Nba Lockout

EPPENGER, JALIL MS. HARRIS ENGLISH 10/3/11 #1. ( why the NBA Lockout hasn’t been a success? ) NBA LOCKOUT I feel the NBA Lockout has been one of the worst, incidents to ever happen, in the history of the NBA. It hasn’t made fans happy and the players in the league have been upset too. I’ve noticed that NBA players have tried to overcome this situation by having different leagues, not associated with the NBA to play in. This has shown there passion and love of the game.The NBA lockout has motivated some players and humbled a lot of them. I noticed that a lot of players have kept working hard and are staying on top of their game throughout this puzzling time. I feel the NBA lockout polarized the summer for NBA basketball. There was nothing to look forward to besides European basketball in the summer. The NFL was able to overcome its problems with contracts and business deals and end their lockout before the season started.I don’t understand why the NBA canâ €™t figure their problem out. The NBA doesn’t have nearly the fan base of the NFL. The severe shortage of the season will really hurt the NBA, much more than the NFL. The last NBA lockout was in 1998-99 season. The year Michael Jordan retired for the second time in his career. It was a horrible time also for the NBA much like this one. This also tarnished the sport of basketball. I wouldn’t be surprised if some NBA players left the NBA to play overseas.The game overseas is more orchestrated, hard-nosed, and skill orientated from what I’ve seen. The NBA is more about star-power and athleticism. I feel a lot of role players in the NBA would flourish more overseas, because they can be given the opportunity to showcase their skills, and gain some recognition for themselves. Overall, I feel the NBA and their players’ association will bargain together to make a productive agreement to resolve this problem just like the NFL did. it will just take longer and be more time consuming.

Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide

CFML_A01v3. QXD 8/6/08 3:51 PM Page 1 Lecturer’s Guide Corporate Financial Management Fourth edition Glen Arnold For further lecturer material please visit: www. pearsoned. co. uk/arnold ISBN 978-0-273-71064-6  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 Lecturers adopting the main text are permitted to download and copy this guide as required. CFML_A01v3. QXD 8/6/08 3:51 PM Page 2 Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies around the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www. pearsoned. co. uk ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– First published under the Financial TimesPitman Publishing imprint in 1998 Second edition published 2002 Third edition published 2005 Fourth edition published 2008  © Financial Times Professional Limited 1998  © Pearson Education Limited 2002, 2005, 2008 The right of Glen Arnold to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN-978-0-273-71064-6 All rights reserved. Permission is hereby given for the material in this publication to be reproduced for OHP transparencies and student handouts, without express permission of the Publishers, for educational purposes only.In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd. , Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers.CFML_A01v3. QXD 8/5/08 4:16 PM Page 3 CONTENTS Preface Location of answers to questions and problems SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL FOR CHAPTERS Chapter 1 The financial world Chapter 2 Project appraisal: Net present value and internal rate of return Chapter 3 Project appraisal: Cash flow and applications Chapter 4 The decision-making process for investment appraisal Chapter 5 Project appraisal: Capital rationing, taxation and inflation Chapter 6 Risk and project appraisal Chapter 7 Portfolio theory Chapter 8 The capital asset pricing model and multi-factor models Chapter 9 Stock markets Chapter 10 Raising equity capitalChapter 11 Long-term debt finance Chapter 12 Short-term and medium-term finance Chapter 13 Treasury and working capital management Chapter 14 Stock market efficiency Chapter 15 Value management Chapter 16 Strategy and value Chapter 17 Value-creat ion metrics Chapter 18 Entire firm value measurement Chapter 19 The cost of capital Chapter 20 Valuing shares Chapter 21 Capital structure Chapter 22 Dividend policy Chapter 23 Mergers Chapter 24 Derivatives Chapter 25 Managing exchange-rate risk  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 5 6 7 10 14 20 24 29 33 38 40 43 47 51 54 58 59 64 66 72 74 77 81 84 86 91 96 3 CFML_A01v3.QXD 8/5/08 4:16 PM Page 4 Supporting resources Visit www. pearsoned. co. uk/arnold to find valuable online resources Companion Website for students ? Learning objectives for each chapter ? Multiple-choice questions with instant feedback to help test your learning ? Weblinks to relevant, specific Internet resources to facilitate in-depth independent research ? A wide selection of FT articles, additional to those found in the book, to provide real-world examples of financial decision making in practice ? Interactive online flashcards that allow the reader to check definitions against the key terms during revision Sear chable online glossary For instructors ? Complete, downloadable Instructor’s Manual including answers for all question material in the book ? A brand new set of over 800 PowerPoint slides that can be downloaded and used as OHTs Also: The regularly maintained Companion Website provides the following features: ? Search tool to help locate specific items of content ? E-mail results and profile tools to send results of quizzes to instructors ? Online help and support to assist with website usage and troubleshooting For more information please contact your local Pearson Education sales representative or visit www. earsoned. co. uk/arnold CFML_A01v3. QXD 8/5/08 4:16 PM Page 5 PREFACE This Guide is designed to assist lecturers and tutors using Corporate Financial Management fourth edition. Supplementary material for chapters For each chapter: †¢ The learning outcomes are outlined. †¢ Key points and concepts are listed. †¢ Solutions to selected numerical problems (thos e marked with an asterisk in the main book) are provided. Note that there is often more than one possible correct solution to a problem. Different answers, which nevertheless follow the logic of the argument presented in the text, may be acceptable.Overhead projector transparency masters Also available on the website in PowerPoint ® for downloading are over 800 selected figures, tables and key points reproduced in a form suitable for creating overhead projector transparency masters. These are arranged in the order in which they appear in Corporate Financial Management. The learning objectives and summary points from the chapters are also included. Glen Arnold  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 5 CFML_A01v3. QXD 8/5/08 4:16 PM Page 6 LOCATION OF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS (No answers given to those in final column)Chapter No Answered in Appendix VII Answered in Lecturer’s Guide 1 Essay answer required (see text) All (see note in Appendix VII) 2 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 3, 7 3 1 , 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14 4 1, 2, 4, 5 3 5 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 4, 7, 8 6 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 2, 3, 12 7 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 4, 5, 6, 14a, b, c 8 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 6, 7, 8, 9 14d 2, 6, 11 9 1–11 10 12 8 1–7, 9–11, 13–19 11 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16 7 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17–20 12 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11 5, 12 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 13 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 3a, 6, 8, 23, 25a , 3b, 11, 12, 13–22, 24, 25b, 25c 14 2 15 8, 9 1, 3–17 7, 10 16 1–6 1–4 17 1, 5, 6, 7 18 1, 2 19 2, 3 1 20 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 8, 10 1, 2 21 2, 3, 6a, 9 1 4, 5, 6b, 7, 8 22 4, 5, 8 23 6 1, 3, 4, 5 2, 7, 8, 9 24 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 6, 8, 9 11, 12, 13 25 1, 2, 7, 8a, 10, 11 4, 9 3, 4b, 5, 6, 8b 6 2, 3, 4, 4a 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 7  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH01v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:25 Page 7 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL FOR CHAPTERS Chapter 1 THE FINANCIAL WORLD L EARNING OUTCOMES It is no good learning mathe matical techniques and theory if you lack an overview of what finance is about.At the end of this chapter the reader will have a balanced perspective on the purpose and value of the finance function, at both the corporate and national level. More specifically, the reader should be able to:  ¦ describe alternative views on the purpose of the business and show the importance to any organisation of clarity on this point;  ¦ describe the impact of the divorce of corporate ownership from day-to-day managerial control;  ¦ explain the role of the financial manager;  ¦ detail the value of financial intermediaries;  ¦ show an appreciation of the function of the major financial institutions and markets. K EY POINTS AND CONCEPTS Firms should clearly define the objective of the enterprise to provide a focus for decision making.  ¦ Sound financial management is necessary for the achievement of all stakeholder goals.  ¦ Some stakeholders will have their returns satisfied – gi ven just enough to make their contribution. One (or more) group(s) will have their returns maximised – given any surplus after all others have been satisfied.  ¦ The assumed objective of the firm for finance is to maximise shareholder wealth. Reasons: – practical, a single objective leads to clearer decisions; – the contractual theory; – survival in a competitive world; it is better for society; – counters the tendency of managers to pursue goals for their own benefit; – they own the firm.  ¦ Maximising shareholder wealth is maximising purchasing power or maximising the flow of discounted cash flow to shareholders over a long time horizon.  ¦ Profit maximisation is not the same as shareholder wealth maximisation. Some factors a profit comparison does not allow for are: – future prospects; – risk; – accounting problems;  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 7 CFML_CH01v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:25 Page 8 Glen Arnold, Corporat e Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition – communication; – additional capital. Corporate governance. Large corporations usually have a separation of ownership and control. This may lead to managerialism where the agent (the managers) take decisions primarily with their interests in mind rather than those of the principals (the shareholders). This is a principal-agent problem. Some solutions: – link managerial rewards to shareholder wealth improvement; – sackings; – selling shares and the takeover threat; – corporate governance regulation; – improve information flow.  ¦ The efficiency of production and the well-being of consumers can be improved with the introduction of money to a barter economy. Financial institutions and markets encourage growth and progress by mobilising savings and encouraging investment.  ¦ Financial managers contribute to firms’ success primarily through investment and finance decis ions. Their knowledge of financial markets, investment appraisal methods, treasury and risk management techniques are vital for company growth and stability.  ¦ Financial institutions encourage the flow of saving into investment by acting as brokers and asset transformers, thus alleviating the conflict of preferences between the primary investors (households) and the ultimate borrowers (firms). Asset transformation is the creation of an intermediate security with characteristics appealing to the primary investor to attract funds, which are then made available to the ultimate borrower in a form appropriate to them. Types of asset transformation: – risk transformation; – maturity transformation; – volume transformation.  ¦ Intermediaries are able to transform assets and encourage the flow of funds because of their economies of scale vis-a-vis the individual investor: – efficiencies in gathering information; – risk spreading; – transaction costs.  ¦The secondary markets in financial securities encourage investment by enabling investor liquidity (being able to sell quickly and cheaply to another investor) while providing the firm with long-term funds.  ¦ The financial services sector has grown to be of great economic significance in the UK. Reasons: – high income elasticity; – international comparative advantage.  ¦ The financial sector has shown remarkable dynamism, innovation and adaptability over the last three decades. Deregulation, new technology, globalisation and the rapid development of new financial products have characterised this sector. Banking sector: – Retail banks – high-volume and low-value business. – Wholesale banks – low-volume and high-value business. Mostly fee based. – International banks – mostly Eurocurrency transactions. – Building societies – still primarily small deposits aggregated for mortgage lending. – Fina nce houses – hire purchase, leasing, factoring. 8  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH01v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:25 Page 9 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition  ¦ Long-term savings institutions: – Pension funds – major investors in financial assets. Insurance funds – life assurance and endowment policies provide large investment funds.  ¦ The risk spreaders: – Unit trusts – genuine trusts which are open-ended investment vehicles. – Investment trusts – companies which invest in other companies’ financial securities, particularly shares. – Open-ended investment companies (OEICs) – a hybrid between unit and investment trusts.  ¦ The risk takers: – Private equity funds – invest in companies not quoted on a stock exchange. – Hedge funds – wide variety of investment or speculative strategies outside regulators’ control.  ¦ The markets: The money markets are short-term wholesale lending and/or borrowing markets. – The bond markets deal in long-term bond debt issued by corporations, governments, local authorities and so on, and usually have a secondary market. – The foreign exchange market – one currency is exchanged for another. – The share market – primary and secondary trading in companies’ shares takes place on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange, techMARK and the Alternative Investment Market. – The derivatives market – LIFFE (Euronext. liffe) dominates the ‘exchange-traded’ derivatives market in options and futures.However there is a flourishing over-the-counter market. There are no numerical questions in this chapter; answers may be found from reading the text.  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 9 CFML_CH02v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 10 Chapter 2 PROJECT APPRAISAL: NET PRESENT VALUE AND INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN L EARNING OUTCOMES By the end of the chapter the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental theoretical justifications for using discounted cash flow techniques in analysing major investment decisions, based on the concepts of the time value of money and the opportunity cost of capital.More specifically the student should be able to:  ¦ calculate net present value and internal rate of return;  ¦ show an appreciation of the relationship between net present value and internal rate of return;  ¦ describe and explain at least two potential problems that can arise with internal rate of return in specific circumstances;  ¦ demonstrate awareness of the propensity for management to favour a percentage measure of investment performance and be able to use the modified internal rate of return. KEY POINTS AND CONCEPTS  ¦ Time value of money has three component parts each requiring compensation for a delay in the receipt of cash: the pure time value, or impatience to consume, – inflation, – risk.  ¦ Opportunity cost of capital is the yield forgone on the best available investment alternative – the risk level of the alternative being the same as for the project under consideration.  ¦ Taking account of the time value of money and opportunity cost of capital in project appraisal leads to discounted cash flow analysis (DCF).  ¦ Net present value (NPV) is the present value of the future cash flows after netting out the initial cash flow. Present values are achieved by discounting at the opportunity cost of capital.NPV = CF0 +  ¦ (1 + k)2 + †¦ CFn (1 + k)n 0 accept 0 reject CF1 1+r + CF2 (1 + r)2 + †¦ CFn (1 + r)n =0 The internal rate of return decision rule is: IRR IRR 10 CF2 Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate which, when applied to the cash flows of a project, results in a zero net present value. It is an ‘r’ which results in the following formula being true: CF0 +  ¦ 1+k + Th e net present value decision rules are: NPV NPV  ¦ CF1 opportunity cost of capital – accept opportunity cost of capital – reject  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH02v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 11Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition  ¦ IRR is poor at handling situations of unconventional cash flows. Multiple solutions can be the result.  ¦ There are circumstances when IRR ranks one project higher than another, whereas NPV ranks the projects in the opposite order. This ranking problem becomes an important issue in situations of mutual exclusivity.  ¦ The IRR decision rule is reversed for financing-type decisions.  ¦ NPV measures in absolute amounts of money. IRR is a percentage measure.  ¦ IRR assumes that intra-project cash flows can be invested at a rate of return equal to the IRR.This biases the IRR calculation.  ¦ If a percentage measure is required, perhaps for communication within an organisation, th en the modified internal rate of return (MIRR) is to be preferred to the IRR. ANSWERS TO SELECTED QUESTIONS 3 Confused plc a Project C IRRs at 12. 1% and 286%. See Fig. 2. 1. NPV + 12. 1 – 286 Discount rate Fig. 2. 1 Project D No solution using IRR. See Fig. 2. 2. + NPV Discount rate – Fig. 2. 2 b This problem illustrates two disadvantages of the IRR method. In the case of project C multiple solutions are possible, given the non-conventional cash flow.In the case of project D there is no solution, no IRR where NPV = 0. c NPV Project C: +? 646 Project D: –? 200 Using NPV the accept/reject decision is straightforward. Project C is accepted and Project D is rejected.  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 11 CFML_CH02v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 12 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition 7 Seddet International a Project A At 20%: –5,266 + 2,500 ? 2. 1065 = 0, ? IRR = 20% Project B At 7%: –8,000 + 10,000 ? 0. 8163 = +163 At 8%: –8,000 + 10,000 ? 0. 7938 = –62 IRR = 7 + 163 163 + 62 (8 – 7) = 7. 7% Project CAt 22%: –2,100 + 200 ? 0. 8197 + 2,900 ? 0. 6719 = +12. 45 At 23%: –2,100 + 200 ? 0. 8130 + 2,900 ? 0. 6610 = –20. 5 IRR = 22 + 12. 45 12. 45 + 20. 5 (23 – 22) = 22. 4% Project D At 16%: –1,975 + 1,600 ? 0. 8621 + 800 ? 0. 7432 = –1 ? IRR is slightly under 16%. The IRR exceeds the hurdle rate of 16% in the case of A and C. Therefore if all projects can be accepted these two should be undertaken. b Ranking under IRR: Project Project Project Project C A D B IRR 22. 4% 20% 16% 7. 7% best project c Project A –5,266 + 2,500 ? 2. 2459 = 349 Project B –8,000 + 10,000 ? 0. 6407 = –1,593 Project C 2,100 + 200 + 0. 8621 + 2,900 ? 0. 7432 = 228 Project D –1,975 + 1,600 ? 0. 8621 + 800 ? 0. 7432 = –1 12  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH02v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 13 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financia l Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition Ranking Project A Project C Project D Project B NPV 349 best project 228 –1 –1,593 Project A ranks higher than project C using NPV because it generates a larger surplus (value) over the required rate of return. NPV measures in absolute amounts of money and because project A is twice the size of project C it creates a greater NPV despite a lower IRR. This report should comment on the meaning of a positive or negative NPV expressed in everyday language. It should mention the time value of money and opportunity cost of capital and explain their meanings. Also the drawbacks of IRR should be discussed:  ¦ multiple solutions;  ¦ ranking problem – link with the contrast of a percentage-based measure and an absolute moneybased measure;  ¦ additivity not possible;  ¦ the reinvestment assumption is flawed.  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 13 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 14 Chapter 3 PROJECT APPRAISAL: CAS H FLOW AND APPLICATIONS LEARNING OUTCOMESBy the end of this chapter the reader will be able to identify and apply relevant and incremental cash flows in net present value calculations. The reader will also be able to recognise and deal with sunk costs, incidental costs and allocated overheads and be able to employ this knowledge to the following:  ¦ the replacement decision/the replacement cycle;  ¦ the calculation of annual equivalent annuities;  ¦ the make or buy decision;  ¦ optimal timing of investment;  ¦ fluctuating output situations. KEY POINTS AND CONCEPTS  ¦ Raw data have to be checked for accuracy, reliability, timeliness, expense of collection, etc.  ¦Depreciation is not a cash flow and should be excluded.  ¦ Profit is a poor substitute for cash flow. For example, working capital adjustments may be needed to modify the profit figures for NPV analysis.  ¦ Analyse on the basis of incremental cash flows. That is, the difference between the cash flows arisin g if the project is implemented and the cash flows if the project is not implemented: – opportunity costs associated with, say, using an asset which has an alternative employment are relevant; – incidental effects, that is, cash flow effects throughout the organisation, should be considered along with the obvious direct effects; sunk costs – costs which will not change regardless of the decision to proceed are clearly irrelevant; – allocated overhead is a non-incremental cost and is irrelevant; – interest should not be double counted by both including interest as a cash flow and including it as an element in the discount rate.  ¦ The replacement decision is an example of the application of incremental cash flow analysis.  ¦ Annual equivalent annuities (AEA) can be employed to estimate the optimal replacement cycle for an asset under certain restrictive assumptions. The lowest common multiple (LCM) method is sometimes employed for short-lived as sets. Whether to repair the old machine or sell it and buy a new machine is a very common business dilemma. Incremental cash flow analysis helps us to solve these types of problems. Other applications include the timing of projects, the issue of fluctuating output and the make or buy decision. 14  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 15 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition A NSWERS TO SELECTED QUESTIONS 4 Mercia plc a Proposal 1 Consultant’s fee – sunk cost Central overhead – irrelevant Depreciation – irrelevant Time (years) ?000s 0Earthmoving Construction Ticket sales Operational costs Council Senior management Opportunity cost Cash flows –1,650 3>? 2 –100 –1,650 Discounted Cash flows 1 –150 –1,400 –200 +600 –100 –100 –50 +600 –100 –50 +150 0 +450 150 (1. 1)2 450/0. 1 (1. 1)2 + NPV = + ? 2. 193m Propos al 2 Central overhead (? 70,000) – irrelevant Consultants fees (? 50,000) – sunk cost Time (years) ?000s 0 1 2 3 –100 5,000 –4,000 –400 –100 5,000 –4,000 –400 –100 Design & build Revenue Operating costs Equipment Executive Opportunity cost Sale of club –9,000 Cash flow –9,100 –100 Discounted cash flow –9,100 –100 1. 1 –100 +11,000 500 + 500 (1. 1)2 +11,500 + 11,500 (1. 1)3 NPV = –? 137,566 Recommendation: accept proposal 1 IRR Proposal 1: 20. 2% Proposal 2: 9. 4%  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 15 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 16 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition 5 Mines International plc a Survey – sunk cost Time (years) ?m Profit (loss) Add depreciation Capital equipment Survey 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 0 –4. 75 –2. 1 0 –4. 75 0. 30 3. 9 2. 0 4. 7 2. 0 4. 7 2. 0 2. 9 2. 0 1. 5 0 0 0 2. 0 –2. 0 2. 0 2. 25 –0. 25 2. 25 2. 25 0 2. 25 1. 75 +0. 50 1. 75 0 +1. 75 0. 125 0. 125 0. 125 0. 10 0 –0. 25 0. 10 0 –0. 10 Debtor adjustment: Opening debtors Closing debtors Creditor adjustment Opening creditors Closing creditors 0 0. 15 +0. 15 Overheads Hire cost Cash reserves Government refund Cash flow Discounted cash flow 0. 2 0. 15 0. 10 0. 10 0. 125 –0. 05 +0. 025 0. 2 0. 2 –0. 1 0. 2 –1. 0 5. 125 0. 2 +1. 0 +0. 2 –5. 75 –5. 75 –6. 20 4. 05 6. 575 6. 9 8. 075 1. 85 –6. 20 + 4. 05 + 6. 575 + 6. 9 + 8. 075 + 1. 85 1. 12 (1. 12)2 (1. 12)3 (1. 12)4 (1. 12)5 (1. 12)5. 125 = –5. 75 – 5. 536 + 3. 229 + 4. 680 + 4. 385 + 4. 582 + 1. 035 = ? 6. 625m The maximum which MI should bid in the auction is ? . 625m. This additional cash outflow at time zero would result in a return of 12% being obtained. (Some students may time the final debtor and creditor payments at time 5. 25 as time 6. ) b IRR = 29. 4%. c Poin ts to be covered:  ¦ Time value of money.  ¦ Opportunity cost of money for a given risk class.  ¦ Sunk cost.  ¦ Treatment of depreciation.  ¦ Allocated overhead treatment.  ¦ Cash injections.  ¦ Hire cost – opportunity cost. Comparison of NPV with other project appraisal methods: Advantages over IRR: – measures in absolute amounts of money; – ranking problem; – multiple solution problem. 16 Pearson Education Limited 2008 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 17 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition  ¦ Advantages over payback: – time value of money allowed for; – all cash flows considered; – cash flows within pay back period considered properly.  ¦ Advantages over ARR: – firm theoretical base, time value of money; – defined decision criteria. 7 Reds plc One-year cycle: Time (years) 0 1 –10,000 –12,000 8,000 – 4,000 NPV = –10,000  œ 4,000 ? 0. 9009 = –13,604 AEA = –13,604 0. 9009 = –? 15,100 Two-year cycle: Time (years) 0 1 2 –10,000 –12,000 –13,000 ,500 –6,500 NPV = –10,000 – 12,000 ? 0. 9009 – 6,500 ? 0. 8116 = –26,086 AEA = –26,086 1. 7125 = –? 15,233 Three-year cycle: Time (years) 0 1 2 3 –10,000 –12,000 –13,000 –14,000 3,500 –10,500 NPV = –10,000 – 12,000 ? 0. 9009 – 13,000 ? 0. 8116 – 10,500 ? 0. 7312 = –39,039 AEA = –39,039 2. 4437 = –? 15,975 Reds should replace the machinery on a one-year cycle.  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 17 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 18 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition 8 Immediate replacement: Time (years) 0 1>? +4,000 –15,100 +4,000 –15,100 0. 11 = –? 133,273Replacement after one year: Time 0 + 2>? –2,000 –2,00 0 1 3,000 –15,100 0. 9009 – 15,100/0. 11 1. 11 3,000 ? = –? 122,966 Replacement after two years: Time 0 1 2 3>? –2,000 –1,000 +1,500 –15,100 –2,000 –1,000 ? 0. 9009 + 1,500 ? 0. 8116 –15,100/0. 11 (1. 11)2 = –? 113,097 Recommendation: Commence replacement cycle after two years. 10 Curt plc Incremental cash flows Time (years) 0 –70,000 –28,000 28,000 37,000 47,100 68,410 ? ? ? ? ? 0. 8621 0. 7432 0. 6407 0. 5523 0. 4761 2 3 4 5 0 –70,000 100,000 –80,000 –48,000 110,000 –82,000 121,000 –84,000 133,100 –86,000 146,410 –88,000 10,000 –70,000 Current cash flowsNew plan 1 –28,000 28,000 37,000 47,100 68,410 = = = = = = –70,000 –24,139 20,810 23,706 26,013 32,570 8,960 The positive incremental NPV indicates that acceptance of the proposal to manufacture in-house would add to shareholder wealth. 18  © Pearson Education Limited 200 8 CFML_CH03v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:26 Page 19 Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management Lecturer’s Guide, 4th edition Other factors: some possibilities The relative bargaining strength of Curt and its supplier. Perhaps a search for another supplier would be wise. Perhaps it would be possible to negotiate a multi-year price agreement.Are there some other incidental effects Curt has not considered, e. g. factory space usage? 12 Netq plc Output per year: 1,000 ? 0. 3333 ? 2 1,000 ? 0. 3333 ? 0. 75 ? 2 1,000 ? 0. 3333 ? 0. 5 ? 2 = 667 500 333 1,500 Cost of annual output 1,500 ? ?4 = ? 6,000 PV = 6,000/0. 13 = ? 46,154 Both machines replaced: Annual costs 1,500 ? ?1. 80 = ? 2,700 PV = 14,000 + 2,700 0. 13 = ? 34,769 One machine is replaced: Old Output: first third of year second third of year last third of year New 333. 3 166. 7 0 500 333. 3 333. 3 333. 3 1,000 Annual costs 500 ? 4 + 1,000 ? 1. 8 = ? 3,800 PV = 7,000 + 3,800 = ? 6,231 0. 13 The lowest cost option is to replace both m achines. 14 Opti plc Costs One-year replacement: PV = 20,000 – 6,000/1. 1 = 14,545 AEA = 14,545/0. 9091 = 16,000 Two-year replacement: PV = 20,000 + 6,000/1. 1 – 1,000/(1. 1)2 = 24,629 AEA = 24,629/1. 7355 = 14,191 Three-year replacement: PV = 20,000 + 6,000/1. 1 + 8,000/(1. 1)2 + 4,000/(1. 1)3 = 35,072 AEA = 35,072/2. 4869 = 14,103 Four-year replacement: PV = 20,000 + 6,000/1. 1 + 8,000/(1. 1)2 + 10,000/(1. 1)3 + 10,000/(1. 1)4 = 46,410 AEA = 46,410/3. 1699 = 14,641 The optimal replacement cycle is 3 years.  © Pearson Education Limited 2008 9 CFML_CH04v3. QXD 29/7/08 17:27 Page 20 Chapter 4 THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS FOR INVESTMENT APPRAISAL LEARNING OUTCOMES The main outcome expected from this chapter is that the reader is aware of both traditional and discounted cash flow investment appraisal techniques and the extent of their use. The reader should also be aware that these techniques are a small part of the overall capital-allocation planning process. The studen t is expected to gain knowledge of:  ¦ the empirical evidence on techniques used;  ¦ the calculation of payback, discounted payback and accounting rate of return (ARR);

Banana as a Natural Superdisintegrant

Banana as a Natural Superdisintegrant The objective of the study was to evaluate banana powder as a superdisintegrant for the formulation of oral disintegrating tablets and to compare the results with commonly used superdisintegrants like croscarmellose sodium, pre gelatinised starch and sodium starch glycolate. Oral disintegrating tablets containing Domperidone as the model drug were formulated using five different concentrations of each superdisintegrant (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% & 10%) and compressed by direct compression. The formulations were subjected to various evaluation studies such as wetting time, water absorption ratio, disintegration time and in-vitro dissolution. The results showed that the disintegration time and drug release of the formulation containing banana powder (6%) was comparable to other super disintegrants. The IR spectrum analysis demonstrated that banana powder was compatible with the drug. These results suggest that banana powder can be used effectively as a superdisintegrant in orally disintegrating tablet formulations. Banana, is a natural product which is available in plenty, economically affordable and has its own nutritional value. It can be used as a potential additive in the formulation of oro -dispersible tablets. Keyword: orodispersible tablets, superdisintegrants, disintegration time, natural excipients. INTRODUCTION The tablet is the widely used dosage form because of its convenience in terms of self-administration, compactness, and ease in manufacturing. For the past one decade, there has been a demand for more patient-friendly and compliant dosage forms. As a result, the development of new technologies has been increasing annually. Since the cost for development new drug molecule is very high, efforts are now being made by pharmaceutical companies to focus on the development of new drug dosage forms for existing drugs with more safety and efficacy together with reduced dosing frequency, and the production of more cost-effective dosage forms. However, geriatric and p ediatric patients were having difficulty in swallowing conventional tablets, which leads to poor patient compliance. To overcome this problem, scientists have developed innovative drug delivery systems known as â€Å"melt in mouth† or â€Å"mouth dissolve (MD)† or sometimes â€Å"dispersible† tablets. These are novel types of tablets that disintegrate /disperse in saliva. Their characteristic advantages such as administration without water, lead to suitability for the geriatric and pediatric patients. They are also suitable for the bedridden patients, and patients who do not have easy access to water. The advantages, in terms of patient compliance, rapid onset of action, increased bioavailability (in some instances) and comparable stability to conventional tablets make these tablets popular as a dosage form of choice particularly in these populations. Domperidone maleate is a widely used anti-emetic drug, acting by inhibition of the dopaminergic receptor. Domper idone maleate does not cross the blood brain barrier. Domperidone maleate is also effective in gastro paresis, pediatrics gastro esophageal reflux (infant vomiting). Domperidone maleate after oral dosing undergoes extensive gastric and hepatic first pass metabolism resulting in low bioavailability (15%) which therefore, may not minimize the rate of vomiting. In context of the above principles, a strong need was recognized for the development of mouth dissolving tablets of Domperidone maleate to improve its bioavailability for relief on nausea and vomiting. In mouth dissolving tablets, disintegrants plays a major role. A  disintegrant  is a substance in a tablet formulation that enables the tablet to break up into smaller fragments upon contact with gastrointestinal fluids. Such a rapid rupture of the tablet matrix increases the surface area of the tablet particles, thereby increasing the rate of absorption of the active ingredient and decreasing the onset of time to therapeutic effect. A new disintegrant class has emerged during the recent past known as the Superdisintegrant. Superdisintegrants improve disintegrant efficiency resulting in decreased use levels, typically 1-10% by weight relative to total weight of tablet when compared to traditional disintegrants.

Analytical essay about (Heart of Darkness 4th edition ) Research Paper

Analytical essay about (Heart of Darkness 4th edition ) - Research Paper Example The main character of the book is Marlow, who sits on the deck of a ship becalmed on the Thames until the tide should turn within these early pages. The time setting is just at sunset and the imagery that presents itself to the men on the boat seems to naturally put them into a reflective state of mind. The narrator of this early section, identified only by the reflective pronoun 'I', even points out that each of the men were too involved in their own thoughts to be interested in playing a game of dominoes that one of them had brought out. The scene as it presents itself to Marlow calls to mind the deep and disturbing memories and ideas that he gained as a fresh-water sailor working in the Congo. Thus, the imagery of this opening scene does a great deal to inform the reader of the ideas Conrad is trying to convey regarding imperial conquest. As can be seen in the above quote, the scene painted for the reader is not the peaceful image one might expect a writer to create given the calm scene. The men are lying about on a ship's deck with nothing to do. The ship itself is described as calm, "without a flutter of her sails" (Conrad, 1). Within this scene, "the water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds" (Conrad, 2). Even the barges moving upstream are seen as standing relatively motionless by the narrator. "The tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished spirits" (Conrad, 2). Imagining this kind of scene, there seems no room for anything that isn't peaceful and calming. The narrator's words illustrate an almost magical timelessness, a place where nothing unpleasant might harm you. However, there are hints at a darkness lying at the heart of this pleasant scene. These ar e found as the narrator describes the change in color of the sunlight from a "glowing white" to a "dull red without rays and without heat" (Conrad, 2). What this imagery indicates is a place once full of hope and light and an ability to warm others has changed to something incapable of reaching out, cold and sullen. It is so close to lifelessness that it is even threatening to " go out suddenly, stricken to death" (Conrad, 2). Even more of the metaphor is exposed when the narrator identifies the cause of the sun's sudden ailment as "the gloom brooding over a crowd of men" (Conrad, 2). This gloom is present in physical form as the narrator describes the dark gathering in the west, "brooding over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun" (Conrad, 2). Thus, the scene is lovely and peaceful as long as one only chooses to look in specific directions as one direction suggests something ominous. The imagery of light and dark is also broug ht out in direct relation to man and his activities throughout history. As this opening scene is presented, the narrator describes his reverence for the Thames because of the history and greatness that have been carried out with its assistance. "We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs forever, but in the august light of abiding memories" (Conrad, 2). These

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

Banking - Essay Example Alternatively, Cebenoyan and Strahan (2003) investigated how active management of bank credit risk exposure through the loan sales market affected capital structure, lending, profits, and risk in the USA. Their findings were that banks which improve on their ability to manage credit risk may have greater leverage, and subsequently may lend more of their assets to risky borrowers. Sathye's hypothesis was that the mean efficiency scores of Indian banks (i.e., publicly, privately or foreign owned) would be different to each other. Using three groups allowed Sathye to compare all three form s of banks that exist in India. And comparison data can determine if differences in efficiency are in fact real, or due to chance. Using financial ratios as the DV, Sathye also used archival data from the latest available publications for the year 1997-98 compiled by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA, 1999). She used the non-parametric test while the non-parametric approach is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The test itself is suitable in that it is recognized to be robust for efficient frontier estimation. And it is a popular tool for the evaluation of the efficiency of a number of producers. DEA can be used with multiple input and multiple output models also.

Linked -- The New Science of Networks by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi Essay

Linked -- The New Science of Networks by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi - Essay Example The nodes are identified using links that allow us to move from one web page to another with every click. Web pages act as switches that keep the society up to date with current information. Barabasi and his research team realized that in the World Wide Web exist connector nodes, which somehow assemble many more links than other nodes. These connector nodes are often referred as hubs and have a wider range of connection links. Barabasi and his coworkers realized that the structure of World Wide Web is composed of highly interlinked hubs. The topology of the Internet restricts its users’ ability to see everything out there. The World Wide Web contains a number of small scale structures that limit the level to which it can be explored. The internet comprises both hardware and software, and other sub-systems. All these work together with the World Wide Web, establishing a connection that makes it possible to share information. People in this diverse system are by no means insigni ficant. It is because of the genius minds of many scientists that the web exists today. Millions of people work to maintain and monitor components of the system round the clock. DNS server, giant routers and switches, protocols, web browsers are just some of the vital components and elements of the World Wide Web. Terrorist Network The tragic terrorism events of September 11, 2001, caught people’s attention worldwide. Barabasi describes terrorist groups as webs without spiders. A network of terrorists is often small and has few resources; it tends to rely on other means such as the hit-and-run acts of violence. Al-Qaeda, the terrorist network held accountable for many terrorist attacks, was created over a long period. Driven by religious thinking and intolerance to the social and political system, many were attracted to the radical organization over the years. The network extended bit by bit to become a large web without a spider. Al-Qaeda is so well spread and self-sustainin g that even removing Osama bin Laden might not eliminate the danger they create. The terrorist network has become a diverse network that constantly changes its system as per its current plans. It has many secretive nodes that are hard to trace; it is quite challenging to identify the people who comprise its various nodes. Terrorist networks have objectives and links to social networks, which qualifies them to be called systems. Hollywood and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon network Barabasi describes hubs as connectors in scale free networks. The Bacon factor is a popular bit of entertainment trivia, which demonstrates how any Hollywood star can link to actor Kevin Bacon and other actors within six â€Å"moves† between people. This network consists of nodes, actors, producers, animators, writers and other related groups. A link is created every time a new video is produced. The Hollywood network thus offers a clear demonstration of a web, with different hubs and nodes, mostly repre sented by human beings, and links represented by the human relationships. Can we say that human beings are components in some way and that they satisfy a stated idea? The principle of the Hollywood network is to produce films. The public continuously demands new films from Hollywood. However, this seldom happens because the characters rarely act together in all movies. Many work independently minding their own business without affecting other movie productions. The Hollywood ne

Journal 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Journal 2 - Essay Example I also created time to work on my project. On the second day of the week 4, I attended a meeting with the infection control manager who offered updates on the upcoming hand hygiene campaign. During the day, I checked on the customer satisfaction rates and later worked on my project. These activities ensured that I achieved the learning objectives DNP Essentials II (Fitzpatrick & Kazer, 2009). During week 5, I spent 10 hours each day handling different tasks related to the hand hygiene initiative. The most significant activity was the installation of hand sanitizer dispensers, water and soap. Moreover, I participated in creating awareness on the importance of hand hygiene in reducing infections. In the week that followed, there was a noticeable positive effect on the hand hygiene initiative according to my assessment. This enabled me to achieve DNP Essential IV as one of the critical learning objectives. On the second day of week 6, I consulted with my preceptor and continued with the hand hygiene campaign. Notably, I also worked on my assignments (Zaccagnini & White, 2011). During week 7, I attended the infection control department meeting, which placed emphasis on the hand hygiene campaigns and its goals. In addition, I continued with other tasks of ensuring that staff members and patients adhered to the hand hygiene rules. I finished the first day of week 7 with my project after updating my preceptor concerning the hand hygiene initiative. On the second day, the infection control department partnered with the education department in a bid to increase the awareness of the hand hygiene program (Zaccagnini & White, 2011). Later in the day, I handled different tasks related to my project. Notably, all these activities have helped me to achieve DNP Essentials II and

The London Riots of August of 2011 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The London Riots of August of 2011 - Essay Example One of the dangers of the news is that often rumour becomes presented as fact creating a reaction by the public that can turn to undesirable action. While the news provides an important service to the people of a nation, the reports must be accurate and ethical to have the social importance that is needed to create an informed public. Information that has been created to have the highest inflammatory effect in order to create the best possible entertainment for viewers or readers does not provide an accurate service to the public. A recent example of the dissemination of premature information that incited the public to action can be seen through the example of the riots in London during August of 2011. These riots were the result of both police action that people of the area of Tottenham found objectionable and unjust, as well as the reports made by the media that constituted rumours that had yet to be substantiated. Between the erroneous news releases and the reports on various soci al media outlets by eye witnesses who could refute the news reports, protest was made that was not met with adequate response from authorities, finally leading to riots and looting which resulted in death and destruction. In examining the reports made by the BBC and those made by The Guardian, an understanding of varying perspectives can be achieved as the outlets released news on the events that was based on how the information was that interpreted by the journalists. The following paper will first examine the background as perceived from reading various reports and written from the understanding of how those reports become a story in the mind of the reader. The news reports from the BBC will first be examined for their perspective on the riots, followed by the reports made The Guardian that can be compared to the reports from the BBC. Background During the month of August a series of riots and protested were motivated by the shooting death of a 29 year old man named Mark Duggan as attempts were made to arrest him. The incident occurred on 4 August 2011 at the Ferry Lane Bridge next to the Tottenham Hale station and was associated with Operation Trident, a police investigation into crimes associated with guns within the black community. The IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) was put in charge of the investigation of the shooting according to policy after a death that occurred through police involvement. Confusion within the media occurred through erroneous statements that seemed to be intended to quell the resulting violence after the incident. In the end it is possible that the false information did nothing more than to incite a larger backlash as the inconsistencies emerged through eye-witness accounts and retractions from the police department. One of the primary problems occurred as the media was lead to believe that Duggan fired on the police where eye witnessed did not see him fire. On 6 August a peaceful protest was planned that was to be a march from the Broadwater farm to the Tottenham police

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

Feedback - Essay Example nd of the first placement student social work should demonstrate effective use of knowledge, skills and commitment to core values in social work in a given setting in predominantly less complex situations, with supervision and support. They will have demonstrated capacity to work with people and situations where there may not be simple clear-cut solutions. By the end of last placement student social workers should have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and values to work with a range of user groups, and the ability to undertake a range of tasks at a foundation level, the capacity to work with more complex situations; they should be able to work more autonomously, whilst recognising that the final decision will still rest with their supervisor; they will seek appropriate support and supervision. Mimi instructed the children with clarity about the activity and how to care for it afterwards (name and brief instruction on the plastic cup) she displayed patience when reminding the children how much water/seeds where needed. Even after they had completed the task (wanted more seeds) an understanding of the differences in age and ability was reflected in her approach – giving me or less where necessary. Mimi respected the children wishes by allowing then not to participate if they didn’t want to, health and safety was adhered to by Mimi ensuring that hands where washed after the activity and area was swept clean and all traces of debris cleared. I would consider the feedback given by the professional as an apt assessment of my engagement in social work activity throughout my placement period. Indeed, I concur that the instructor guided me well through the activities. We held several close meetings with the qualified social worker, and I must confess it was quite intimate. Never have I engaged a qualified person in his/her field in a close discussion. I would confess it was the first time. Nevertheless, I composed myself and managed to participate objectively

Desktop Publishing for Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Desktop Publishing for Business - Assignment Example The sub-headings to be included, the topics that require to be covered extensively and the ones to be glossed over, have all got to be taken into consideration. DTP offers a lot more flexibility for a person while creating printed materials but the new age student still needs to grasp the importance of learning how to utilise and understand basics of design principle elements like space , texture, value, balance so that he/she can create an effective design layout. Design Principles: What is a design? A design can be said to be â€Å"a plan for arranging elements in such a way as to best accomplish a particular purpose† (Faimon & Weigand 2004: 13). A design is a creation of elements such as line, shape, colour, value and texture and is integrated with principles such as unity, variety, emphasis, balance and scale making it a design principle as a whole. Only when there is a proper integration of both design and principle, we can call it a successful design principle. The desig n principle can be said to be a form of communication through visual means. To communicate effectively, we have to use precise and correct language and likewise in visual communication, the designs we use will determine the efficacy of our communication. An examination of the individual components that make up the design principle in the given brochure, which include balance, white space, contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity reveals balance, in terms of design implies a distribution in visual weight of objects, colours, texture, and space. If we could arrange the designs on a linear scale, then both sides would have to be balance to make the design look and feel stable and if we arrange the design radially, then also the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar. The rule of thirds is another interesting mode of presentation but looks to be more confusing to a layman when compared to the symmetrical and the asymmetrical mode of presentation. The white space is the empty space left between words or in margins. It is the absence of text and graphics. It can help to follow a layout easily, highlight a certain element or help rest the eyes. All the elements of white space have been very effectively portrayed in the BMW brochure and the best way to utilize it has also been communicated. Avoiding rivers of white space and claustrophobic presentation makes the point clear that a design element has to remain uncluttered to be effective and eye-catching. Contrast forms the crux to a dynamic design, which creates visual interest and enhances the organization and hierarchy of your content. Contrast involves making two or more elements very different (e.g. heading and text). The contrasts shown in the brochure proves weak and the effectiveness could have been better if bright colours were used instead of just black and white images. Black and white does create contrast but all the images look repetitive and uninteresting. â€Å"Repetition w orks with pattern to make the artwork seem active† (Principles of Design 2011: 1). Whenever the elements of a design are repeated, the elements of design create symmetry and unity within the artwork. Repeating certain visual elements of the design throughout, improves visual impact, consistency, and strengthens

Current Event- Foxconn Essay Example for Free

Current Event- Foxconn Essay Having a business in the electronic industry is difficult because this industry is very competitive. To stay at the same level as other competitors or rise above, companies have to be more innovative and efficient. Companies are often under pressure to find the lowest-cost providers, and typically are free to look globally. This is where outsourcing and offshoring comes into effect, along with the difficulty in finding balance in the corporation when dealing with different societies and their culture. In order to stay at the same level as other companies or rise above, Apple Inc. outsourced and offshored its jobs to many countries. This article shows that Apple, being a multination corporation (MNC), has a blend of polycentric and regio-centric predisposition management strategies, dealing with human rights and labor practices. Apple at first made management decisions that were tailored to suit the culture, in this case, China; however, over the years, Apple has been scrutinized for their human rights and labor practices due to offshoring and outsourcing of jobs. In 2010 there were numerous amounts of suicides that occurred within the factories that Apple outsourced its jobs to. These suicides were due to bad working and living conditions, which stemmed from 60 hour work weeks, low pay, abuse on the job and countless other reasons. Since Apple subcontracted their business to other companies, in this case Foxconn in China, Foxconn can manage their facility the way they want to, to a certain extent. There are many reasons as to why there have been many suicides at these overseas factories. However, one major contributing factor to the numerous suicides is the abuse that workers deal with. It has been reported that managers of Foxconn have been known to abuse workers for mistakes or missing deadlines. According to Trompeanaars’ cultural dimensions, this abuse could be due to China being a particularistic culture, in which conflicts can arise when doing business with another country which has a universalistic culture. And this is where the obligations of Apple being a MNC comes into play. Does Apple adopt the regulations of the U.S. or those in China? It seems to me that Apple decides to do some of both. Since Apple has many suppliers in different countries, it is only fitting to believe that Apple is changing its’ management decisions, concentrating on human rights and labor practices, towards region-centric strategies for profitability and public acceptance. Some of the more difficult to understand or solve ethical problems occur as corporations do business in other societies where ethical standards differ from those at home. This article also ties into corporate social responsibility (CSR). As a response to the many suicides in 2010, Apple created the Supplier Responsibility Progress Report to help drive the change that needed to occur in the ethical aspect of the company. This report consisted of: driving change, empowering employees, protecting foreign contract workers, preventing underage labor, monitoring compliance (through audits), responding to suicides, holding suppliers accountable, and moving forward. To further enhance the company’s CSR, in March, Apple and its Foxconn supplier reached an agreement to increase wages from 16 to 25 percent, and to improve working conditions for the 1.2 million workers assembling Apple products. Since Apple Inc has outsourced and offshored the business to other companies, it continues to deal with ethical issues the most. Although Apple has created and implemented policies to bring more balance between the different societies and cultures, there will still be issues because there is no universally adopted standard for what is acceptable behavior. However, since Apple is considered a top leader in the electronic industry, implementation of improved labor practices and human rights can help other western companies to bring about change; as well as how they do business in not only China, but other countries where there are difficulties in dealing with different societies and cultures.

Construction of a Membership Table Essay Example for Free

Construction of a Membership Table Essay The current system that Project use is a manual system and it has proved inefficient, and very easy to lose. Therefore, I propose a computerised database system. Package V Programming Solution For ease, and speed of use, I propose to use the package option. I choose this because the options for everything the database needs are already there, and rather than waste time trying to find a way to make these options in my own programming solution, I will save much time and effort using the package MS ACCESS 97. Also, my programming skills are next to nothing. The Package: Advantages: * Easier to learn as very little programming is involved * The tools for creating the user interface are already available, built into the program which makes construction of the database far quicker. Disadvantages * Depending on the package, this option could be far more difficult, due to problems such as a lack of flexibility, lack of options etc. The self-programmed solution Advantages: * Program will be specific all options can be created so that it will do exactly what it needs to do. Disadvantages: * Will take longer to program * I cant program Data Requirements The data I will require falls into two different categories: member and supplier. The data required will vary depending on which category it falls into. Member Supplier Name of member (e.g. Joe Bloggs) Date of members birth in format of DD/MM/YY (e.g. 24/07/84) Date of registration of membership in format of DD/MM/YY (e.g. 12/06/01) Members full address Members telephone number Name of supplier (e.g. Flip) Name of product sold (e.g. Tom Penny New Wave) Type of product sold (e.g. Deck) Price of product (e.g. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50) The members data will be collected by entering all the information from a membership form. The data will not be entered into the database until all the fields on the form are complete. An example of the membership form will be shown later in this section. The suppliers data will have to be entered from the current lists. It will be difficult to enter this data if the current list has been lost. The current procedure if this happens is to re-make a list of suppliers names from their current stock, and re-make the complete list by contacting the respective suppliers. By going through the stock, most of the data of the items supplied will be found. However, in some cases, contact will be necessary. Validation of Data: Members The data entered may be wrong when being entered. Verification and validation will help to get round this problem. Project operates a system in their skateparks, where anyone under 17 MUST wear a helmet for protection. This is down to insurance reasons. Helmets, however, are not the most fashionable piece of clothing you could ever wear, and many members try to find a way out of getting out of wearing them. Therefore, careful attention must be paid when taking down members details to make sure that the data is checked against any valid form of identification I.D. number: This is automatically created by the database as a key field. This has a default value of 000, but will increase in value for each new member. Name: This can be checked against any forms of identification, e.g. bus passes, library cards, national insurance cards (if applicable) Date of birth: There is an obvious mistake if someone gives a birth date making them out to be 102. However, minor mistakes, such as a year or two out, can be checked against the DOBs on bus passes, national insurance cards etc. The format will also have to be correct, as it is being entered in the format DD/MM/YY. The date field will be set to take only the U.K. format, which is the same as above, whereas the American format is MM/DD/YY. Date of registration: the staff will fill this in as the data is entered. The same validation checks as above will be entered. Members full address: The staff can check this in the same way as the name, age etc. They should ask for any forms of identification which contain all this information. Members telephone number: Validation for this will be rather difficult, as there are very few, if any, forms of identification that give out a telephone number for legal reasons. Therefore, the number should be phoned as soon as possible to verify that the phone number is correct. Suppliers Suppliers are not going to give out false information to a company/shop, not if they want to stay in business. This means that Project will not have to worry about finding out if information is true, but making sure it is entered correctly. I.D. number: This is entered in the same way as the i.d. field for the members database. Name of supplier: As mentioned above, the only problem is making sure that this goes in properly e.g. Shorttys instead of Shortys. Address of supplier: This is an absolute must to be entered correctly. Whereas in the name, if a mistake was made, it would still be easy to tell what the name was. However, in the address, a mistake in the number or street could go unnoticed, therefore delivering orders, mail etc to the wrong address. Phone number of supplier: This, again, must be entered correctly for the reasons listed above. Project could find themselves desperately short of stock if they could not contact the suppliers to place orders. Name of product supplied: Not only does Project have a large list of suppliers, each supplier also has a list of products supplied to Project. This means that there is a lot of data to do with stock needing to be entered correctly. Again, the only way to do this is visually making sure there is no mistake when entering in the data. Item number: Every product has a different item number. This insures the uniqueness of each product, so that the stock system knows exactly what product is sold. Type of product: Project doesnt just sell skateboards. They sell shoes, clothes, accessories, hardware, safety gear and more. Rather than have to check in the storeroom what a product is, the database can simply tell them. This must have the type entered correctly. The only chance of a typo occurring in this is if I make a mistake during the implementation. The data in this field is selected from a drop-down list. Price of product: If the price is wrong, customers will be over/under charged. This will not be good for Project. If they undercharge, they lose money. If they overcharge, they lose customers. Therefore it is greatly important that the price is entered correctly.

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision?

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Abstract: Consumer behavior is dependent on few factors that need to be considered in any industry. In the garment industry, there are several intertwining factors known that influence consumer behavior. The Internet as one knows well has its importance in nearly every form of trade, but brand recognition is driven by a set of factors that have their own principles. Trade is directly dependent on communication, and these days the Internet it is considered to be one of the most important and reliable means of communications for trade. It is for this reason that brand promotion is significantly related to the use of the Internet. However, it needs to be asserted that the Internet is a tool for promoting a brand as is other means of brand promotion. In view of the Internet being an important medium through which customers may be communicated with, consumer behaviors, and more importantly, consumer-purchase decisions, become an important subject. Observing consumer-purchase decisions in the recent past, it can be asserted that there is immense scope for expanding industries that receive positive responses from consumers. An example of this is observed with some organizations in the garment industry. A company such as Levis is a good example to view the effectiveness of branding on consumer-purchase decisions. In addition purchases made at outlets, online purchases have been significant as purchases of are easily made and are believed to be considerably reliable. This reflects the manner in which consumers rely on brands like Levis. For purchasing garments and placing orders, advertising through the Internet is the first step towards pulling in customers. Indeed, this step is believed to be effective as there are a number of indiv iduals who first see ads online, and then decide to physically check a promotion out. However, this is not the only way that people want to explore promotions of garments or any other industry. Shoppers are keen to check out things for themselves. There are many consumers that also do not rely on the Internet for purchasing what they want. They would rather shop, and there are indeed many consumers who spend several hours per week in shopping centers searching for what they want. Among these shoppers there are different kinds of consumers, and each of these has different characteristics. Some look for stuff that is cheaper and reliable while others want quality. Those who search for quality know what brands they want generally. Deciding what to purchase from a consumers perspective depends on what satisfies him or her. From a manufacturers perspective, it is important to understand what interests a consumer most, and based on these interests, manufacturers work to develop their brands. Manufacturers have to develop a brand identity in order to seek brand loyalty of consumers. Once manufacturers learn how to read their consumers, they can influence their purchasing decisions, and this is precisely aimed at by promoting a brand and working towards its selling power. 1. Introduction: 1.1 Background In order to sell products, organizations resort to various strategies. Each company has its strategy structured in accordance with market factors as well as product strengths. This may mean that an organization has to consider various angles in order to make sure its products enter a market and sell successfully. In considering several factors that play their parts in the success of a product in the market, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"branding is one major component for organizations to work on. Branding is considered to be a major component in the success of a product in the market because it can control consumer decisions. This of course depends on the reputation of the brand, which refers to how it has appealed to consumers in the past and how it has served them. 1.2 Importance of the Study: Understanding what branding is enables one to understand the way that consumers behave when newer products are introduced. This is interesting to understand because it helps to understand why different company products of the same nature have different responses from consumers. 1.3 Research Question: The main Research Question that will be dealt with in this study is as follows: How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Other research questions that will be part of this study include the following: * What is branding? * How is branding used? * How do consumers respond to branding? * Is branding really significant in order to sell products? 1.4 Limitations of study: This study makes use of relevant literature to the research question as well as a survey of 50 participants. Though the literature review encompasses a wide variety of views regarding the research question, the survey only encompasses participants within the researchers physical location. This means that the views from the participants are fewer than what is needed for a comprehensive view of primary data. 1.5 Organisation of study: The basic organization of this study consists of dealing with the main research question mentioned above, for which there will be a literature review. In accordance with a methodology, this literature will be analyzed, and a conclusion will be arrived at. In addition to data analyzed from the literature review, answers from a survey conducted will also be analyzed and paired with the results of the analyzed literature review. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Chapter introduction: This chapter includes the views of other studies and reviews related to the main research question. In this chapter, there will be pertinent data on what branding is, how it impacts consumers, and how consumer-purchasing decisions are impacted through branding. 2.2. Framework for review: In this section, there will be a flow as the review gradually progresses. This means that each relevant portion of the subject will be exposed gradually as the review progresses. However, at various points there will be inclusions of points exposed earlier, where needed. 2.3. A brand allows organizations to differentiate their business from their competitors. But more importantly, brands help to motivate customer loyalty. By having a brand, companies gain manifold levels by creating effective business strategies that help to promote the company. Building a brand is also about creating an identity that differentiates one from the rest this may be in the form of a logo, a name or business model. This is what helps to receive a positive consumer response; consumers look for characteristics in a brand that cater to their needs and wants. If a brand does this with one product, in future, consumers would choose other products wit the same brand. More recently, branding concepts have become more about how people perceive business. For this reason, there has been a lot of attention on how brands can alleviate the position of business, sales and consumer base. The perceived knowledge about the brand comes from three major criteria according to Business Central by Microsoft (2004): These are: 1. Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night. 2. The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look, how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers. A brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer. 3. Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if customers homes are always thoroughly cleaned. The owners believe that they are using the best cleaning company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Given the highly developed set criteria, one can understand that brands are not created overnight; in fact brand identity is created by assessing the business, how it operates and the kind of message that the business wants to send out to the customers, and able to deliver the promise to the customer time and again. This kind of assessment has to be realistic and be based on the following key areas: 1. Work out your business, product or services core competencies. These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do. For example, a good wine shops core competence is selling wine that its customers enjoy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" not just selling wine. 2. Assess whom your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they dont. For example, if competitive pricing drives them, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors. 3. Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business. Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message. 4. Define how favorably customers and potential customers view your business à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this is your perceived quality. Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them? Low perceived quality would restrict or damage your business. High-perceived quality gives you a platform to grow. 5. Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies. The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch. For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies. But selling frozen ready meals too may stretch its brand too far (Microsoft BCentral 2004). So much has the concept of brand identity become a part of the business process that companies are claiming their rights to certain qualities, product category, design, innovations and creations. One of the reasons for this is that companies are realizing amidst a homogenous market, credit cannot be given to any one in particular unless the company excels in certain areas. For example Tesco, Wal-Mart and K-Mart may all provide the same kinds of services and products, but there has to be something that makes the customers experience unique in each of the above cases. Companies are realizing that the quest for uniqueness should be taken a step further by enhancing on certain or particular business area and developing it a step ahead of competitors. It is only through the differentiation technique that they would be able to effectively and successfully compete against rival. For example Wal-Mart may claim to have the cheapest price while Tesco would also do the same for certain products only. To resolve this problem, techniques like the kind of message, bundle services as well as customer satisfaction guarantees are used to attract customers. But how do customers differentiate and recognize one service from the others? For most companies the first step is to identify the potential customer and perceive his/her consumer behaviour. Next is to align brand values that reflect customers needs. From the identity aspect, the company furthers this by redesigning logo, stationary and other visual contact to send out harmonious and unified theme to the consumer. For example, if the brand suggest value added services then all aspects of the business process has to incorporate value added services so that the customers becomes aware of this unique quality of that particular business; advertisements pertaining to the same should be launched and campaigns for external/internal customers to make sure everyone is aligned with the business objectives. In view of this, illustration 1 in the list of figures shows that aside from branding, there are other aspects that a company needs to focus on. Given these aspects of brand and brand identity it can be defined as: A brand, in its broadest sense, is the expression of an organisation or product. A brand is communicated in a number of different ways and not only represents the visual aspects that a customer may come across (logo or imagery), but can also be reflected in the behaviour of people within that organisation, the quality of products that the organisation offers, and the manner in which customers are treated. (Investor in People 2004) Retailers in the UK realized the importance of this concept during the Post World War Era. During the war years the UK chain stores expanded nationally to serve the local consumers with standardized products. The restraint on trade with the US did not allow the local producers to cultivate their services abroad. Similarly, the restraint also applied to US products and retail stores that had not been allowed to operate in the UK as the producers anticipated US influence on local UK consumers. However, as the Wars passed, new chain stores expanded and so did the international chain in Britain. As new factories reflect growth in industries, traditional method of promoting products and goods also changed to cater to the new classification of products. American products were cheaper and easy to access at the convenience stores as compared to British products and chain stores. Further, due to the high unemployment level, resulting in less purchasing power, British stores did not feel motiv ate to expand or succeed. The only measure they were interested in includes the commoditys exchange value and how it serves as the source for covering operating income (Lowe et al 2000). However, with the emergence of US producers and retailers, local stores had cause for concern. Since the departmental stores from the US provide the same commodities and yet provide the aesthetic experience as well, the consumers learned to appreciate the uniqueness of the experience they had with the foreign stores. For this reason, British retail stores under went a wave of change where the stores had to make the decision of effectively competing with their American counterparts. According to Lowe et al (2000) By 1939 in Britain the chain stores had carved out a market alongside, and in competition with, the department and co-operative stores, and were particularly noted for their own-brand goods. Their standardised fascias jostled for prime place in the redeveloped high streets and their mass-marketing strategies increasingly squeezed out the small, but still significant, independent trader. Their particular development was the consequence not only of Britains compact geography an d early industrialisation, but also of the political and cultural support for trade restraints, which were furthered by the retention of family influence in companies and by an ethos of business leadership as public service. The British stores had gained significant development due to two reasons. Firstly the family based society and class dynamics within Britain had supported the centralization and spread of these stores across the country. Secondly, the trade restrained allowed these stores significant time frame for achieving the desired standards and quality for competing with rivals across the Atlantic. The intensity of the competition of stores in the US and UK resulted in inflating dynamic chain store culture and competition. As a result the retailing market changed its form with the support of the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers in the distribution process. The outcome of this contest between the two nations not only established platforms for large retailers but it also added to their knowledge of the development and progressive tracks that they need to follow in order to effectively compete nationally and internationally. The basis for the fast growing retailing industry was inherent in the working class ability to predict opportunity advantage and capitalize on it. For example in 1848 W.H. Smith gained railway contracts and bookstalls spread across England. Similarly, Thomas Liptons shops in Glasgow in 1872 were built on the back of new steamships importing cheap Empire butter, cheese, ham etc. The common factor prevailing in this spreading trend had been the producers and the owners being able to foresee consumers special needs and satisfying them. Although these were family businesses that later on turned into empires nevertheless the concept of meeting demands as they come by providing customized services had been inherent during the 20th century even (Lowe et al 2000). J.B. Priestly surveyed the English landscape during this era and found that with the emergence of mobility, transportation and mass production, there has also been a mass set of chain cinemas, stores, teashops, etc., which has chan ged the way people eat, drink and entertain during the 1930s. The new infrastructure of migration and investment went hand in hand with the migration of people from the north to the south, from inner city to suburbs and the like etc. For this reason most of the significant development in establishing names of quality products and services emerged during this era (Lowe et al 2000). However, recently the trend has changed. Established names and quality brands have been facing difficulties in competition. As the UK become global in its trade practices, the risks of losing to foreign counterparts for local brands have increased. One example is Marks and Spencer. MS has been an established brand that UK consumers had immense trust in and have been using as a platform for measuring offering value for money quality products. The promotional theme at MS is based on quality but not a cheap product category that suits the average and affluent consumer. However, this strategy is not suitable for the needs of current globalization scenario. With the spread of retail stores and chain around the world such as Wal-Mart and ASDA, MS has gradually lost its position to these competitors. Wal-Mart is in stark contrast of the values established by MS. The Wal-Mart business philosophy is based on low price and cheap products that meets the average to low consumer group. Even more critical in this transition of retail store brands is that people are coming to accept them as alternatives to the established quality stores prevalent in the UK (Lowe et al 2000). The alternatives no doubt easily had taken over the local brand and chain stores but it had not been able to capture the essence of the concept of brand. For the average price conscious consumers have not realized the implication of switching over to a foreign brand. Not only have they been compromising quality for price but they have also greatly contributed to declining the established standards for the industry. Businesses that are known globally for their quality, reputation, product specifications, and standardizations have been replaced by the Americanization of products and services. No gap analysis has been identified for the switch and as a result brands that exist in the UK are innovating and revisiting their standards to win over the customers. The process is tedious but corporations and retailers are realizing the importance of exercising this process. Today when one refer to brands and brand identity, it means the creation of a brand identity system which involve focusing on brand communication, developing needs analysis, contemplating target audience, relegation of market profile and establishing a brand identity with these inputs[1]. Successful brands may shape the business sphere as well as navigate the breadth and depth of the corporate identity. The message, the identity, the visual design language such as symbols, colours, flagship etc. all reflect and remind the consumers who they are; what is the nature of the business; how are they producing; social participation and responsibility; and to communicate with them to be part of the brand identity system. For example in 1994 Coca-Cola business in the UK had been the largest bottlers and providers of cola drinks. However, at the same time other cola companies had come up with the same idea using the same corporate identity and brand message as Coca-Cola. Yet, despite this fact the local colas did not win the consumers due to the fact that consumers, in whose mind Coca-Cola association had already been lodged, mistook the new cola brands for the original one. For this reason the new cola brands lost to Coca-Cola in the competition. From this example and many that followed after, the British producers realized that brand identity is a systematic process that must ensure that the development of the design is protected; ownership or long term partnership of retail channels is essential and ownership of other product advantage cannot be replicated. Apart from those other organizational issues in the process of brand identity system development is that the interface between the strategic dec ision-making on the branding process must discuss how the brands would facilitate the company and how the brands can be linked to the companys goodwill. Thus by tying monetary value to brands, companies have established the value to brand identity and its influence on corporate performance. Once corporations realized the importance of brand identity, the struggle for materializing and capitalizing on brand identity increased. Marketers for one exhaustively increased their efforts to market their brands and logos more than they did the products; they laboured at serving the lifestyles that consumers lead rather than the products they need; and companies also included brand awareness strategies to ensure that the consumers understand the organizational products and services. More formal companies have established procedures for making this system work. Brands identity is now based on: 1. Recall rate at the top of the consumers mind 2. Specific recall for occasions, events or holidays 3. Visualization of the brand identity 4. Personalization of the brand to an image 5. Brand extension 6. Not becoming stereotype for cosmopolitan appeal 7. Think global, buy local concept 8. Linking brands to sub-brands 9. Symbolic ownership of brand essence 10. Souvenir brand essence 11. Connecting the values of flagship brands to other brands 12. Word of mouth 13. Brand transition through the identity system 14. Express the corporate tone of voice and cultural style These identifiers help companies to establish the concept of product design and its positioning in line with brand identity. In essence the whole exercise is to identify and take advantage of new and global practices and alleviate existing products and services without having to compromise old values and phenomena. With the amount of focus on brand, brand identity and brand loyalty, it can be observed that these are immense tools for influencing consumer purchase decisions (Knowledge Board 2004). 2.4. Key findings from literature review According to the above reviewed literature that encompasses key points on what a brand is and how it can impact consumer-purchase decisions, it can be asserted that branding is an important tool for a company to survive in any industry. It is through a brand identity that consumers recognize a particular companys products and services within a large industry. If a company associates standard and acceptable services and products that are according to a consumers expectations, the brand will be remembered and receive responses each time it advertises newer products and services. 3. Research Methodology: 3.1. Chapter introduction: This section includes the method of handling the data and arriving at a conclusion. Given that there are two types of data being used for this study, it is important to draw up how exactly the researcher will go about it. In order to conduct a study and answer the above research questions on how branding affect consumers purchasing decision, there is need to review relevant literature. The literature reviewed will be authentic and relevant to the research questions. This study will be both, qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative and quantitative study is necessary to answer the above research questions because both, facts and figures are an important part of the research area. There are also managerial aspects that need to be considered. These managerial aspects are represented in the form of facts and figures. Also, there will be statistical and numerical presentations considered that are necessary for answering the research questions. Aside from the study being a quantitative and qualitative, it will adopt a random approach. This refers to considering a wide variety of sources. However, the study will be limited to particular areas from where the researcher can obtain relevant data for this study. Sources for the literature review are ones that are authentic and relevant to the area being researched. The sources are from books and journals, as well as official websites, newspapers and magazines. In addition to the use of the sources mentioned above, important factors belonging to the field being studied here are obtained from other studies and presentations. Opinions and facts from presentations are considered to help in answering the research questions. Facts and figures about McDonalds and KFC brands from different points of view will be considered. The manner in which the brands have operated globally and the focus they have had in various places will also be considered for a greater understanding of their bran d communication with their consumers. This will help to bring together a wider range of opinions and facts to be analyzed. The literature review will be analyzed thoroughly so as to expose the answers to the research questions. Secondary data analysis is the process of re-evaluating collected researched data. The data can be collected from previously researched publications including official researched documents. Data collection usually involves research material that is relevant to the research problem issue but does not necessarily answer the research objectives or questions. For this research, the purpose of having secondary data analysis is to aid the researcher in collecting the data required to delineate the research objectives and provide a basis for analyzing primary data. Based on the conclusions of the secondary data analysis, the researcher will analyze and validate primary data collected through a survey questionnaire (Hair, Bush and Ortinau 2000). The questions in the questionnaire are mostly close ended. These close-ended questions will help to will to reduce result errors and biasness, as well as simplify accumulation of answers. 3.2. Research approach The rationale behind the literature has been to investigate the impact of branding on the consumers purchase decision. In terms of how what evaluate attributes influence their purchase decision. The underlying discussion has tried to come to an understanding of the consumers perception and attitudes towards how their actual purchase choices or decisions are generated, keeping in mind the brand name associations that influence the consumer, leading to his consistent behavior and loyalty. There are two main issues within the study: whether there is a difference in the effect that branding has on the different categories of consumer buying behavior groups, and the relationship between branding variables and consumer buying behavior. Branding is about certain consumers, not all consumers as they have different attitudes and behaviors toward brands. Further, Crimp and Wright (1995) define consumer attitudes as a composite of a consumers beliefs about, feelings for, and behavioral intentions towards some object-within the context of brand. In the research, the independent variable is the consumer buying behavior that is primary interest for marketer. The main objective of the research is to understand and describe the purchasing behavior in terms of brand and to explain its variability within the purchasing process and attempt to predict it. The dependent variable is the branding element that is considered by the consumer. Different consumers may hold different attitudes for these branding elements, or in other words, these branding components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer react to the object. 3.3. Data Collection Method As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002) suggest the research design is the overall plan for relating the conceptual research problem to relevant empirical research. In the same regards, Kress (1988) indicated that designing a research method calls for decisions on data sources, research approaches, research instruments and sampling plans. Firstly, the study will attempt to discuss various sources of data and the ways in which data has been gathered for the purpose of analysis, testing hypothesis, and answering the research questions. Data can be obtained from primary and secondary sourses. However, in some cases the research would be restrained due to some information not being publicly available. Of the several techniques used for data collection a survey was deployed, as the most appropriate technique to gather data. The survey enabled a large amount of data to be collected from a sizeable population in a quick and economic way. A questionnaire can be described as the technique whereby each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions that are in a predetermined order (Webb, 1999). Miller (1991) also supports this idea, claiming that closed-ended questionnaire is an easy was to interpret answers where the respondent is asked to select answers from a brief list. This facilitates the standardization and easy comparison of data. It must be noted that both, data in the literature review as well as data obtained from the survey questionnaire will be analysed to arrive at a conclusion that satisfies the research questions. The sequence of questions in the questionnaire should be such that the respondent is led from questions of a general nature to those that are more specific, and form questions that are relatively easy to answer to those that are progressively more difficult (Malhotra, 1996). The studys survey has aimed to incorporate the following features to meet the specific requirements of the projects: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Specific objectives, these may be in terms of points that the survey should achieve and should be kept relatively simple; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Questionnaire that entails straightforward questions that extract consistency and accurate information; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A research design that includes survey sampling, sampling methods, sample size and the sound choice of population and sample meaning a relatively large unbiased group; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The appropriate quantitative as well as qualitative analysis and reporting of survey results. 3.4 Validity: Answers achieved in this study are considered to be valid as they are achieved through previously accepted data relevant to this field. In addition to this, the answers from the participants in the survey questionnaire are original and represent the opinions on the subject that stand at the moment. Content validity ensures that the measure includes an adequate and representative set of items to tap the concept. The more the scale items represent the domain or universe of the concept being measured, the greater content validity. To put it diff

The Virtue of Discrimination Essay examples -- Virtues Discriminate Es

The Virtue of Discrimination Discrimination is a word that has taken on a negative connotation in today's society. Since the beginning of the equal rights movement, the perceived meaning of the word discrimination has shifted from that of a useful virtue to one of an insulting, derogatory word. Robert Keith Miller wrote an essay for Newsweek in the summer of 1980 that focuses on the discrepancies in the use of the word discrimination. â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue† points out the differences in the dictionary’s definition of the word discrimination and the perceived societal definition of the word. Miller explains the confusion of the word discrimination with the words discriminate against and worries that discrimination may be forever viewed as a fault rather than a virtue. He encourages his readers to not discriminate against individuals or groups, but to remember that there are still distinctions to be made (86). Robert Keith Miller presents a convincing argument for the necessity of discrimination by using a comparison and contrast argument to appeal to the readers emotions in his article â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue†. Robert Keith Miller was a writer for Newsweek in 1980. As a writer for a nationally renowned magazine, he can be trusted as a professional journalist. Miller writes his article â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue† for the readers of Newsweek. The audience of the magazine are predominately educated professionals in society. They are the very people that he is attempting to remind of the true definition of discrimination. Millers audience is intelligent enough to be able to realize the differences in â€Å"discriminating against† and â€Å"discrimination† but may be unaware of the problem this confusion is causi... ...then and personalize those points. His comparison of the dictionary’s definition of discrimination and society’s understanding of the word illustrate the contradiction at hand. The examples illustrate the need for discrimination in today’s society. He reminds us, even with the title of the paper, that discrimination once was and still should be an esteemed virtue. The use of discrimination in our decision making and policy’s is necessary for them to be as effective as possible. While this article was written over twenty years ago, its message is still relevant for today’s Newsweek readers. Discrimination is a virtue that each of us could use a little more of. Work Cited Gruber, Sibylle, ed. Constructing Others, Constructing Ourselves. Dubuque: Kendal Hunt Publishing Co, 2002. Miller, Robert Keith. â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue.† Gruber 85-87.