, problems can be identified early, employees are motivated by being allowed to input into and own their objectives, enhances communication, objective feedback given back to employees, facilitates decision making in regard to pay scale and promotion, centralized record of performances. Some strategic advantages of performance appraisals are that it can provide a record of performance over a period of time.Meaning that if you have been on the job for 5 years and the current appraisal is not up to par the employer can go back and look at past appraisals and see if it’s worth it to fix the problem to keep you or let you go. They provide an opportunity for a manager to meet and discuss performance with an employee. In larger companies an HR manager may hardly ever see the employees; by doing the performance appraisal it allows for a one on o ne with each employee.Another strategic advantage is the appraisal provides the employee with feedback about their performance and how they completed their goals. Thus it also opens up the subject of how the employee could improve on the lower rated performances and provides an opportunity for an employee to discuss issues and to clarify expectations with their manager. Finally some strategic advantages could be an opportunity to think about the upcoming year and develop employee goals and can be motivational with the support of a good reward and compensation system.Some potential forms of bias within the appraisal system could be a Personality conflict between a manager and an employee and this could cause the manager to inaccurately assess an employee's contributions to an organization. The manager could be comparing the skills and contributions of one employee to another and it could result in an unfair assessment of the employees. A manager should be assessing an employee's perf ormance after a pre-determined amount of time. A first-impression performance appraisal isn't enough time to make an assessment.It has the potential to be swayed either positively or negatively. A manager should never rate an employee's performance based on recent behavior rather than on past performance. If an employee has a spotless record except for a recent mistake, the manager should not forget all of the good he or she has done. The last potential form of bias with in the appraisal system is that a manager should avoid political bias. This happens when non-performance related issues cloud the judgment of a performance appraiser such as religious beliefs or lifestyle choices.

Insider Trading: Should It Be Abolished? Essay

Insider trading is defined as â€Å" trading whilst in possession of non-public information and if known to the public, may lead to a substantial movement in a security’s price† . In Australia it is prohibited by insider trading regulation (IT regulations) in the Corporations Law (CL) 1991 , though it was initially established from recommendations made by the Rae committee in 1974 on the mining company scandals . The latest law changed one single section to 20 wide and complex sections, causing critique of Australia IT regulations . Henry G Manne argued that IT regulations should be abolished supported by three basic economic arguments. This essay will examine the pro and contra of each argument and shows that IT regulations have spoiled the notion of fairness at the expense of efficiency, despite the objective of any securities markets regulation to promote both aspects . 1. Insider trading could compensate corporate entrepreneurs . Pro and Contra This argument is supported by Carlton and Fischel who argued that the IT regulations are the same with setting government regulation of terms and conditions of employment; similar to restrict salary bonuses, stock options, vacation leave, and the others which can motivate management for their entrepreneurial skills . However their assumptions ignore the difference between the volatile share price and a certain amount of normal compensation. As argued by Easterbrook, where there is a volatile share price, the management compensation argument reverts into a â€Å"lottery-ticket argument† . Because in the volatile share price, even informed traders will hardly predict the increase or decrease of share price in the future. The high fluctuation equalizes the possibility of losing their investment and getting profit, which as called ‘compensation’. From the two extremes, It can be concluded that compensation argument can be valid if the share price is relatively stable otherwise not all insiders can get their compensation through insider trading. Director’s fiduciary duty to Shareholder However, if IT regulation were only applied for a liquid market, what is the role of fiduciary duty? In Exicom’s case fiduciary argument was established where persons who are subject to a legal relationship of trust and confidence, arising from either a prior relationship with the securities issuer (typically directors, employees and corporate agents) or the other party to trade should not make a profit from that position or allow a conflict of interest to arise. Moore supports IT regulation on the basis of fiduciary duty. He reasons that directors have some fiduciary duty to their shareholder to fully disclose all information they could benefit from. His idea is supported by the fact that although there is no general principal that directors owe fiduciary duty to shareholders (in addition to the company), with the purpose to prevent directors when in the position of holding confidential information to spread the it to outsiders , such duty in recognized in Hooker’s case . Sub Conclusion Insider trading as a compensation for corporate executive is argued only happened in a stable market where they can use the information to predict the trend otherwise the profit compensation turn to be a lottery compensation. Here fiduciary duty of the insiders is questioned where in Hooker’s case it is possible that directors owe fiduciary duty to shareholder although there is no general principal on it. 2. Insider Trading Contributes to Market Efficiency Pro from Leland and Estrada Manne argued that ‘allowing an unfettered market in information will have salutary effects unheard of in connection with regulatory â€Å"disclosure†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ . Recently, Leland and Estrada also stated similar idea that insider trading contributes to market efficiency through signaling where signal-trading by insiders pushed share price more quickly towards its equilibrium price. Pro from Empirical Measures Theory Moreover, empirical measure presents a theory; the more information gets into market, the lower transaction cost, the more liquid the market and the smaller volatility produced. Since investors get more helpful information to predict market trend, the transaction cost here is lower. Transaction cost is the cost to take the risk if the companies, which they invest in, somehow default. Thus lower transaction cost is equivalent to lower risk, which can encourage more investor to trade. As trading in the market occurs significantly in one flow (either buy or sell) based on the information they got, the volatility, which represented by the bid-ask (difference between the buy and sell quotes at any one time), decreases. Consequently liquidity increases. Evidence from Real Study In practice, Dodd and Officer found evidence that no significant abnormal returns (return of a security over its average or expected return) occurred on the day take over rumour was published, although some abnormal returns typically occurred prior to the publicity of rumour. This prior abnormal return must be because of insider trading, as the unpublished information they possess allow them to predict the trend up to takeover bid, thus, at the date of take over published, market already reached equilibrium price. Contra from Cox and Georgakopoulos and Response from Wyatt However, there are some disagreements on Manne argument. First, Cox claims that insider trading cannot make the price movement towards equilibrium price purely by their own actions . Also microstructure theory by Georgakopoulos, which states that whether support or against insider trading is depending on the market liquidity . A liquid market as discussed in the compensation arguments will give more benefit to insiders because the votality is lower and they can easily predict trend in stable price, hence, IT regulations in this case can be useful. On the other hand, illiquid market leads both insider and outsider traders away regardless the information they received since the votality is high and even unpublished information may just let them gamble on the security’s price, hence, in such market the presence of IT regulations has no effect to the market. The idea is that the uninformed traders is discourage to involve in market because of unfairness arise from the profit making activity by informed traders, hence, reducing the market effectiveness. For all that, both claims can be doubtful considering Wyatt suggestion that outsiders follow insiders action and further can encourage market liquidity . His suggestion is also supported by the fact that trader’s identity is kept confidential, thus, uninformed traders cannot be certain of the percentage of informed traders which make them discourage from trading. IT Regulation Distorts Market Efficiency Further issue is whether IT regulation increase market efficiency or it just increase the cost of compliance for companies and financial services firms? If IT regulation inhibits market efficiency then it should be revised. IT regulations in Australia reinforces continous disclosure (CD) regulations such in Crown Casino’s case where the chairman, who has no power on the company’s behalf, disclosed information to outsiders before the board disclosed it to the Exchange. The court emphasized on the breach of continous disclosure specifically on the abuse of the term ‘immediately’ . If IT regulation is just a flip-case of CD regulations, then it is obsolescent, as CD regulation already governs tardy disclosure . Sub Conclusion nsider trading contributes to market efficiency by moving the share price more quickly towards equilibrium price is supported by empirical measure which shows that insider trading increase market liquidity, and by Dodd and Officer finding on significance abnormal returns prior to take over rumour instead of on the date of publicity. Although Cox and Georgakopoulos go against the concept, Wyatt response that their arguments can be the contrary, that informed traders can be an opportunity for uninformed traders to get profit by following them instead of discourage them by unfairness. 3. Insider Trading and Long-term Investors Pro and Contra Finally, insider trading does no significant harm for long-term investors , â€Å"whose market decisions will be a function of time† . In detail, Manne asserts that the less frequent someone trades, the less significant effect of the unfair use of valuable information from insider trading they receive. Such investors just make investment on the basis that they are timely and not affected by the share price, which is affected by insider trading. However, this view is questioned by Schotland . He argued that even long-term investor needs cash and when they need it they will consider to ait for a right price to sell it. Further, Manne suggest that long term investor can ignore price to avoid being harmed by the effect of insider trading, expect for one, which is the lost of not having inside information in the range of the buying and selling price so that it is insignificant. Here Manne only refers to one investment. Yet, how about when the investors have more than one (in which the common condition to diversify)? They may need to watch a series of share price otherwise they will end up will sell it with no profit after putting so much faith waiting for it. Sub Conclusion Insider trading does no significant harm for long-term investors as they just invest on the basis of time instead of share price and only need to watch insignificant loss from the valuable information exploited by insider trading. The idea is fully objected by Schotland by arguing even long-term investors need cash and should consider the right price to sell the share. Also the insignificant loss only refers to one share, but in practice long-term investor such as retirees diversify shares by holding more than one. Conclusion In summary, the essay demonstrates a number of both pros and contras of whether insider trading should be abolished. Looking the above discussion, insider trading should be outlawed as it can cause significant harm to investors. It is also contradict with fiduciary argument. However, Insider trading is also evidenced contribute to market efficiency. Moreover, as in Crown Casino’s case, IT regulation is criticized to be a mere flip-case of CD regulation and the presence just increase the cost of compliance. Therefore, It would be better if IT regulations is revised in a way that promote both fairness and efficiency equally.

12 Types of Language

12 Types of Language 12 Types of Language 12 Types of Language By Mark Nichol A variety of terms distinguish the kinds of languages and vocabularies that exist outside the mainstream of standard, formal language. Here are twelve words and phrases that denote specific ideas of language usage. 1. Argot An argot is a language primarily developed to disguise conversation, originally because of a criminal enterprise, though the term is also used loosely to refer to informal jargon. 2. Cant Cant is somewhat synonymous with argot and jargon and refers to the vocabulary of an in-group that uses it to deceive or exclude nonusers. 3. Colloquial Language Anything not employed in formal writing or conversation, including terms that might fall under one or more of most of the other categories in this list, is a colloquialism. Colloquial and colloquialism may be perceived to be pejorative terms, but they merely refer to informal terminology. Colloquial language whether words, idiomatic phrases, or aphorisms is often regionally specific; for example, variations on the term â€Å"carbonated beverage† including soda, pop, and coke differ in various areas of the United States. 4. Creole A creole is a more sophisticated development of a pidgin, derived from two or more parent languages and used by people all ages as a native language. 5. Dialect A dialect is a way of speaking based on geographical or social factors. 6. Jargon Jargon is a body of words and phrases that apply to a specific activity or profession, such as a particular art form or athletic or recreational endeavor, or a medical or scientific subject. Jargon is often necessary for precision when referring to procedures and materials integral to a certain pursuit. However, in some fields, jargon is employed to an excessive and gratuitous degree, often to conceal the truth or deceive or exclude outsiders. Various types of jargon notorious for obstructing rather than facilitating communication are given names often appended with -ese or -speak, such as bureaucratese or corporate-speak. 7. Lingo This term vaguely refers to the speech of a particular community or group and is therefore loosely synonymous with many of the other words in this list. 8. Lingua Franca A lingua franca is a language often adopted as a common tongue to enable communication between speakers of separate languages, though pidgins and creoles, both admixtures of two or more languages, are also considered lingua francas. 9. Patois Patois refers loosely to a nonstandard language such as a creole, a dialect, or a pidgin, with a connotation of the speakers’ social inferiority to those who speak the standard language. 10. Pidgin A simplified language arising from the efforts of people speaking different languages to communicate is a pidgin. These languages generally develop to facilitate trade between people without a common language. In time, pidgins often evolve into creoles. 11. Slang A vocabulary of terms (at least initially) employed in a specific subculture is slang. Slang terms, either invented words or those whose meanings are adapted to new senses, develop out of a subculture’s desire to disguise or exclude others from their conversations. As US society becomes more youth oriented and more homogenous, slang becomes more widespread in usage, and subcultures continually invent new slang as older terms are appropriated by the mainstream population. 12. Vernacular A vernacular is a native language or dialect, as opposed to another tongue also in use, such as Spanish, French, or Italian and their dialects as compared to their mother language, Latin. Alternatively, a vernacular is a dialect itself as compared to a standard language (though it should be remembered that a standard language is simply a dialect or combination of dialects that has come to predominate). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsConfusing "Passed" with "Past"20 Clipped Forms and Their Place (If Any) in Formal Writing

Napoleon and Snowball (Animal Farm) Essay Essay Example

Napoleon and Snowball (Animal Farm) Essay Essay Example Napoleon and Snowball (Animal Farm) Essay Paper Napoleon and Snowball (Animal Farm) Essay Paper Essay Topic: Animal Farm George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegorical novel that reflects events such as the Bolshevik revolution. the economic reform by Trotsky the Russian dearth in 1921 and during the Stalin epoch before the Second World War. The pigs represent the communist leading. and the remainder of the animate beings on the farm typify the different parts of Russian society and how the communist coup detat of Russia affected them. Two chief characters. Snowball and Napoleon ( who symbolize Trotsky and Stalin ) . engages in a political battle. as both of them wanted to hold the power to take all of the animate beings. Although Napoleon wins the battle in the terminal. Snowball’s political scheme is better than the corrupted leading of Napoleon. Snowball cares more about the living status of the animate beings. Compared to Napoleon. Snowball knows the significance of â€Å"Animalism† . which is animate beings are equal and it should take the animate beings to a better life. Snowball is interested in reading all sorts of books to enrich his range of cognition to do the animate beings work easier. For illustration. he declares the windmill thought from a book of the Jones. Besides Snowball is really courageous ; he has studied the book of Julian Caesar and successfully led through the Battle of the Cowshed while Napoleon was concealing himself in the barn. Snowball has an intelligent and friendly character. Unlike Napoleon. Snowball neer forces person to hold with his thoughts. Alternatively. he is good at explicating how his ideas work and persuades all the animate beings to believe and swear his thoughts. Unlike Napoleon. Snowball does non necessitate Squealer’s aid. he can make the explicating portion all by himself. Bonaparte has his ain ways to command other animate beings such as the Canis familiariss and Squealer but Snowball has different manner which is the commissions. Snowball seems to work better within the political system. Bonaparte goes around it. Napoleon. for case. he understands the function of force in political control and uses his attack Canis familiariss to throw out Snowball from the farm. Napoleon seems to hold a powerful. egoistic desire for control. while Snowball seems to believe of himself as a mastermind who should be the one to steer the farm toward success. Snowball is the lone 1 who knows the existent significance of â€Å"Animalism† . and he is seting out true attempt to do the populating criterion of the animate beings better than earlier. and insists everyone is equal. After the expel of Mr. Jones. the Animal Farm is supposed to be democracy. all of the animate beings should make up ones mind how to make things together. any one animate being to lift to greater power than any other would go against that ideal. and do Animal Farm indistinguishable from a human farm. On the other manus the lone thing that Napoleon thinks approximately is how to derive more power and personal benefit from the farm. Snowball ever comes up with some long-run programs and on the other manus Napoleon can merely come up with some short-run programs. In decision. Snowball’s political scheme is better so the corrupted leading of Napoleon.

African American History and Women Timeline 1700-1799

African American History and Women Timeline 1700-1799 [Previous] [Next] Women and African American History: 1700-1799 1702 New York passed a law prohibiting public gatherings by three or more enslaved Africans, prohibiting testimony in court by enslaved Africans against white colonists, and prohibiting trade with enslaved Africans. 1705 Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 were enacted by the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia.   These laws more clearly delineated differences in rights for indentured servants (from Europe) and slaves of color.   The latter included enslaved Africans and Native Americans sold to colonists by other Native Americans.   The codes specifically legalized the trade in enslaved people and established rights of ownership as property rights.   The codes also prohibited the Africans, even if free, from striking white people or owning any weapons.   Many historians agree that this was a response to events, including Bacons Rebellion, where white and black servants had united. 1711 A Pennsylvania law outlawing slavery was overturned by Britains Queen Anne.New York City opened a public slave market on Wall Street. 1712 New York responded to a slave revolt that year by passing legislation targeting black and Native Americans.   The legislation authorized punishment by slave owners and authorized the death penalty for enslaved Africans convicted of murder, rape, arson or assault.   Freeing those enslaved was made more difficult by requiring a significant payment to the government and an annuity to the one freed.   1721 The colony of South Carolina limited the right of voting to free white Christian men. 1725 Pennsylvania passed  An Act for the Better Regulating of Negroes in this Province, providing more property rights to owners, limiting contact and freedom of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, and requiring a payment to the government if a slave were freed. 1735 South Carolina laws required freed slaves to leave the colony within three months or return to enslavement. 1738 Fugitive slaves establish a permanent settlement at Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, Florida. 1739 A few white citizens in Georgia petition the governor to end bringing Africans to the colony, calling enslavement a moral wrong. 1741 After trials for conspiracy to burn down New York City, 13 African American men were burned at the stake, 17 African American men were hanged, and two white men and two white women were hanged.  South Carolina passed more restrictive slave laws, permitting the killing of rebellious slaves by their owners, banning the teaching of reading and writing to enslaved people and prohibiting enslaved people from earning money or gathering in groups. 1746 Lucy Terry wrote Bars Fight, the first known poem by an African American. It was not published until after Phillis Wheatleys poems were, passed down orally until 1855.   The poem was about an Indian raid on Terrys Massachusetts town. 1753 or 1754 Phillis Wheatley born (enslaved African, poet, first published African American writer). 1762 Virginias new voting law specifies that only white men may vote. 1773 Phillis Wheatleys book of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was  published in Boston and then in England, making her the first published African American writer, and the second book by a woman to be published in the land which was about to become the United States. 1777 Vermont, establishing itself as a free republic, outlawed slavery in its constitution, allowing indentured servitude bound by their own consent.   Its this provision that grounds the claim of Vermont to be the first state in the United States to outlaw slavery. 1780 - 1781 Massachusetts, the first New England colony to legally establish slave ownership, found in a series of court cases that slavery was effectively abolished   African American men (but not women) had the right to vote. Freedom came, in fact, more slowly, including some enslaved Africans becoming indentured. By 1790, the federal census showed no slaves in Massachusetts. 1784 (December 5) Phillis Wheatley died (poet, enslaved African; first published African American writer) 1787 Thomas Jeffersons daughter, Mary, joins him in Paris, with Sally Hemings, likely his wifes enslaved half-sister,   accompanying Mary to Paris 1791 Vermont was admitted to the Union as a state, preserving a slavery ban in its constitution. 1792 Sarah Moore Grimke born (abolitionist, womens rights proponent) 1793 (January 3) Lucretia Mott born (Quaker abolitionist and womens rights advocate) 1795 (October 5, 1795)  Sally Hemings  gives birth to daughter, Harriet, who dies in 1797. She will give birth to four or five more children, likely fathered by Thomas Jefferson.   Another daughter, Harriet, born in 1801, will disappear into white society. about 1797 Sojourner Truth (Isabella Van Wagener) born an  enslaved African (abolitionist, womens rights proponent, minister, lecturer) [Previous] [Next] [1492-1699] [1700-1799] [1800-1859] [1860-1869] [1870-1899] [1900-1919] [1920-1929] [1930-1939] [1940-1949] [1950-1959] [1960-1969] [1970-1979] [1980-1989] [1990-1999] [2000-]

Qualitative report.How do people develop and maintain friendships at Essay

Qualitative report.How do people develop and maintain friendships at University - Essay Example The friends should enjoy the company of one another, they should be useful for each other in time of problems and needs and this condition is regarded as the most paramount condition for being a good friend. The third pre requisite is that they should share a common belonging with certain idea of concept. In other words they must share the same interests or hobbies that will be a cement substance for the long time relationship. Aristotle supports the same idea of pre-conditions in the friendship. Similarly, Bell and Coleman altercated that friendship is a bond or relationship in which there is not a specific reason for â€Å"self centred† behaviours and these friendship is not necessarily grounded with the intentions of gain or profit. Changingminds.org (2002)   The classical views and conventional ideas supported that in friendship, the constraints of the relationship vary a lot from person to person. For example Graham Allan said that in friendship. The more things which a re weighed are informal behaviours, pleasure, comfort, care and voluntary skills. Because friendship is not based on some pre defined profits, loss or gain, rather it is the culminating need of the humans to have friends in order to support each other, emotionally, mentally and for the fulfilment of societal needs. Resourcelists.st-andrews.ac.uk (2012) According to Aristotle, there are mainly two kinds of friendships at the generic level. First type of friendship that is genuine and the friendship that is not truly genuine. Genuine friendship comprises of the essence and peculiarity of love and care. The other kind of friendship is in turn divided in two kinds. Friendship for pleasure and the other type is friendship for expediency and serviceability. In this kind of friendship the bond is developed with the intention of selfishness in some form or the other. This type of bond is bound to extenuate and abate as no two human beings can either provide pleasure of any kind of utility f or each other indefinitely. In genuine friendship, love is the driving force in the relationship and irrespective of usability and pleasure; the both sides continue to uphold the sanctity of the relationship because it helps to fulfil their spiritual and societal needs. The usability and pleasure is the intended by products of genuine friendship. The genuine friendships are necessary to improve the relationships among the human beings in a society as it brings people closer to each other by instigating a sense of voluntary actions within their nature. Infed.org (1999)   Suzanne Stern-Gillet that the example of friendships that are based on pleasure and utility is just like activities of the normal life because such kind of friendships does not affect the human lives in high magnitudes. If someone has a friend who gives internal pleasure and some kind of gain to the other friend then it will not matter much when this friendship will end because there will be some another one to rep lace the former. But this is not the case in the friendships which have the spirit of love based friendship. Genuine friendships really put effects on people’s life because the peculiar charm in genuine friendship is related with personalities rather than materialistic gains. The personalities are important to each other in genuine friendships and sense of care and responsibility gives boost to this approach of friendship. Plato.stanford.edu (2005) There are numerous theories and practices about the

Examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Examination - Essay Example The issue to be settled is whether or not Joan, Jake, and Johnny are guilty of violating the Securities law prohibiting insider trading – Johnny in his capacity as officer of the firm, and Joan and Jake who acted on tips from Johnny. Sec 16 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 directly addresses insider trading, while Sec 10(b) indirectly does so. Insiders refer to the officers, corporate directors, or beneficial owners of more than 10% of a firm’s shares.1 The case law is SEC v Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. (1966) which ruled that anyone in possession of inside information must either disclose the information or refrain from trading. Dirks v SEC (1984) ruled that tippees (receivers of second-hand, non-public material information) are liable if the tipper was in breach of fiduciary duty, and he/she and the tippee personally benefitted from the disclosure. Illegal insider trading â€Å"involves the theft of valuable information about corporate plans that properly belongs to the corporation and its investors.† 2 Its vigorous prohibition is necessary to protect the intellectual property rights that rightfully belong to the corporation and its shareholders.3 Illegal trading is done when the purchase or sale of securities is conducted in breach of fiduciary relationship on the basis of non-public, material information, in such a way that the price of the security is affected. It is also illegal for the person enjoying such relationship of trust and confidence to tip such material, non-public information for them to trade on such basis. Aside from appropriating the information in violation of property rights, insider trading also reduces the incentives of legitimate market participants to make discoveries of information, by unjustly appropriating trading profits on undisclosed information. It robs investors of many benefits of

Museum paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Museum paper - Essay Example Adams is not only a photographer par excellence, he is also a famous environmentalist known for pushing preservationist agendas and working for the protection of the American natural heritage (Bowers, 2007). The sublime in nature is clearly evident in most of his works where the majesty of the natural environment is presented to the viewers unadulterated by colors. The collection on display at the Bowers Museum features not only pictures of nature but also of man and some which are in combination. Clearly, Adams was not looking at nature to the exclusion of human beings since he does take his own self portrait amongst natural surroundings even if it is just a shadow of his self which is imposed on nature. However, the images and the artist himself come with the implication that nature is certainly a fundamental part of who he is and what he thinks is important (Bowers, 2007). On the other hand, Chuck Close seems to be focusing on the art and wealth of effort which is required to produce a single work of art. While the works seem like pictures and images when seen from a distance, upon closer examination the art seems to dissolve into pixels that can be found on television or computer screens (OCMA, 2007). This I found to be quite magical since the image presented by the artists could change significantly depending on the distance I was standing away and the areas I was focusing on. Chuck Close’s work does not focus on the elements of nature which surround us but rather it focuses on the greatest creation of nature, i.e. human beings. More exactly, it focuses on the human face in its many variations, colors, shapes and ages. For example, the Self-Portrait of the artist shows a middle aged man who is looking directly at the audience while Emma shows a young child who seems to be gazing into the distance rather than looking at the viewer (OCMA, 2007).

British Petroleum Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

British Petroleum - Case Study Example Colonialism, however, eventually collapsed but BP did not (Heiss, 1997). Indeed, not only did BP survive the collapse of colonialism but it expanded its global operations, effectively maintained its status as one of the world's top oil and gas multinationals. In recent years, however, BP's status was threatened by industrial accidents which, consequent to their detrimental environmental effects, turned public opinion against the company. Survival, evidenced in the fact that it did re-bounce, was predicated on the successful revamping of BP's image. With the dawn of the new millennium, British Petroleum's problems reached the point of crisis. Its environmental and human rights records were placed in the spotlight and subjected to public scrutiny, with the outcome being that in both 2001 and 2006, BP was named as one of the world's worst corporations (Cameron, 2006). Allegations, the majority of which were substantiated and incontrovertibly factual, encompassed of BP's poor environmental record, its abuse of its own employees, its support of totalitarian governments for its own financial gain and the exploitation of the public's dependency on oil and gas for the expansion of its profit margins. Accusations pertaining to abuse of its labour force focus on the Tex... gh price in 2005 when a large column overfilled with gas, leading to the formation of a vapour cloud and, eventually, an explosion which killed 15 employees, injured several others and destroyed a significant percentage of the plant itself. More independent and internal investigations placed the blame squarely on BP, focusing on mismanagement and lack of regard for worker and environmental safety as evidence in its failure to maintain the plant and implement the minimum required safety standards (Cameron, 2006). Prior to recovering from the Texas City Refinery Disaster, BP confronted an environmental disaster in Prudhoe bay, Alaska, fording the closure of its pipelines there. In 2006, corrosion in its pipeline led to the spilling of 5,000 barrels of oil into the environment (Cameron, 2006). At this point, part of, but not all of the pipeline was closed. In 2007, a second disaster forced the closure of much of the remaining operational sections of the pipeline. Again, the cause was cited as BP's failure to adequately invest in safety and maintenance. It is interesting to note that in 2006 BP admitted to the fact that it had contributed to the degradation of the Alaskan natural environment through seepages which totaled approximately 27,000 barrels of oil (BP,' n.d.). The fallout of BP's seemingly callous attitude towards worker safety and the environment, were only exacerbated by its support of totalitarian and abusive governments for the purpose of maintaining corporate profits. In 2006, BP lost a lawsuit launched against it by Columbian farmers who accused the company of supporting an openly abusive regime for the purpose of maintaining its pipeline operations in the country. A similar accusation was made by the West Papua population which accused BP of

The Persuasive Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Persuasive Research Paper - Essay Example Others, however, praised the decision of the committee terming it as a timely and accurate. In as much as critics hinted several reasons to support their position, it remains indisputable that the honor was a service granted at the right time to the president. The inventor of this priceless tribute granted to Nobel peace prize holders was Alfred Nobel. The respect was a courtesy offered to reputable people who pledge for and work to restore fraternity among world nations. It is noteworthy that critics of Obama’s recognition consider that the president, by 2009, had insignificant achievement in creating fraternity among nations. They hint at the short service time that the president had, by then, and find it inadmissible to grant honor to the president for that. This argument is remains illogical when used to disapprove the honor granted to the president in 2009. Foreign policy debates were among the president’s promises during his campaigns before his assumption of powe r. Restoring admirable relationship among world countries is unattainable without the art of conviction and deliberation. Among the greatest investments, that the president made to obtain power, was his superb articulation and conviction to boost the country’s foreign relations. ... Critics should detach the consideration of the short time of service from their argument since the president’s foreign relations debate was promising long before assumption of office. Critics against the honor highlight several nominees of the prize who were unsuccessful but, in their opinion, deserved the recognition. Critics point at icons as Joseph Stalin whose nominations in 1945 and 1948 received objection by the committee. Efforts by Stalin to create peace in the world by ending the second war were plausible enough, in the opinion of these critics, to attract the honor. In addition, critics to Obama’s honor attribute his youthful recognition of the president and cast doubts on the committee’s decision. The fact that Obama gained the recognition on his first nomination makes the critics to believe that it was untimely. These claims, however, remain illogical from several perspectives. Advocating for peace among world states is a commitment that does not come with age but an ideology. Alfred Nobel attributed to peace as the most invaluable benefit that humankind would attain in life. That turned to be his ideology and the reason for the respect since his death in 1896. As a reminder to critics of the honor, as ideology is collection of doctrines that find basis on political, social or any other area of knowledge. It is a reflection of the social or political demands of the people pledging for it. There is no relationship between the age, of a society or an individual, and an ideology. Peace qualifies to be among the most recognizable political ideologies, globally, and that is incontrovertible. Arguing that Obama was youthful to receive the honor, therefore, is undeniably wrong and inconsiderate. There are success stories of young economists, politicians,

ACE Network Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

ACE Network Design - Essay Example Secondly, the extensive use of e-commerce by corporations in their business operations has instigated a heightened requirement for connectivity of businesses with rest of the world through internet. Local area networks have to be hooked with internet while ensuring maximum security. Emphasizing the interaction of Local Area Networks with internet, Comer (2006, p.3) states, â€Å"From a user’s point view, the internet appears to consist of a set of application programs that use the underlying network to carry out useful communication tasks.† The increased dependence of organizational operations on computer networks has prompted detailed planning and management of network designs. Szczuka, Daniel and Dominik (p. 269) observes, â€Å"There has been an explosive growth in internet systems since the 1990s. Network design problems are one of the important issues in the building and expansion of computer networks and have attracted many related researchers’ attention.à ¢â‚¬  Advance Concepts Engineering (ACE) is a medium sized enterprise that deals with development and commercialization of products. Adoption and application of state-of-the-art technologies is a core business value at ACE. Although, presently ACE is operating is small setup but in the enterprise is in the phase of switching its business to a more specious building in an industrial park. This has generated a reasonably serious challenge of designing and implementing a network infrastructure that can meet the business requirement while keeping the core value of technological advancement intact. The network design and implementation is a challenging task in multistory building with a dozen of other design limitations. These limitations have given birth to a range from logical to physical issues in network implementation. These issues include the issues of network scalability, convergence, security, high availability, stability and network traffic management. ACE would require careful ly designed network architecture to achieve these corporate objectives. This report will present a detailed network infrastructure design to accommodate all business and technological needs of the network. The report will present also present a diagrammatic overview of the topological layout of network infrastructure devices. Moreover, to streamline the process of network design and management a number of requirements will be formulated and finalized. These requirements may include the number and type of components like user machines, switches, routers and servers, network availability details, addressing scheme, media to be used in the network and mechanisms to eradicate network and mechanical noise. Network Media The selection of network media is an important decision in network design and management. The decision of media can directly affect the network speed, sustainability and maintenance. The selection of media is topology dependent. Topology is the physical layout of network devices, (Ciccarelli & Faulkne, 2004, p.88) and the decision once made on topology and network media is seldom changed or it might be very expensive to change this decision at a later stage to cater network management or optimization issues. The selection of media for a network environment also depends on the user speed requirements, available resources and future network expansion plans. The ACE network will use a mix of unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and fiber optic cables. Drop cables or patch cables that run from wall fixed faceplates to computers, printers, scanners, IP Phones and other user end devices will use CAT6 UTP cables, CAT6 UTP standard support the gigabit speed for network traffic. Faceplates will further connect these devices to switches placed in a separate switch rooms.

The Persuasive Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Persuasive Research Paper - Essay Example Others, however, praised the decision of the committee terming it as a timely and accurate. In as much as critics hinted several reasons to support their position, it remains indisputable that the honor was a service granted at the right time to the president. The inventor of this priceless tribute granted to Nobel peace prize holders was Alfred Nobel. The respect was a courtesy offered to reputable people who pledge for and work to restore fraternity among world nations. It is noteworthy that critics of Obama’s recognition consider that the president, by 2009, had insignificant achievement in creating fraternity among nations. They hint at the short service time that the president had, by then, and find it inadmissible to grant honor to the president for that. This argument is remains illogical when used to disapprove the honor granted to the president in 2009. Foreign policy debates were among the president’s promises during his campaigns before his assumption of powe r. Restoring admirable relationship among world countries is unattainable without the art of conviction and deliberation. Among the greatest investments, that the president made to obtain power, was his superb articulation and conviction to boost the country’s foreign relations. ... Critics should detach the consideration of the short time of service from their argument since the president’s foreign relations debate was promising long before assumption of office. Critics against the honor highlight several nominees of the prize who were unsuccessful but, in their opinion, deserved the recognition. Critics point at icons as Joseph Stalin whose nominations in 1945 and 1948 received objection by the committee. Efforts by Stalin to create peace in the world by ending the second war were plausible enough, in the opinion of these critics, to attract the honor. In addition, critics to Obama’s honor attribute his youthful recognition of the president and cast doubts on the committee’s decision. The fact that Obama gained the recognition on his first nomination makes the critics to believe that it was untimely. These claims, however, remain illogical from several perspectives. Advocating for peace among world states is a commitment that does not come with age but an ideology. Alfred Nobel attributed to peace as the most invaluable benefit that humankind would attain in life. That turned to be his ideology and the reason for the respect since his death in 1896. As a reminder to critics of the honor, as ideology is collection of doctrines that find basis on political, social or any other area of knowledge. It is a reflection of the social or political demands of the people pledging for it. There is no relationship between the age, of a society or an individual, and an ideology. Peace qualifies to be among the most recognizable political ideologies, globally, and that is incontrovertible. Arguing that Obama was youthful to receive the honor, therefore, is undeniably wrong and inconsiderate. There are success stories of young economists, politicians,

English-language films Essay Example for Free

English-language films Essay 1. How are the pictures helpful in understanding the selection? 2. Why did the noise of the sonar speed up? 3. Why did the Titanic sink? 4. How were Frederick’s Fleet and Minnie Coutts alike? 5. If you wanted to prove the fact that over 1,500 people died out of the more than 2,300 people on board, what would you use to prove this? 6. What is the most likely reason the author wrote this selection? 7. The author uses figurative language, including comparing the ship to a â€Å"ghost from the ancient past,† saying the ship is â€Å"weeping great tears of rust,† and saying he felt as if he â€Å"had walked into a dream. † Why does he do this? 8. Tell how the author felt about seeing the Titanic. 9. Imagine that the author kept a journal. Write one or two sentences to tell what he might write after he came up from his first trip to the Titanic 1. How are the pictures helpful in understanding the selection? 2. Why did the noise of the sonar speed up? 3. Why did the Titanic sink? 4. How were Frederick’s Fleet and Minnie Coutts alike? 5. If you wanted to prove the fact that over 1,500 people died out of the more than 2,300 people on board, what would you use to prove this? 6. What is the most likely reason the author wrote this selection? 7. The author uses figurative language, including comparing the ship to a â€Å"ghost from the ancient past,† saying the ship is â€Å"weeping great tears of rust,† and saying he felt as if he â€Å"had walked into a dream.† Why does he do this? 8. Tell how the author felt about seeing the Titanic. 9. Imagine that the author kept a journal. Write one or two sentences to tell what he might write after he came up from his first trip to the Titanic

Implementing Strategic Decisions and Analysing Effects

Implementing Strategic Decisions and Analysing Effects Although formulating a consistent strategy is a difficult task for any management team, making that strategy work implementing it throughout the organization is even more difficult (Hrebiniak, 2006). A myriad of factors can potentially affect the process by which strategic plans are turned into organizational action. Unlike strategy formulation, strategy implementation is often seen as something of a craft, rather than a science, and its research history has previously been described as fragmented and eclectic (Noble, 1999b). It is thus not surprising that, after a comprehensive strategy or single strategic decision has been formulated, significant difficulties usually arise during the subsequent implementation process. The best-formulated strategies may fail to produce superior performance for the firm if they are not successfully implemented, as Noble (1999b) notes. Results from several surveys have confirmed this view: An Economist survey found that a discouraging 57 percent of firms were unsuccessful at executing strategic initiatives over the past three years, according to a survey of 276 senior operating executives in 2004 (Allio, 2005). According to the White Paper of Strategy Implementation of Chinese Corporations in 2006, strategy implementation has become the most significant management challenge which all kinds of corporations face at the moment. The survey reported in that white paper indicates that 83 percent of the surveyed companies failed to implement their strategy smoothly, and only 17 percent felt that they had a consistent strategy implementation process. Modern organizations operate in an increasingly complex environment and the magnitude of the consequences of decisions at the strategic level demands high quality responses from the management. The ever-changing and turbulent internal and external environments of the organization demands extreme sensitivity from the management in their reactions towards change. This often requires rapid response and the consequence of one course of action could be dramatically different from an alternative course of action. Strategic decisions are a reflection of the a ttitude, values and expectations of the decision-makers at the top level. They have a long term effect on the direction and future activity of the organization, and have resource implications, affecting decisions at the lower levels and initiating a wave of other, often lesser decisions (Hickson et al. 1986). The uncertainties and complexities of strategic decisions direct the decision makers to reduce the infinitely large problem into a manageable one. This conversion to a manageable model of reality inherently involves a great number of assumptions, many of which rely on the judgement of the decision maker. But the scale of the complexity and variety of variables surrounding the decision is such that some of the assumptions are ill-defined and possibly wrong. To combat these problems the managers categorize the uncertain decisions into a number of criteria: Laplace, insufficient reason to believe otherwise; Minimax, making the best out of worst possible conditions; Maximax, the best out of the best alternatives; Savage, the best of the regrets for not taking the right actions; and Hurwicz, giving a range of attitudes from optimistic to most pessimistic (Turban 1993). The choice of the approach is linked to decision-makers conservatism. This question is crucial since decisions, especially those of a strategic nature, tend to have widespread effects on organizational members, processes, and structure. This paper is concerned with one foundation of strategic decision making: More specifically, we aim to empirically address the why, what, how and where of this process. Thus, we conceive a firms external environment to be a source of information (Aldrich and Mindlin, 1978) but also its internal environment, sometimes referred to as invironment. To scan the environment in order to make better-informed decisions (Choo, 1996) is an important task on the corporate agenda. Environmental scanning, whether or not it is referred to as such (Frishammar, 2002), may be defined as the activity of acquiring information (Aguilar, 1967, p. 1) and is the method by which managers perceive events and trends (Hambrick, 1982). Acquiring information is imperative in ascertaining environmental change and has implications for strategic decision making (Lozada and Calantone, 1997). In this study, strategic decisions are concerned with long-term direction and are normally about trying to achieve some advanta ge for an organization (Johnson and Scholes, 1999). A decision is, in accordance with Mintzberg et al. (1976), defined as a set of actions and dynamic factors beginning with the identification of a stimulus for action and ending with a specific commitment to action. Strategic simply means important, in terms of the actions taken, the resources committed, or the precedents set (Mintzberg et al., 1976). Formulating strategy is difficult. Making strategy work executing or implementing it throughout the organization is even more difficult. Thompson Strickland (2003) have stressed that the strategy-implementing/strategy-executing task is the most complicated and time-consuming part of strategic management (cited in Schaap, 2006). CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Strategic Decision Making By definition, decision making is the process through which managers identify organizational problems and attempt to resolve them (Bartol Martin, 1994). Crook, Ketchen, and Snow (2003) stated that the purpose of strategic management research is to help find ways to improve their performance. Further, strategic decision makings are those that determine the overall direction of an enterprise and its ultimate viability in light of the predictable, the unpredictable, and the unknowable changes that may occur in its most important surrounding environments. They ultimately shape the true goals of the enterprise (Mintzberg Quian, 1991). Pearce and Robinson (1997) underlined the characteristics of strategic decision making as corporate level decisions (greater risk, cost, profit potential; greater need for flexibility and longer time horizons), functional level decisions (implement the overall strategy formulated at the corporate and business levels), action oriented operational issues; sh ort range and low risk. Modest cost; dependent on available resources, and business level decision (bridge decisions at the corporate and functional levels; which is less risky, costly, and potential profitable than corporate level decisions, but more risky, costly, and potentially profitable then functional level decisions). Tatum et al. (2003) stated that managers make day-to-day decisions, or resolve immediate problems. They also elaborated that managers have different decision styles due to the amount of information, number of alternatives, and attempt to integrate and coordinate multiple sources of input. Vroom (2003) in his study quoted Nutt (2002) on a study of 400 decisions that had been made by managers in medium to large organizations in the USA, Canada and Europe. Surprisingly, half of the decisions failed; either never implemented or subsequently unraveled during the two-year observation period. Nutt (2002, in Vroom, 2003) stated that effective decision making is not merely a matter of decision quality but also of ensuring that the decision will have the necessary support and commitment for its effective implementation. Nevertheless, all strategic decision making must go through the decision making process in order for managers to come up with a good decision. 2.2 Decision Making Process Decision makers and managers need to allow themselves to be in the process of decision making. This decision making process will give the opportunity to decision makers and managers to come up with the alternatives, evaluate each alternatives, and select the best alternative or solution to the problem. Decision making process comprise of the steps the decision maker has to arrive at his choice. The process a manager uses to make decisions has a significant impact on the quality of those decisions (Certo, 2003). Moreover, Provan (1989) stated that people who participate in the strategic decision making process are at a high level in their organization, are competent, and are reasonably intelligent and articulate. Strategic decision making process can be and is influenced by those major groups in the organization that are most powerful and that a rational consideration of external environmental factors may have little direct impact on how strategies are actually formulated and implemen ted (Provan, 1989). Basi (1988) stated that type of decision is a function of administrative level, and the style is a function of organizational culture. Administrative level is classified as institutional or executive or upper level, organizational or managerial or middle level, and technical or lower level. Meanwhile organizational culture is known as paternalistic, bureaucratic, and synergistic. Meanwhile, Nutt (1976) indicated in his study on the decision making models. He discussed 6 models of decision making of which bureaucratic model, normative decision theory, behavioral decision theory, group decision making, equilibrium-conflict resolution, and open system decision making. Nutt (1976) also discussed on the limits and ways to select the appropriate model for decision making for organization. As such organizations perform unique functions; the levels identified were technological or primary level, managerial level, and institutional level. Thus, factors which characterize the decision making e nvironment will stipulate the appropriate model that can be optimally used (Nutt, 1976). 2.3 Approaches to Strategy Implementation There are different factors that affect strategy implementation. These factors can be divided into soft, hard, and mixed factors. Soft factors (or people-oriented factors) include the people or executors of the strategy, the communication activities (content and style issues) as well as the closely related implementation tactics, the consensus about and commitment to the strategy, while the hard (or institutional) factors include the organizational structure, the administrative systems. The way in which the strategy was developed and articulated (strategy formulation) contains hard and soft factors alike and is thus considered a mixed factor. Relationships among different units/departments and different strategy levels also is treated as a mixed factor. In the following paragraphs we discuss these factors and how they affect strategic implementation of decisions. 2.3.1 Strategy Formulation It is clear that a poor or vague strategy can limit implementation efforts dramatically. Good execution cannot overcome the shortcomings of a bad strategy or a poor strategic planning effort (Hrebiniak, 2006). Several studies mention the fact that the kind of strategy that is developed (Alexander, 1985; Allio, 2005) and the actual process of strategy formulation, namely, how a strategy is developed (Kim Mauborgne, 1991, 1993; Singh, 1998) will influence the effect of implementation. Alexander (1985) believes that the need to start with a formulated strategy that involves a good idea or concept is mentioned most often in helping promote successful implementation. As Allio (2005) notes, good implementation naturally starts with good strategic input: the soup is only as good as the ingredients (Allio, 2005). Whether a strategy itself is consistent and fitting or not is a key question for successful strategy implementation, but even a consistent strategy cannot be all things to all peop le. Bantel (1997) suggests that particular product/market strategies are effective at achieving particular performance goals to the exclusion of others. One of his conclusions is that synergies between strategy types and implementation. 2.3.2 Relationships among Different Units/Departments and Different Strategy Levels Several studies treat institutional relationships among different units/ departments and different strategy levels as a significant factor that affects the outcome of strategy implementation (Walker Ruekert, 1987; Gupta, 1987; Slater Olson, 2001; Chimhanzi, 2004; Chimhanzi Morgan, 2005). Walker Ruekert (1987) divide business strategy behaviors into three types: prospectors, differentiated defenders and low cost defenders. These distinctions are based on the strategy categories introduced by Miles Snow (1978; prospectors, defenders, analyzers, reactors) and by Porter (1980; overall cost leadership, differentiation and focus). Walker Ruekert stipulate that corporate-business unit relationships, inter-functional structures and processes, marketing policies and processes may all significantly influence business strategy implementation. Three aspects of the corporate-business unit relationship are especially likely to affect a units success in implementing a particular strategy: bus iness unit autonomy, sharing programs and synergies across SBUs, as well as control and reward systems. In addition, functional competencies, allocation of resources, decision-making participation and influence, inter-functional conflict and coordination may have vastly different effects on the implementation of different kinds of strategies. Walker and Ruekert also assume that decision-making and coordination structures in the marketing department, and marketing policies and programs within the business unit, affect the performance of different business strategies in different ways. Chimhanzi (2004) suggests that cross-unit working relationships have a key role to play in the successful implementation of marketing decisions. Implementation effectiveness is affected negatively by conflict and positively by communication and specifically, interpersonal, not written. In turn, these interdepartmental dynamics are affected by senior management support, joint reward systems, and informal integration. Chimhanzi (2004) also points out that the marketing and RD interface remains the most extensively researched dyad within the specific context of the new product development (NPD) process. Chimhanzi provides a multitude of references to such studies in his 2004 article. Other relationships that have received empirical attention, albeit to a lesser extent, include marketing, and accounting, finance, manufacturing, engineering, quality, and sales. There are also those studies, according to Chimhanzi, that have not focused on dyadic and multiple relations, but rather on marke ting as the only one of many departments within a network of relationships. Chimhanzi Morgans (2005) findings indicate that firms devoting attention to the alignment of marketing and human resources are able to realize significantly greater successes in their strategy implementation. Specifically, these findings imply that marketing managers should seek to improve the relationship with their HR colleagues by emphasizing two of the process-based dimensions: joint reward systems and written communication. 2.3.3 Executors Executors are comprised of top management, middle management, lower management and non-management. Effectiveness of strategy implementation is, at least in part, affected by the quality of people involved in the process (Govindarajan, 1989). Here, quality refers to skills, attitudes, capabilities, experiences and other characteristics of people required by a specific task or position (Peng Litteljohn, 2001). Viseras, Baines, and Sweeney (2005) group 36 key success factors into three research categories: people, organization, systems in the manufacturing environment. Their intriguing findings indicate that strategy implementation success depends crucially on the human or people side of project management, and less on organization and systems related factors. Similarly, Harrington (2006) finds that a higher level in total organizational involvement during strategy implementation had positive effects on the level of implementation success, firm profits and overall firm success. Next to these overall findings regarding the who of strategy implementation, we will now review the individual groups of strategy executors at different hierarchical levels. 2.3.3.1 Top management Top management refers to senior-level leaders including presidents, owners, and other high ranking executives (CEO, CFO, COO etc.) and senior-level managers. Several researchers have emphasized the effect of top management on strategic decision implementation (Hrebiniak Snow, 1982; Smith Kofron, 1996; Schmidt Brauer, 2006; Schaap, 2006). Most of them point out the important figurehead role of top management in the process of strategy implementation. Schmidt and Brauer (2006), for example, take the board as one of the key subjects of strategy implementation and discuss how to assess board effectiveness in guiding strategy execution and decision making. Hrebiniak and Snow (1982) find that the process of interaction and participation among the top management team typically leads to greater commitment to the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s goals and strategies. This, in turn, serves to ensure the successful implementation of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s chosen strategy (cited in Dess Priem, 1995). Smith and Kofron (1996) believe that top managers play a critical role in the implementation not just the formulation of strategy. 2.3.3.2 Middle management We can divide the viewpoints and approaches regarding middle managements effect on strategy implementation into three categories: The first one emphasizes the match of strategy and middle managers leadership style (Gupta Govindarajan, 1984; Guth MacMillan, 1986; Govindarajan, 1989; Judge Stahl, 1995; Heracleous, 2000). This viewpoint assumes that personality is the primary determinant of strategy implementation actions. The second perspective considers the effect of context on behavior (Waldersee Sheather, 1996). The third one analyzes the impact of relationships between top management and middle management on strategy implementation (Wooldridge Floyd, 1990, 1992b, 1997; Qi, 2005). There are also studies that have examined the ambiguous relationships between top management and middle management in the context of strategy implementation: On the one hand, middle managers expect direction and support from their top management. If they receive this guidance, then they will provide s upport for the strategy in return. One of the key factors determining their level of support is their demographic situation (such as age, gender, educational background, and business experience) (Qi, 2005). On the other hand, top management should expect middle-level managers to question strategic decisions (Wooldridge Floyd, 1990). Middle managers expect top management direction, but frequently feel that they are in a better position to start and evaluate alternative courses of action. Wooldridge Floyd (1992b) consequently classify middle management involvement in strategy into four types: championing alternatives, synthesizing information, facilitating adaptability and implementing deliberate strategy. The first two represent upward forms of involvement, while the last two are downward forms. Floyd Wooldridge (1997) investigate the relationships between middle managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ formal position, their strategic influence and organizational performance. 2.3.3.3 Lower management and non-management Unfortunately, few authors study the impact of lower management and non-management on strategy implementation. Gronroos (1985) believes that an organization must first persuade its employees about the importance of the strategy before turning to customers (cited in: Rapert Lynch Suter, 1996). Alexander (1985) suggests that there are many problems which over half of the corporations experienced frequently, such as the involved employees have insufficient capabilities to perform their jobs, lower-level employees are inadequately trained, and departmental managers provide inadequate leadership and direction. These three are the most frequent strategy implementation problems in relation to human resource. Line-level employees may use delay or prevent attempts toward change that they find particularly threatening or disagreeable. Nutt (1986) suggests that managerial tactics and leadership style can play a crucial role in overcoming the lower-level obstructionism that is prevalent (to so me degree) in many implementation efforts. Strategic decisions are nevertheless formulated by senior-level managers of the firm and then administratively imposed on lower-level management and non-management employees with little consideration of the resulting functional-level perceptions (Nutt, 1987). If lower-level management and non- management personnel are not aware of the same information, or if information must pass through several (management) layers in the organization, consensus regarding that information may never come about. Thus, the lack of shared knowledge with lower-level management and non-management employees creates a barrier to successful strategy implementation (Noble, 1999b). 2.3.4 Communication Forman and Argenti (2005) rightly note that, although an entire discipline is devoted to the study of organizational strategy, including strategy implementation; little attention has been given to the links between communication and strategy. But Forman and Argenti also note that business communication researchers have become increasingly interested in the contribution of corporate communication to a companys ability to create and disseminate its strategy in the last decade. However, very few authors have investigated the link between corporate communication and strategy, and when they have their focus has primarily been on how corporate communication affects the firms relationship with its various stakeholders. At least, numerous researchers have already emphasized the importance of communication for the process of strategy implementation (Alexander, 1985; Rapert Wren, 1998; Peng Litteljohn, 2001; Heide Grà ¸nhaug Johannessen, 2002; Rapert Velliquette Garretson, 2002; Forma n Argenti, 2005; Schaap, 2006). Rapert and Wren (1998) find that organizations where employees have easy access to management through open and supportive communication climates tend to outperform those with more restrictive communication environments. 2.3.5 Implementation tactics Bourgeois à Ã‚ ¨ and Brodwin (1984) examine five process approaches used to advance strategy implementation: Commander model, Change model, Collaborative model, Cultural model, Crescive model. The first approach addresses strategic position only, and should guide the CEO in charting a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s future. The CEO can use economic and competitive analyses to plan resource allocations to achieve his goals. The change model emphasizes how the organizational structure, incentive compensation, control systems and so forth can be used to facilitate the implementation of a strategy. The collaborative model concentrates on group decision-making at a senior level and involves top management in the formulation process to ensure commitment. The fourth approach tries to implement strategy through the use of a corporate culture. The final approach draws on managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ inclinations to want to develop new opportunities as see them in the course of their day-to-day management. The first three models assume implementation as after-the-fact. This implies that the number of strategy developers is few and that the rest of the organization is somehow manipulated or cajoled into implementation. For the latter two models, most of the energy is used for strategy formulation and the strategy requires relatively little effort in its implementation. Lehner (2004) takes implementation tactics as genuine organizational behavior based on the assumption that implementation in general is dependent on the environment, and various strategic and organizational variables. 2.3.6 Consensus Many authors focus on the role of consensus for strategy implementation (Nielsen, 1983; Floyd Wooldridge, 1992a; Dess Priem, 1995; Rapert Lynch Suter, 1996; Noble, 1999b; Dooley Fryxell Judge, 2000). Nielsen (1983) contends that firms must achieve consensus both within and outside their organization in order to successfully implement business strategies (Noble, 1999b). The consensus about a companys strategy may differ across levels: If members of the organization are not aware of the same information, or if information passes through different layers in an organization, a lower level of consensus may result. This lack of shared understanding may create obstacles to successful strategy implementation (Noble, 1999b). Floyd and Wooldridge (1992a) label the gulf between strategies conceived by top management and awareness at lower levels as implementation gap. They define strategic consensus as the agreement among top, middle-, and operating-level managers on the fundamental priorities of the organization. Consensus, in their approach, has four levels: strong consensus, blind devotion, informed skepticism and weak consensus. Floyd and Wooldridge argue that strong consensus exists when managers have both, a common understanding of, and a common commitment to their strategy. If, however, managers are committed to something, but do not share an understanding what that something is (they are well-intentioned but ill-informed) blind devotion is the likely result. If, by contrast, managers share an understanding of their strategy, but are not really committed to it, they are well informed yet unwilling to act. Floyd and Wooldridge call this realistic condition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾informed skepticismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸. Of course when neither shared understanding nor commitment is high, weak consensus is the likely result. Improving understanding and commitment can close this dangerous implementation gap. 2.3.7 Commitment Shared understanding without commitment may result in counter effort and negatively affect performance (Wooldridge Floyd, 1989, cited in Rapert, Lynch and Suter, 1996). Some authors take shared understanding as a commitment. MacMillan Guth (1985) and McDermott Boyer (1999) all think that the shared understanding of middle management and those at the operational level to the top management teams strategic goals is of critical importance to effective implementation (Rapert Velliquette Garretson, 2002). Strategy implementation efforts may fail if the strategy does not enjoy support and commitment by the majority of employees and middle management. This may be the case if they were not consulted during the development phase (Heracleous, 2000). Alexander (1985) thinks obtaining employee commitment and involvement can promote successful strategy implementation Some CEOs believe that one way to accomplish this is to involve employees and managers right from the start in the strategy fo rmulation process. Involvement and commitment should also be developed and maintained throughout the implementation process. If middle and lower level managers and key subordinates are permitted to be involved with the detailed implementation planning, their commitment will be likely to increase. 2.3.8 Organizational Structure Factors relating to the organizational structure are the second most important implementation barrier according to Heide Gronhaug Johannessenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s (2002) study. Drazin and Howard (1984) see a proper strategy-structure alignment as a necessary precursor to the successful implementation of new business strategies (Noble, 1999b). They point out that changes in the competitive environment require adjustments to the organizational structure. If a firm lags in making this realignment, is may exhibit poor performance and be at a serious competitive disadvantage. Gupta (1987) examines the relationships between SBUs strategies, aspects of the corporate-SBU relationship, and implementation and finds that structures that are more decentralized produce higher levels of SBU effectiveness, regardless of the strategic context. Schaap (2006) also suggests that adjusting organizational structure according to perfect strategy can ensure successful strategy implementation. 2.4 Decision Support Systems So and Smith (2003) stated that a major component of any information system is the individuals that supply, manipulate, access and rely on the system. Individuals information needs and requirements for decision making are the reasons information systems exist. Bounds, Dobbins, and Fowler (1995) defined decision support systems (DSS) as information systems that use decision rules, decision models, a comprehensive database, and the decision makers own insights in an interactive computer-based process to assist in making specific decisions. Pourvakhshouri and Mansor (2003) stated DSS is a well established area of information system applications, which assists the decision makers to derive an in-time, efficient solution. A DSS may also be defined as an integrated, interactive and flexible computer system that supports all phases of decision making with a user-friendly interface, data and expert knowledge (Fabbri, 1998 in Pourvakhshouri Mansor, 2003). Majchrzak and Gasser (2000) indicate d that TOP-MODELER can help managers in overcoming the burden of strategic decision making in their daily business operations. The system also assists the managers to understand their organization structure in gaining closest relationship possible. Ulvila and Brown (1991) stated that decision tree analysis is the oldest and most widely used form of decision analysis. Managers have used it in making business decisions. On the other hand, Heenan and Addleman (1991) proposed that mangers to use multivariate analysis (MVA), the quantitative methods can help to evaluate the complex and intangible factors that influence consumers. Moreover, MVA had been used for application to business problems in consumer packaged goods and services sector. 2.5 Decision Approach Decision making style of managers can be classified based on their approach towards the problem that they tried to solve. Barton and Martin (1994) stated that various models of decision style being adopted such as rational model, non-rational model, satisficing model, incremental model, and garbage-can model. Basically, these models are based on the individual managers perspective toward decision making. First, rational model suggested that managers engage in completely rational decision processes, ultimately make optimal decision, and possess and understand all information relevant to their decisions at the time they make them. Second, non-rational model suggests that information-gathering and -processing limitations make it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions. Third, satisficing model suggests that managers seek alternatives only until they find one that looks satisfactory, rather than seeking the optimal decision. Fourth, incremental model stated that managers make th e smallest response possible that will reduce the problem to at least a tolerable level. Finally, garbage-can model stated that managers behave in virtually a random pattern in making non programmed decisions. Basi (1988) identified that decision style is influenced by organizational culture; which will lead to decision making. So and Smith (2003) indicated that differences in decision makers cognitive styles, cognitive abilities and personality are important factors in decision making and performance. Further, the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) (Myers and McCaulley, 1985 in So and Smith, 2003) is used to determine cognitive styles along two basic dimensions, perception (information acquisition), and judgment (data processing and evaluation). MBTI categorizes individuals as sensors or intuitors in the perception dimension; and MBTI classifies individuals as thinking or feeling types in judgment dimension. Rausch (2003) indicated that managers leadership roles need to consider 8 suggested questions as they develop a plan, solve a problem, meet a cha