Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty on Banking Service
Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty on Banking Service: A case of Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Commercial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam †¢ Dec 22, 2011 †¢ 0 †¢ 263 [pic] [pic][pic]FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMER LOYALTY ON BANKING SERVICE: A CASE OF HONG KONG SHANGHAI BANK COMMERCIAL IN HO MINH CHI CITY, VIETNAM Related Articles Luxury Travel Vietnam's Tour Featured in Indonesia Travel Magazine Corporate globalization and human rights abuses in the sweatshops of pakistan, indonesia and vietnam M1 Carbine Communications In Iran Bui Thanh PhongGraduate School of Business, Assumption University ABTRACT This study examines the relationship between selected factors (brand image, friendship, perceived service satisfaction, perceived core service quality, social regard and social comfort) and customer loyalty of HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. The researcher surveyed on 400 respondents who had experience to use HSBC banking services. The sampling procedure used judgment sampling and co nvenience sampling. The researcher used the Pearson Correlation analysis tool on this research.Descriptive statistic was used to provide the mean and percentage of demographic characteristic and other variables of study. Result indicated that brand image, friendship and perceived service satisfaction does play a mediating role in the effect of customer loyalty in banking service. The effects of a number of demographic indicators on customer loyalty are also reported. INTRODUCTION Loyalty factor is considered as key value of marketing strategy in the banking service and others (Kotler, 2004). It also helps bank to gain the profit and reduce marketing cost.In previous times, many banking services are aware of understand brand image, service quality and customer satisfaction which are accepted as a key determinant of customer loyalty (Payne, 1993). The customers are hard to attract and difficult to retain because it is not relatively easy for customers to switch their traditional servi ce providers (Philip, 2002). Loyalty factors are an organization's most reliable success indicator (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996). Also, this increased customer loyalty can help lower marketing costs, solicit more customers, and effectively operate trading leverages (Aaker, 1997).Additionally, the loyalty customers become an advocate concept for the service can be defined: providing positive word-of-mouth, recommendation the service to other, encouraging others to use service and defending the service provider and generate higher corporate profits (Reichheld et al. 2000). As the market becomes more competitive advantage, many companies recognized the importance of retaining current customers and have some initiated variety of activities to improve customer loyalty (Rosalind and Audrey, 2007).Faced with this situation, some service providers have considered to the quality standards in their business such as ISO 9001. Actually, the service providers can get the big profit from those stan dards and loyalty customers. Any service industries are banking, restaurant, hotel, beauty†¦ the service encounter satisfaction is really considered as a core value to affect and maintain the loyalty customers. 1. To study of the significant relationship between friendship and customer loyalty. 2. To test the relationship between brand image and customer loyalty. 3.To find out the significant relationship between service encounter satisfaction and customer loyalty. 4. To establish an understanding of the significant relationship between perceived core service and service counter satisfaction. 5. To analyze the significant relationship between social regard and perceived core service. 6. To determine the significant relationship between social comfort and perceived core service. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a method for banking service to identify attributes that will increase customer loyalty.The researcher will determine dependent/ i ndependent variables whether or there are relationship between the factors below. The researcher would try to explain why customers have loyalty with HSBC bank. This is six objectives the researcher would try to study the relationship between the factors effect to customer loyalty. LITERATURE REVIEW Customer Loyalty Customer Loyalty is a customer who will repurchase from the same service provider whenever possible, and who continue to recommend or maintains a positive attitude towards the service provider.The loyal customers are less likely to switch because of price and they make more purchases than similar non-loyal customers (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Loyalty customers will also help to promote and share knowledge with their friends about the service provider. They will provide strong word-of-mouth, create business referrals, provide references and serve on advisory boards. The loyal customers are served as a â€Å"fantastic marketing force†by providing recommendations and spreading positive word-of-mouth, those partnership-like activities are the most available advertising that the company can get (Raman, 1999).Loyal customers increase sale volume by purchasing a wider variety of the products and by making more frequent purchases. The loyal customers had more purchasing services than non-loyal customers (Bowen and Shoemaker, 1998). And other researchers have theorized that service encounter satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability are related (Zeithaml et al. 1996). Service Encounter Satisfaction Traditional way described the service encounter satisfaction as the interaction occurs between customer-contact employees and the customers and it has been frequently discussed in the marketing literature (Bitner et al. 1990). Also, the service encounter is â€Å"the dyadic interaction between a customer and service provider†(Surprenant  and Solomon, 1987). It has also been modeled to impact long-term customer relationships as wel l as overall satisfaction. Service Encounter Satisfaction is distinguished from overall satisfaction and it has been defined as dis/satisfaction with a service encounter (Bitner and Hbbert, 1994). Additionally, customer relationships are built and destroyed which based on service encounter in a time and any service providers can be critical to the service outcome (Stern et al. 998). It is the degree of overall pleasure or contentment felt by the customers, the results from ability of the service fulfilled the customer's desires, expectations and customer's needs in relation to the service (Philip, 2002). Service performance takes place in what has been termed the service encounter; the time frame during which consumers directly interact with service providers (Czepiel et al. 1985). All element of an encounter activities such as: the facility, waiting times, and service personnel are considered service encounter Brand ImageVarious definitions of a brand appeared in the marketing lite rature. The brand as â€Å"a name, term, sign, symbol or design or combination of them, which is intended to identify the goods of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors†(Kotler, 2004). The new business start, the marketer designs business card, company website, name, logo†¦ to send a clear message of company to their stakeholders and customers that is a merger and equal. According to Lafley (2009) interpreted that â€Å"We continue to invest in our core strengths.Firstly, we don't skimp on understanding the customer. Second is innovation. Thirdly is Brand Image†¦ We're delivering more messages to our customers. †In order to be successful, images and symbols must relate to, and indeed, exploit, the needs, values and life-styles of consumers in such a way that the meanings involved give added values, and differentiate from this brand to other brands (Broadbent and Cooper, 1987). From this statement, the researcher can recognize the important of brand image and brand identity to affect with service providers and organizations.The customer loyalty is often viewed as resulting from brand knowledge, followed brand image that PR also raise consumer loyalty trough the above strategies (Keller, 1999). In addition, the self-congruence theory states that the ways consumers evaluate products to match with their self-image (Belk, 1988 and Sirgy, 1982). Higher congruence between self-image and product image would influence consumer attitudes or behavior regarding brand preference, brand attitude, product purchase decisions, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention (Graeff, 1996 and Sirgy, 1985).Friendship The customer's perceptions of social closeness are service employee as evidence of the degree of familiarity, self- disclosure and rapport (Gremler, 1995). Loyalty can be increased throughout personal friendship (Kokko and Moilanen, 1997). Two relational outcomes are considered to associate with friendship to be comfort and respect (Argyle, 1992). At currently, friends can be distinguished such as: online friends, offline friends, old high school friends, workmates, organization, family and people met at parties.The modern conceptualization of friendship – as essentially personal, private, voluntary, un-specialized, informal, and non-contractual – echoes our culture's â€Å"great emphasis on relationships in the intimate sphere, especially love relationships†(Taylor, 1991). There is a relationship between friendship and organization. The most important for this foundation is acknowledged utility as the basis for one type of friendship, fundamental in some respects, but the traditional way has the most limited or underdevelopedReceived Core Service Quality Perceived core service quality is quality products or services which are provided by the company. it offers to exceed the customer expectations. In recent study, service quality is considered from the view point of the customer who is estimated of the service â€Å"external customer†and the efforts have focused on identifying of â€Å"external service encounter†factors, the customers will consider in evaluating the quality of service providers. Customer satisfaction is also important element of marketing strategies.Zeithaml (1998) defined that the perceived service quality is measured by customer awareness and the consumers assess of the overall excellent products or services. Zahorik and Rust (1992) found that the modeling of perceived quality directly influences to customer loyalty and provides more diagnostic abilities. Furthermore, the perceived service quality is the best model to impact customer retention and behavior intentions (Hennig and Klee, 1997). The subject of service quality has been studied and debated over the past two decades.The importance of management's ability is understand how service quality and appropriately measurement, the subsequent ac tions make improvements and increase value to customer expectations (Asubonteng et al. 1996). Looking through a financial perspective, the success of activities carried out by sports organizations is closely associated with the quality of services offered to customers  and  making sure customers get highest level of satisfaction from such services (Kotler, 2004).In terms of effective management it is the great importance to understand what the customer thinks about service quality offered by the organization (Rust and Oliver, 2000). Social Regard Social regard defined as making the customers feel important and took an interesting and respecting to the customer (Barnes, 1997). Additionally, some empirical evidence indicated that actions closely related to social regard which increases the relationship strength (Barnes, 1997).When the customers perceived that the employees take care of them, or respect them the relationship strength increases. The social constructivist t herapeutic orientations focus on the way in which people and society created (rather than discover) constructions of reality (Roberts et al. 2003). Previous study has been especially focused on analyzing the effects of customer-oriented behaviors, the social aspects of the interaction between the service provider and the customers have been somewhat neglected (Kelley and Hoffman, 1997).Social regard has been defined as the â€Å"genuine respect, deference, and interest shown to the customer by the service provider, such that the customer feels valued or important in the social interaction†(Butcher et al. , 2001). Social regard is considered to special elements for services and industry because they have high level of customer contact, and this concept will remains relatively untapped by researcher. Social Comfort Social comfort is defined as the customer's feeling of anxiety or relaxation arising from the social interaction with an individual service employee.The customers f eel much comfortable to be one example of a satisfactory service experience (Argyle, 1992). If the salesperson clicked with the customer at the initial contact, then this was the prompt to consider establishing a relationship (Beatty et al, 1996). Customer rapport was found to be associated with overall satisfaction, repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth (Gwinner, 1998). It is thus expected that the conceptualization of social comfort may have either a direct or indirect path to loyalty. Figure 1: Conceptual framework Friendship Service Encounter Satisfaction Perceived Core Service  QualitySocial Regard Customer Loyalty Brand Image Social comfort H1 H2 H5                                                                  H3 H4 H6 From this conceptual framework, there are 6 independen t variables, which are friendship, brand image, service encounter satisfaction, perceived core service quality, social regard and social comfort. The dependent variable is customer loyalty. The researcher finds out that 6 independent variables effect on dependent variable (customer loyalty). Overall, the relationship between dependent and 6 independent variables are developed to adapt the objective of this study.Therefore this study hypothesized six statements in investigating their relationship as follows: H1: There is significant relationship between Friendship and Customer Loyalty. H2: There is significant relationship between Brand Image and Customer Loyalty. H3: There is significant relationship between Service Encounter Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty. H4: There is significant relationship between Perceived Core Service Quality and Service Encounter Satisfaction. H5: There is significant relationship between Social Regard and Perceived Core Service Quality.H6: There is signi ficant relationship between Social Comfort and Perceived Core Service Quality. METHODOLOGY The proposed descriptive research was applied to this study as its aim is to describe be the characteristics of a population or phenomenon (Zikmund, 2003). It also seeks to determine the answer to who, what, when, where, and how questions. Secondary data is taken from any source such as: business journal, internet, marketing book, newspaper†¦Primary data was collected by distributing questionnaires to customers of the electrical company who were selected by convenience sampling.Data Collection The target group of this study is both female and male customers who lived and had an experienced service of the HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The researcher will collect the data from all 8 branches of HSBC on 5 districts: District 1, District 7, District 11, Phu Nhuan District and Tan Binh District. The customers of HSBC who will be chosen for the study are willing to cooperate by responding to the questionnaire for this study. The sample size was 400 respondents. Five-point Likert scales were applied for the dependent and independent variables part.In the first part is screening question, two questions are asked to choose correct respondents. The second part was dependent variable to measure perception of customer loyalty of HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The third part, brand image, friendship, service encounter satisfaction, received core service quality, social comfort and social regard were designed for measuring. The final part is demographic factors question such as: age, gender, education level and nationality. FINDINGS The table indicates majority of all respondents were male with 63%, nationality is Vietnamese (95. %) and most of respondent has age from 18-30 years old. For the income monthly is about 5,000,000vnd – 10,000,000vnd to be about 28. 3%. And education level highest percentage is under-graduate degree with 50. 9%. The first hypothesis, wh ich predict that friendship would be low positive correlation relationship to customer loyalty, was supported (r = . 322, p< . 001). Support was found for the second hypothesis, which predicted that there was a low positive correlation relationship between brand image and customer loyalty (r = 260, p< . 001). The third hypothesis predicted that he service encounter satisfaction would be low positive correlation relationship to customer loyalty (r = . 319, p< . 001). In addition, the fourth hypothesis, there would be low positive correlation relationship between received core service quality and service encounter satisfaction (r = . 350, p < . 001). Moreover, the fifth hypothesis predicted that, there would be low positive correlation relationship between social regard and received core service quality (r = 0. 207, p< . 001). Finally, a low positive correlation relationship was found between social comfort and received core service quality (r = 157, p< . 01). In con clusion, all the hypothesis of this study was supported which found the low positive correlation relationship between variable. [pic][pic]DISCUSSION The result of hypothesis one showed that the friendship has positive significant effects on customer loyalty, as the null hypothesis was rejected. Based on this finding, it indicated that a friendship effected customer loyalty toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City. The result of the hypothesis was supported that the personal friendship between customer and individual service employee has been modelled to influence customer loyalty (Bove and Johnson, 2000).Also, the loyalty can be increased through personal friendship (Price and Arnould, 1999). The client employee friendship was positive correlation with customer loyalty (Kokko and Moilanen, 1997). From the result of this hypothesis testing, the researcher also found positive significant relationship between friendship and customer loyalty. This result leads to prove that higher loyalty increa se or create friendship between HSBC and its customers. The result of hypothesis two showed that the brand image has significant effects on customer loyalty, as the null hypothesis was rejected.Based on this finding, it is proven that the brand image effected customer loyalty toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Keller's (1993) study, the researcher found similar result in his study. He found that the customer loyalty is often viewed as resulting from brand knowledge. In this study, the researcher found that there is positive significant relationship between brand image and customer loyalty. Customer Loyalty can be increased by brand image and brand image can promote the services or products of banking which may lead to believe or create trust toward HSBC.Based on the result of hypothesis three, the â€Å"service encounter satisfaction†has significant effects on customer loyalty, as the null hypothesis was rejected. According to this finding, it can be interpreted t hat the service encounter satisfaction effected customer loyalty toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, service encounter satisfaction is a key measuring factor for customer loyalty which may be a useful measuring method to predict customer concept of products and services in every industry.It was also supported by Brown's (1996) who concluded that the service encounter satisfaction has also been modelled to impact long-term customer relationship, as well as overall satisfaction. Jason (2005) also found the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Meanwhile, the result of hypothesis testing for hypothesis three also showed that the correlation between those two variables is positive. The perceived quality is very important to customer satisfaction. In this study, the research also indicated that perceived quality directly impacts on customer loyalty (Phillip, 2002).Satisfaction of the customer leads to the customer to re-use the bank service in the future. Conseq uently, after repeated use of more than 3 times, the loyalty of customer is well established in customers mind. On banking service or other service, satisfaction is considered as the main litmus test to improve customer loyalty. The result of hypothesis four showed the â€Å"perceived core service quality†has significant effect on service encounter satisfaction, as the null hypothesis was rejected. Based on this finding, it is clear that the â€Å"perceived core service quality†effected service encounter satisfaction toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City.This research empirically examined the role between perceived core service quality and service encounter satisfaction. This study tested the relationship between perceived core service quality and service encounter satisfaction as a concept and found the relationship, as well as data from a sample survey of 400 banking retail customers in their evaluation of their banking experiences to address this issue. Additionally, th e perceived service quality and customer orientation are directly influenced to service satisfaction, the service encounter satisfaction (Cronin and Brady, 2000).Based on the result of hypothesis five, the â€Å"social regard†has significant effects on perceived core service quality, since the null hypothesis was rejected. Consequently, it indicated that the social regard effects perceived core service quality toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City, which was similar to the research result of Butcher et al. (2001). He indicated the importance of social regard effects in the service encounter in making the customers feels valued or important in the social interaction.According to the result of hypothesis six, the â€Å"social comfort†has significant effects on perceived core service quality, because the null hypothesis was rejected. Based on this finding, it has been proved that the social comfort effects perceived core service quality toward HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City. The sp ecific relationship between friendship, social regard, social comfort, value for money, service encounter satisfaction perceived core service quality and customer loyalty were established in banking service (Butcher et al. 2001).The social comfort can lead the service quality in long-term process, the social comfort directly influences the perceived core service quality and ensure customer satisfaction (Pavlou, 2003). CONCLUSIONS Based on the research objective, the researcher studied the factors that may affect customer loyalty in case of HSBC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It showed that there are low positive correlation relationship between dependent variables (customer loyalty) and independent variables of: brand image, friendship, service encounter satisfaction, perceived core service quality, social regard, social comfort.Data were collected from a total of 400 respondents who have had experience of using HSBC service. From the result of demographic factors on gender, age, edu cation level, income, the researcher discovered that the majority of HSBC customers are male, Vietnamese, aged between 18 and 30 years old, with under-graduate education level, who have monthly income between 5,000,000vnd-10,000,000vnd. For hypothesis testing, the data were analyzed by using SPSS (statistical package of social science) to test six hypothesis.The researcher used Pearson Correlation analysis to investigate the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. The results of the hypothesis testing showed that null hypotheses one, two, three, four, five and six were rejected signaling that there were a positive significant relationship between dependent variable and independent variables. Table 1: Demographic Profile of Respondents _____________________________________________________________________________ N                        Percentages (%)Gender:Â Â Â Â Â à ‚            Male                 254                            63. 5 Female                                    146                            36. 5 Age:                                        18 or less           13                              3. 3 18-30                                      225                             56. 3 31-40                                      153                             38. 3 41-60                                       9                               2. 3 Income in vnd: ,000,000 or less         54                              13. 5 5,000,000 – 10,000,000      114                             28. 5 10,000,000 – 15,000,000       63                              15. 8 15,000,000 – 20,000,000       56                              14. 0 More than 20,000,000            113                             28. 2 Education Level: High school graduate or less   98                              24. 5 Undergraduate Degree            205                             51. 2 Graduate degree                      83                              20. Doctor's Degree             14                              3. 5 RECOMMENDATIONS In contrast to the loyalty that the customers do not complain when satisfied with the products and services compared to their wishes, customer loyalty is seen as an asset of the banking business that the marketer needs to create satisfied customers to enhance customer loyalty in their businesses. The HSBC management teams must understand that in order to achieve success and generate growth in business, they have to invest and trade based on need s and wants of customer as the main goal.Research on customer loyalty could be great of help to the bank to reach and resolve their marketing issue. Thereby, HSBC could have concrete results of the evaluation by customers comment on their product or service so that they could supply and serve to people in Ho Chi Minh City. Friendship can be impressive on customers to make them feel very comfortable, because it make them feel relaxed and familiar in more ways than customers expected. It suggested that the management team may train their employees to special training service program where they will learn to practice friendly dealing with the customers.The customer service department of HSBC to improve the service encounter, the management team should train their employees and let them understand the important of customer loyalty and its advantage to the bank. The HSBC management teams may improve their service quality in order to improve customer satisfaction. The managers may train t heir employees on how to respond or answer customer questions and know how to treat customers REFERENCE Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347-357. Argyle, M. (1992). Social relationship, in Hewstone, M. , Stroebe, W. Codol, J. P. and Stephenson G. M (Eds). 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About the Author: Bui Thanh Phong obtained his MBA from the Graduate School of Business, Assumption University. Email: [email protected] com or [email protected] com. [pic]About the Author †¢ More Sharing ServicesShare †¢ Subscribe to RSS †¢ Contact Author [pic] Bui Thanh Phong About the Author: Bui Thanh Phong obtained his MBA from the Graduate School of Business, Assumption University. Email: [email protected] com or [email protected] com.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Coca Cola Share A Coke This Summer
However, in reality the Coca Cola Company has a wider target market because the product is addressed to everyone and everywhere. Usually the consumers (both males and females)who use the product are between 12 and 32 years old. Second, in the video we can see that the consumers are buying the product, this shows the reputation of the trademark in the mind of the consumers and a few seconds later we can see more people buying Coca-Cola in massive amounts which reflects the power, the preference and the loyalty that the consumers have to the Coca-Cola brand.In the video, after the consumers brought the product we can see them having fun, having barbecues, having arties and playing on the street with their friends, in that moment Coca-Cola is telling us the viewers that the purpose of this video is not only to show the popularity of the brand but also that the company is not just about selling goods to the consumers but also selling events ( Examples: World cup and the Olympics) and exp eriences ( Examples: Walt Disney magic kingdom and music/sports camps) to the consumers.Coca-Cola is the number one company of soft drinks around the world, the margin between it and its is competitors is huge, so the reason that Coca-Cola peps doing the advertising is not to increase their sales, but to remind people that Coca-Cola is here, is number one and the consumers should drink Coke once in a while(Hardball Peter, 2014) . Like this advertising and many others, Coca-Cola focus on the principle of sharing; not only sharing with families and friends but also sharing happiness, moments and experience. This attitude of sharing IS key competitive advantage against their competitors which only focus on sales.Finally, the video is showing a strategy to put their consumers names on the tootles. The purpose of this idea is to create an individualized or personalized product for the customers for the summer of 2014 because in summer, is the perfect time to be with other people and shar e moments of happiness with everyone. According to the senior vice president Stuart Kerosene the message of this advertising is to drink a coke with your name on it and offering the event to another person makes these minutes much more â€Å"extraordinary†(Money Jay, 2014).Another strategy for the development of this commercial was the flexibility to low the consumers to promote the brand across social media. Jennifer Whelan group director of Coca Cola North America says â€Å"It's about statement toward oneself, individual narrating and staying associated with companions. ‘Share a Coke' takes advantage of those passions†. She also adds that â€Å"At the point when teenagers see that the iconic.
Monday, July 29, 2019
A Career as an Adoption Counselor
Adoption is the process by which a person undertakes parenting of another person and permanently transfers all the rights and responsibilities of biological parents or parents in the process. Unlike custody or other systems designed to take care of young people, adoption is designed to achieve a permanent change in position, so legal or social recognition is necessary to gain social recognition Religious sanctions are necessary. Adoption shifts emphasis from adult adoption to genetics, and to the creation of children and families, and its structure has shifted to allowing reduction in intensity from the recognition of the continuity of adoption and relatives . Introduction Counselors support people in personal, family, educational, mental health, and career decisions and coping with problems (Counselor 1). Although it is part of their work to help students plan universities and careers, the overall function of counselors is to tell students, give advice, listen to questions, deal wit h coping skills Help them stretch out and learn to be good problem solvers and decision makers for them. (Your guidance consultant). Specifically, the school counselor plays an important role. A career counselor, also called an employment counselor or a career counselor, usually provides career counseling outside the school. Their main focus is to help individuals make career decisions. Career consultants will investigate and evaluate client education, training, practical experience, interests, skills, and personality traits. They can arrange capacity tests and performance tests to help clients make their career decisions. They also work with individuals to refine their job search skills, assist clients in finding jobs and applying. In addition, career counselors will support problems of unemployed people, work stress, or other career migration issues. The school counselor needs assistance, regardless of whether you are a high school student, needing information, choosing a career o r talking about personal problems. As a high school graduate, students are aware of their career and the role of counselors in the future. School counselors are there at every stage. School counselors play multiple roles in student life. Prior to this, counselors and students must understand each other so that students feel comfortable. (Working Introduction, 2011) When ... I think that the next important element in multicultural ability is cultural skills. A skilled counselor will use customer-based intervention to meet customer needs. Positive responses are linked to different cultures, communication is important. In multicultural counseling, counselors need to know more about the limits of counseling skills. I feel that acquiring cultural skills is essential to serve multicultural people.
Clinical immunology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Clinical immunology - Essay Example n recipients of any organ transplant, in whom the prevalence of morbidities such as systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, renal insufficiency, and malignancy remain high as compared with the general population. The barriers to short and long-term success of transplant procedures are predominantly the result of incompatibility between donor and recipient, acute and chronic rejection, and complications of long-term pharmacologic immune suppression. This is the reason why clinicians need to consider several factors prior to transplantation. Examples of conditions to be studied include, but are not limited to: 6. Susceptibility to and prevention of the adverse consequences (e.g., nephropathy, systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, malignancy) of current post-transplant immunosuppressive regimens (Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). In many cases of transplantation the histocompatibility barrier between recipient and donor remains a problem in that it will activate immune responses leading to graft rejection. Because HLA plays such a dominant role in transplant immunity, pre-transplant histocompatibility testing seems important for organ transplantation. In order to appreciate the role of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) in transplantation, we must first consider the structural and functional aspects of HLA molecules. HLA antigens are controlled by a series of highly polymorphic genes on the short arm of chromosome 6, referred to as the human MHC. These genes have been classified into major categories. HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C encode for Class I molecules consisting of a 45kD glycopeptide chain complexed to a 12kD ï ¢2-microglobulin chain encoded by a nonpolymorphic gene on chromosome 15. The genes in the HLA-DR, HLA-DQ and HLA-DP regions encode for Class II molecules consisting of a ~30kD ï ¡-chain and a ~28k D ï ¢-chain. These HLA class I and class II alloantigens can induce transplant immunity at both humoral (antibody) and cellular (T lymphocyte)
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Excutive summary-Global Strategic Management Essay
Excutive summary-Global Strategic Management - Essay Example The article highlights the major proponents of change and gives critical insight into the innovative approach that enables the businesses to compete against their rivals. The article succinctly argues that in the contemporary environment of globalization and recessive economy, the businesses need to evolve strategies that cater to the masses and meet the changing need of the people. The article also emphasizes that cost innovative strategies have become essential for businesses to maintain competitive advantage. The various means the businesses can effectively survive and maintain market position is moving away from premium products and make efforts for mass production of goods and services that are customised to the changing demands of current cash strapped customers. People want more value from the competitively priced goods. Another cost effective way the businesses are adopting is shifting their manufacturing and R&D facilities to the emerging new economies where the production and research cost is considerably low. The article also proposes that the emerging markets are crucial in the era of globalization and can be defined as the new area with high income and where the demand for the product can be created with relative success. Thus, the businesses must expand their operations in developing economies like India and China and exploit the market conditions. Last but not the least important are the innovative marketing techniques that need to be adopted to reach the masses. Hence the authors have suggested communication through alternative channels like posters, carry bags, luggage carts etc where the companies can put their name. These are low cost advertising channels and eminently suitable for the current recessive trend. I agree with the authors concern for adopting creative approach to sustain business in difficult time. While many big corporations and multinationals have found it hard to survive in the
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29
Cover letter - Essay Example petencies comprise of Complaints Management Premises Security, Confidentiality Maintenance Quality Assurance, Data Protection Act Compliance, Difficult People Handling and Continued Professional Development Conflict Resolution .In addition, over the course of my career, I have recorded several achievements such as reorganizing the reception area and effectively increased overall efficiency by 30%.I also achieved Medical Records Management, Patient Share Governance, received Greeter Awards 2004 ,Customer Care Ordinance Counselor together with Adult Care Advisor-Ombudsmen of Forsyth County. I am a time conscious and keen individual who always executes her duties with unmatched precision and within the given time frame. I am a firm believer in team work and tries as much as possible to collaborate and partner with my colleagues through sharing and building workable relationships. I am always keen on learning the latest industry trends and normally seek to adopt and incorporate them in m y work whenever possible. Finally I have excellent oral and written communication skills in addition to being equipped with exceptional presentation skills. Above all, I am a God fearing person and my integrity is above par. It’s my hope that you will kindly consider my application and invite me for an interview. I am very sure that I can make a big difference in your valuable team. Looking forward to working with you. Thank you for your time and kind
Friday, July 26, 2019
English Language and Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
English Language and Literature - Essay Example Street after street, and all the folks asleep - street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession, and all as empty as a church - till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross-street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground." (http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/46/86/frameset.html) Here, it should be noticed that the description of the actual incident and more so the prelude to in the manner of portraying the nature of the local environment at that point of time evokes a sense of mystery itself but the writer predominantly made it a point to turn this apparently narration into a supernatural element. This specific element is the peripheral outlook of the whole novel and it zeros in on the point where the basic perception of the reader is focused on the achieving additional impulse from the novel that is at the same time uncanny and supernatural. (Sen, 57) This piece of text has tried its best at exploring the secrets of the soul and it is for this matter that the story becomes a bit mysterious right from its onset. The elements represented in the text like drinking chemicals in order to isolate his own self into the form of a human evil as well as doing that fair bit in disclosing his own liking for the secret tenet hidden within him are some of the secret and unexplored areas present in the story and on a particular note, within Dr. Jekyll's role. These bring to light the dark and hidden forces that are present within his personality and for a reader it does not act as anything short of a supernatural and mysterious character that will soon come out and haunt one and all. The science fiction story brings to life a certain cross section of our society which likes to break new grounds as well as find out what is undiscovered to date. It attempts at discerning what is next to impossible or for that matter close to calling it as the unexpected marvel. This points out the treacherous mystery of emotions and as such pinpoints the loom that is so very evident at the end of the saga. The linkage between thought and rational realism is not present as the mind envisions a distinctive set of juices which encompass random gestures, beliefs and ethical insights. During this while, the story unfolds itself to become into a piece of drama, one that starts to shape up as a haunted area, pretty much undiscovered and
Thursday, July 25, 2019
What makes Rembrandt's art so loved by viewers over time Essay
What makes Rembrandt's art so loved by viewers over time - Essay Example long run, this interest made him profoundly influence innumerable artists who came; both in European and American these include Francisco Goya, Jim Dine, David Hockney and Vincent Van Gogh. Rembrandt was many times considered genius in his work, and this was as a result of the uniqueness of his work which included a range of themes that related to the life at that time the contemporary society. The many works of Rembrandt are such as The Night Watch, Self-Portrait with Two Circles, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Danae, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, Bathsheba at Her Bath among others. In considering Night watch that was a 1642 painting, is known for various aspects despite being a static military portrait. The Night Watch is a given portrait of the militia company of bold Captain Frans Cocq and Lieutenant Willem Ruytenburgh being at the center). Key elements are such as the effective use of light and shadow and perception of motion (Ackley,
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Organization context of practice in nursing Essay
Organization context of practice in nursing - Essay Example This paper will comprehensively analyze the fall prevention program at Oilfields General Hospital in Black Diamond, explaining its relevance, roles and responsibilities of various parties in the program, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, the QA/QI models and principles underlying the program will be explicated to ultimately enable the derivation of recommendations on how the program can be improved to take care of the Canadian aging population. According to Zerwekh and Garneau (2014), fall prevention programs are best suited for the prevention of fall-related deaths and injuries that cost Canada over $3 billion every year. In its broadest and vaguest form, a fall is an unanticipated occurrence where an individual or patient suddenly comes to rest on the floor, ground, or any other lower level. The fall prevention program is thus the consultation with a nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and geriatrician where the client’s health is assessed to determine their probability of falling thus aiding in providing apposite safety nursing care and guidance (Capezuti, Malone, Katz & Mezey, 2014). The hospital outlines that anybody who is over 65 years of age, and experiences falls or is likely to experience a fall, those in a position to walk for 25 metres, and those who can securely take part in a controlled exercise program should participate in the program. After enrolling in the program, individuals are expec ted to attend exercise and consultation sessions twice a week for a duration of six weeks. The hospital’s commitment to plummet fall-related deaths is seen through its provision of consultants including nurses and physiotherapists who are often ill-equipped, but enthusiastic to guide participants through the program (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2014). The depression, confusion, grander sequestration, loss of independence, and mobility resulting from falls among the seniors is more devastating, a factor that reiterates
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
On hundredth congress of the united state of amreica Essay
On hundredth congress of the united state of amreica - Essay Example Costs can be improved through more comprehensive and efficient management. Quality improvement programs need to be customer oriented and management led. This will require companies, agencies in businesses in general to make significant changes to the ways they currently operate. Several examples of competing industrial nations tell us that incorporating private sector style of auditing can be beneficial and a national award for auditing quality can improve productivity. This will push American companies to improve the quality of products as they will be getting the national recognition in auditing. Companies that will improve their quality will serve as examples for others to follow. Specific guidance will be provided to those companies who would wish to be enlisted in the leading companies who have considerably improved the quality of their products. The purpose of this act is to provide for establishment and conduct of a national quality improvement program that will; give awards t o those companies who will practice effective quality management and significantly improve the quality of their products/services, and the information is disseminated about successful strategies and
Henry Viii, the Tyrant of England Essay Example for Free
Henry Viii, the Tyrant of England Essay All throughout history, many important figures have contributed to the growth and development of the world in several aspects including the economic and political advancement of their corresponding regions. However, many of these great leaders have achieved this goal through various contrasting ideologies, as seen with the rule of Henry VIII in England during the 16th century. Henry VIII, also known as Henry Tudor, ruled between 1509 and 1547 during which he was â€Å"regarded as England’s most important monarch†(Mcenegart). While King Henry is credited to playing a vital role in the development of England, the methods by which he achieved this title can be considered questionable due to controversial actions he had taken during his rule; Henry is still criticized to this day for his dramatic reduction of the nation’s economy due to expensive warfare and expansion, and his extensive spending to ensure his place as the king (Mcenegart). I believe that King Henry is an extremely tyrannical yet effective leader in history because of his active role in the development of England and the social strife and economic conflicts he brought to the complex civilization. Biographical Information Henry Tudor existed during a crucial event in history with the secession from the Roman church, and was born in Greenwich England on June 28, 1491. As a child, Henry Tudor was a very enthusiastic student and enjoyed learning. His father, Henry VII, enrolled him to learn various languages including Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian while at the same time required him to study mathematics and music. In his leisure time, Henry Tudor enjoyed hunting numerous animals, and took part in physical competitions including wrestling and jousting in which he was regarded as being able to draw â€Å"the bow with greater strength than any man in England†(â€Å"Henry, VIII†). However, in 1502 Henry’s eldest brother died due to tuberculosis. Arthur Tudor was the rightful heir to receive the throne after his father; however Henry then became the eldest son to Henry VII and was next in succession to inheriting the throne (Mcenegart). As a result, Henry Tudor was forced by his father to marry his brother’s wife, now a widow, named Catherine of Aragon, the first of many Catherine’s he would soon marry (â€Å"Henry VIII.†Great 105). Shortly after on April 22, 1509 the ruthless yet notorious father of Henry Tudor passed away, allowing Henry Tudor, now more popularly known as Henry VIII, to receive the throne as the youngest and first uncontested Prince to ascend as the King of England (Mcenegart). Leadership Qualities Throughout the rule of the new King of England, many leadership qualities Henry possessed soon became apparent and served as a crucial example of how he was to lead the citizens of England. After the death of Henry VII, Henry Tudor claimed the throne and immediately became the next ruler, Henry VIII of England. In the early years of his rule, Henry quickly discarded his father’s trusted chief ministers, Edmond Dudley, and Richard Empson who he had executed for treason in 1510. Henry then primarily focused on foreign affairs in which he supported Spain but acquired a detested view of the French, and soon conjugated with Spain in their efforts to invade France in 1512 by distributing troops to help support the war effort; this in return lead to the victory of the Battle of the Spurs in 1513 and the acquirement of the cities Tournai and Thà ©orouanne. The War of the Holy League then concluded with the marriage between Henry’s sister Mary Tudor to Louis XII of France, comp leting the treaty between the two regions. Following this marriage, â€Å"Henry received the papally bestowed title, ‘Defender of the Faith’ as a reward for writing the Assertion of the Seven Sacraments, a criticism of Lutheran doctrine†(â€Å"Henry, VIII†). In the later years of King Henry VIII’s rule, he began to focus less on foreign affairs and gradually increased his interest in the English Reformation. In 1530 after several negotiations, Henry realized that the secession from the Roman Catholic Church would be the only way to achieve what he desired politically and socially. As a result, he created an independent church that would â€Å"declare his marriage to the guiltless Catherine null and void†, seeing that she could not produce the desired male heir that king Henry so desperately required, and one that would end his marriage without question to his authority (â€Å"Henry VIII†Great 106). Throughout his rule, King Henry found himself married to several wives including one marriage to Anne Boleyn who gave birth to Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen of England, but was still unable to give birth to the desired male heir that would take the throne following King Henry VIII’s rule. After the birth of Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn became â€Å"a shrew of a wife†and was accused of adultery and witchcraft, by Henry himself, and was executed later that year (â€Å"Henry VIII†Great 106). Following the death of Anne, Henry was soon married to Jane Seymour, who for the very first time was able to create a son that would serve as the male heir for the throne; however, Henry’s wife quickly passed away due to natural causes during childbirth. As was expected of the King, Henry accused his following three wives, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr, of adultery in which only Catherine Parr was spared (â€Å"Henry VIII, King†442). During the complicated marriages of Henry VIII, he was also very focused on the English Reformation in which he decided to educate his son in Protestant beliefs so the future King of England would carry on his legacy. During the 1540’s however, Henry became very weak and unhealthy; as a result he wrote a will that stated if Edward was to die without any male heirs, the crown would descend to Mary and then onto Elizabeth (â€Å"Henry VIII†The Renaissance 350). Soon after the will was written, the honored yet feared King Henry passed away on January 28, 1547 (â€Å"Henry VIII, King†443). Connection to Literature The tyrant Henry VIII is characterized as an incredibly smart individual who is manipulative in his efforts to achieve his desired goals and often caused chaos and complications where conflict may have been easily avoided. The King of England is easily comparable to Curley’s wife from the book Of Mice and Men, in the aspect that both shared very similar personalities. In this book, Curley’s wife often desired to be around other men that appreciated her and would unintentionally cause conflicts between the numerous farmhands. Early on in the book, Lennie begins to develop an interest in Curley’s wife noticing how pretty she was when they first met. Near the end of the book, Lennie and Curley’s wife are alone talking to each other while all the other men are gambling on a game of horseshoes; during this discussion, Curley’s wife mentions how soft her hair is, and as Lennie starts to feel it, she begins to become nervous and pull away. Lennie however does not let go of her hair and accidentally snaps the fragile neck of Curley’s wife. Henry VIII of England and Curley’s wife are similar in numerous ways. Both had created pandemonium among the civilians around them through poor decision making and conflicts they had created. While Curley’s wife associated herself with other farmhands causing tension between the workers; King Henry VIII had also associated himself with the wrong women in whom he decided to have killed through accusation of adultery or witchcraft. The several wives of the king were unable to produce a male heir he so desperately desired so as a result, he caused unnecessary tension by killing them in a similar way Curley’s wife was killed, through decapitation. Both Curley’s wife and Henry VIII played a vital role in the lives of others and without them, the events succeeding them would be drastically changed. Conclusion Without the existence of Henry VIII of England, the outcome of the War of the Holy League and the connection between church and state in England would still be very contrasting to this day; on the other hand, Henry’s rule was very costly towards the nation’s finances and several critical horrifying decisions he had taken while King confirmed his existence as a more tyrannical leader in history. While he did create a separate Protestant church in England and helped form valuable connections between France and Spain, several hundred men and women were accused of treason and put to death at the mercy of his word. Alongside these men and women, several of Henry’s personal friends and family members were also put to death including his father’s trusted advisors and many wives just because they were unable to give him what he wanted. Henry’s life had an astronomical impact on a very complex civilization during his time period; however many of the actions he had taken were to nourish his extensive and controlling lifestyle in which he was willing to do anything to achieve his goals (â€Å"Henry VIII†Renaissance 351).
Monday, July 22, 2019
Describing and Pursuing Essay Example for Free
Describing and Pursuing Essay Based on these two articles, we can say that according to Wheatley a leader should be fearless in face of challenges; a leader should lead change and be willing to take the first step to help and influence a situation. She also believes that leadership is not about being at an important position. According to her, anyone can be a leader simply by refusing to take things lying down and by standing up to do something about a problem and try and change the situation. In comparison to Wheatley, Paul Thornton, in â€Å"Leadership- Seeing, Describing and Pursuing what’s Possible†, believes that a leader should be able to accurately analyze the current situation and then see into future to envision the possibilities. A leader can envision the future by taking specific steps such as studying the best, asking questions, traveling and learning from the businesses of different countries and other such methods. Once a leader has discovered these possibilities he must describe these to other people in a way that catches their attention. And then deliver it in a passionate, energetic and animated manner. Finally, a leader pursues his dream in order to make it come true. In other words, a leader must work hard in order to become a successful leader. Thus while Wheatley believes that leadership starts at the very basic level and anybody can be leader simply by taking small steps towards bringing about a change, Thornton believes that leaders bring change through meticulous planning which starts with envisioning the future. Thornton’s second article, â€Å"Management Styles, Directing Discussing and Delegating†, discusses three management styles: Directing, Discussing and Delegating. In the directing style the manager tells a group of employees what to do, how to do and when to have it completed. In this management style, the manager does everything, letting the employs only follow the directions and is suitable when employees lack experience. In the discussing style of management, the manager asks questions before telling the employee what to do. The discussing style of management is about learning from the employees before assigning them a job. In the delegating style of management, managers discuss the problem with the employee, than tell them what to do, but let the employee decide how he completes the job. Thornton discusses these three management styles in details, explaining what to do and what to avoid in each of the three styles. When we compare this article with the other three articles, we find that this article covers a completely different topic than the rest. While the other articles talk about leadership, this article is about management styles. The article talks about the relationship between a manager and an employee. However, a manager need not necessarily be a leader and the article does not talk about leadership. If we compare the writing style of Wheatley and Thornton, we find that Thornton has a more formal writing style. He uses bullet points to express himself and summarizes in the end. Thornton’s articles have the look and feel of a lecture note. Also, the articles get directly to the point, talking about the issue at hand without getting into background stories. Wheatley, on the other hand has an informal writing style. Her articles are written for the layman and are full of stories to illustrate her point. Purely from a writing style point if view, Thornton’s articles are more engaging. However, the point she is trying to make has a tendency to get lost in all the stories she writes. This problem is avoided by Thornton, as he talks about the issue clearly and concisely and summarizes it all in the end to ensure that reader gets the point. Both Wheatley and Thornton have thorough knowledge of their subjects. However, Wheatley speaks from a practical viewpoint while Thornton is more theoretical. As far as their advice on leadership is concerned, once again Wheatley advocates a more informal style, stressing the fact that every individual can be a leader. Thornton, however, seems to feel that leadership should be learnt and he gives detailed commentary on how to be a better leader. There are many definitions of leadership. For Wheatley, it is about taking small steps to make a difference. For Thornton, it is about planning the entire process of change carefully. Both the definitions have seen the test of time and have thrown up successful leaders. But while Wheatley suggests these leadership styles, Thornton takes the pain to explain what leadership is and how to be a successful leader.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Financial Decision Making and Theory
Financial Decision Making and Theory Abstract The aim of this research is to provide an overview of financial decision making and theory and practise according to which the decision has been taken. In this research the risks faced by any person or company in financial decision making and the strategies adopted by companies will be discussed. Decision making is plays an important role in progress of any company. Basically there are some set goals and objectives according to which company make their strategies and take financial decisions. Intelligent decisions put company on a progressive way and all this depends on the financial manager that how to make the strategy, how to follow a set plan of strategies and how much will be the success. Making right decision at the right time will lead a company to success, for this purpose one have to analyze the resources and then define some goals. Different strategies will be brought in to action to achieve those objectives and goals. Afterwards what will be the impact of investment for the company and how much profitable it will be also the role of taxation will be discussed. Chapter 1: Background and Introduction Introduction: Decision making is an important and necessary part of everyones life. When it comes to making business decisions i.e. where huge money is involved, and loss and profit make a big difference then financial decisions will be more risky, and difficult, however there will be certain rules and procedures by which risk of financial decision can be reduced or minimize the loss. The process of corporate decision making is the most important decision for effective management. Decision making process is based on experts knowledge and experience. The good financial decisions help the organization to generate profit effectively, if the decision is accurate, business in specific time will be successful, and however poor decision could lead to failure of business (Mind tools 2007). Every firm have some objective and goals because if there are no objectives and goals, then there is no point to struggle and hard work and therefore no development and success. According to those goals and objectives there will be a vision and mission of company and then some strategies will be defined to achieve those objectives. Profitability is the basic aim behind every strategy because it will help the company to forecast their profits, revenues and profits according to each strategy.(Lumby,S 2004) When deciding on an investment opportunity, one has to consider the risks involved. As an investor or manager makes decisions on which project to invest, consideration must be given for the Net Present Value (NPV) of the different projects from which to choose. Afterward, a good investor should conduct sensitivity and scenario analysis as well as a risk analysis. Sensitivity analysis shows NPV under varying assumptions, giving managers a better feel for the projects risks (Ross et al, 2005). In the real world, it is likely that there will be many variables affecting a project. The sensitivity analysis only modifies one variable at a time. This is where the scenario analysis comes into play. Scenario analysis examines a projects performance under different scenarios (Ross et al, 2005). Finally, the break-even analysis helps to calculate the figure at which the project breaks even. This is useful as Company want to know how bad forecasts must be before a project loses money. All three analyses help an organization or individual understand the risks involved in a project. The goal of dissertation is to analyze the risks associated with the investment that will help to make financial decision. Profitability index is a good tool to help determine which of the projects will give the company the highest value after investment. As a financial analyst, it is extremely difficult to eliminate bias for analysis. One has the option to adjust his or her stance and can choose to be conservative, moderate or aggressive. The value of the NPV, IRR and PI can be higher or lower based on the position that the financial analyst favours the most. This is a risk as it also poses some form of bias relating to the financial analysts view. The results would not show the true stance of the company, rather it would show the analysts view. To mitigate this risk, a strategic analyst will make decisions based on a combination of results and abstain from decisions based on his or her own stance (Ross et al, 2005). The fact that no one can be certain as to how the economy or market will perform in the coming years also poses a major risk. As the values are selected and decided, outside factors might have a major effect in the following years that will skew the current values. In the Financial decision making, no information is given on the stability of the market. If the market is not stable, predictions could not be made to a certain extent, thereby making investment decisions risky. To mitigate this risk, the concept of forecasting needs to be applied. Although forecasting would not eliminate all risks associated with the future, it may help identify and evaluate risks, clarifying factors and reveal assumptions (Veryard Projects, 2001). Forecasting will help to identify future risks in order for the companies to create a backup plan. Environmental scanning is also another mitigation method as it will help identify external factors that might pose a threat to their decisions (Veryard Projects, 2001). The Risk element in concept of investment decision is an imperative factor in the valuation of likely investments. Risk and risk management are at the core of an investments success. Risk refers to the volatility of unexpected outcomes, usually relating to the value of assets or incomes gained from them (Jorion and Khoury, 1996). In simple words, risk refers to a measure of the possibility of being surprised. A key concern for financial institutions and investors is the enormous issue of market risks. Risk can be categorised into number of types but a clear understanding of Financial Risk is beneficial in evaluation and monitoring of investments. Financial Risk is the variability in the investors returns. Investors can considerably reduce the variation in returns by carefully investing in two or more assets. Finally it is concluded that decision making is all about compare possible options and alternatives and financial decision is totally based on the theory of valuation because company valuation is necessary in order to make multiple alternatives and in all types of decisions there are same essential concepts involved which has exclusive features in the valuation and later on decision making process (Lumby, S 2004). These strategies help in making intelligent decisions by analyzing the given or required information. These strategies also help in selecting the best possible action based upon the consequences of decisions and also work out the significance of individual aspects (Mind tools 2007). Aims and Objectives The aim of this dissertation is to reduce the risk of financial decision making. To define a way for the managers by which they can reduce the risk of uncertainty and they can identify that whether to invest in this business is profitable or is there any risk of loss. There will be certain processes and procedures. By following them financial decision making will not very difficult and after investing these process will also make an estimation of the profit or loss. The main objectives of this dissertation will be as follows:- Identify the risks in financial decision making process. Define the methods and procedures to minimize the risk. To calculate that after investing in certain project what will be the impact of that investment i.e. Profitable or not. What will be the taxation effect? These objectives will be addressed in the different sections and then based on the research and findings a conclusion will be defined at the end. Chapter summaries This dissertation consists of an Abstract and five further chapters. In first chapter will be a thorough introduction of dissertation and about the aims and objectives In second chapter the literature review will highlight different areas of research and about the objectives to be achieved. Research methodology will be described in the third chapter and in this chapter different methods using during the research will be explained and also the collection of data. Chapter four will be about the outcomes of the research and there comparison with literature. Chapter five will be about the conclusion and recommendation by analyzing the objectives through different methodologies that what the final outcome of the dissertation is. Chapter 2: Literature Review Responsibilities of Financial manager in investment decision making The financial manager is the person whom primary responsibility for financial management in a firm. The financial manager must act as an intermediary standing among financial markets and the firms operations, where the firms securities are traded. The role of financial manager is very complicated its a two way process. Firstly, maintain a cash flow from shareholders to company and secondly from company to shareholders. This cash is for the purpose to acquire real assets used in and by the company operations and expanses. Later on if the performance of company is good and progressive these real assets generate profits for the company which works as cash inflows and finally this profit is returned to the shareholders who have earlier made the investment (BusinessCreditInfo.com, 2006). This shows that the financial manager has to deal with capital markets as well as the firms operations. Therefore, the financial manager must understand how capital markets work. The financial manager must undertake certain specific duties to carry out the responsibilities satisfactorily. Some of the main duties are summarized by the following; 1. The financial manager is continuously involved in financial analysis to monitor the financial performance of a firm. For example, financial manager has to ensure and provide adequate financial control such that funds are allocated in an efficient manner. 2. The financial manager must ensure that the firm meets its day-to-day cash requirements. 3. The financial manager advises on the acquisition of fixed assets such as cash, market securities, accounts receivable and inventories. 4. The current and fixed assets of a firm are usually financed through a combination of current and long-term liabilities, and equity, or shareholders money. The financial manager must ensure that a firm invests in the types and amounts of fixed assets needed for efficient operation. 5. The financial manager must pay attention to the welfare of the firms shareholders. In this regard, financial manager needs to develop and implement a dividend policy which is acceptable to these shareholders. The fundamental financial goal of any organization is to maximize the stockholders value. In general, an increase in stockholders wealth means that value has been added to firm assets and wealth of society has generally increased. In addition, stockholders are satisfy to contribute cash only if the decisions made to generate at least equal to the returns that stockholders could earn by investing in financial markets. Otherwise, shareholders might be wanted their money back. (Ardalan, K 2003) According to Van Horne J., (2007) stated that maximization of profits is regarded as the proper objective of the firm; however, maximization of profits is not as inclusive a goal as that of maximizing shareholder wealth. For one thing, total profits are not as important as earnings per share. A firm could always raise total profits by issuing shares and using the proceeds to invest in Treasury bills. The viewpoint of financial manager and stockholder regarding to maximizing share value are as following (Arcas, 2007); 1. The viewpoint of financial managers is creating high retained earning or profit to the company. Whereas, Shareholders consider to dividend and stock price of the company so the aim of the management is always to make the company profitable and progressive to maximize shareholders value. The makeup of the shareholders can change without affecting the operation of the corporation whereas the decision from financial manager could imply the trend of shareholders wealth. 2. Long-term and Short-term; financial managers: good financial managers will have a long-term plan to increase share value along with the current market situation. Meanwhile stakeholders and shareholders may desire to get the higher return with short-time period. Therefore, they may change and move around to find more profits. 3. Ethics in management; unethical financial manager may attempt to find the short-term prosperity and give him/herself a return in many kinds from company compensation. Meanwhile stakeholders: the inappropriate practice may lead to the unacceptable image and may relate to the industry wealth. In addition, shareholders: the unethical decision from manager could pull down the share value and may result in bankrupt if the owners are not promptly action to solve the issue. 4. Different Opinion in a type of investment to increase the shareholder wealth between financial manager and Shareholders because each person may see the high return from different perspective and the best decision can not be concluded. For example, stockholders may not think about risk of the possible earnings stream. Stockholders want to increase stock price by increasing the risk. On the other hand, financial manager who looks at the overall pictures for long-term goal, financial manager want to accelerate good performances of the company by limiting the risk that the company should take. Market price is the performance indicator for any company. It tells that how much company is earning and also the management performance on their shareholders behalf. The management is under continuous review. If a shareholder is dissatisfied with managements performance, he/she may sell his/her shares and invest in others company. This action, if taken by other unsatisfied shareholders, will put downward pressure on the market price per share. Therefore, the company cannot survive and raise the fund on as favorable terms as possible in the market which impact directly to the financial manager. In short, financial manager has important roles in managing financial in the firm, dealing with conflictions either boards of director, employees or shareholders, which made financial manager requires short-term and long-term viewpoint to increase financial status and to maximize shareholder value. Techniques used in financial decision making and risks involved Researches show that investment decisions which are made, no matter in large or small businesses are mostly dependant on Capital Budgeting techniques. According to Jones and Smith (1982), an American engineer has first use the present value calculations to calculate non financial investments back in 1887 who were really concerned with the railway construction economies (Jones and Smith, 1982). It is also seen that Fishers (1907) seminal work called The Rate of Interest is first discussed by an American economist evaluating in finding net present value.(Fisher, 1907). Capital Budgeting, frankly speaking is the process of generating, evaluating, selecting and following up on capital expenditures (Study Finance, 2007), or in other words the planning process used to determine a firms long term investment. According to Maccarrone (1996), in the last few years capital investment has boost in decision making and further believes that most of the theories about capital investments behavioural aspects and about the association between investment decision. (Maccarrone, 1996). Also looking at the research paper by Fourcans (1987), where he says that, in the success of all big names and multinational companies capital budgeting is the most popular strategy and plays very important role in the development of any organization. As other techniques there are some drawbacks, ambiguity and risks involved in using capital budgeting as Fourcans (1987) focused that when you use certain strategies in business, a certain risk level is associated with each technique (Fourcans, 1987). As mentioned before, majority of investment decision which take place are mostly backed up by capital budgeting techniques, but in real life, not all companies follow the same type of techniques. The type of techniques they use sometimes depends on their size or on the position of the business in the market. In this report wewill be looking at different business positions and list the type of techniques they use based on research. Also there will be a discussion on looking at the risks and uncertainty involved in capital budgeting techniques because theories and researches suggest that quite a lot of time the results from capital budgeting are inefficient and in-accurate. Technically speaking, every investment project is worth the go if the net present value (NPV) is positive, but according to Holmà ©n (2005) this is not always the case. For the calculation of NPV, different cash flows of a project required and then discount them at a given discount rate. Discount rate is the risk of cash flow for which the price is charged by capital markets. The formula for NPV is Where t is Time of the cash flow. r is The discount rate. Ct is the net cash flow. The stockholders from big organizations think that discount rate is a risk according to the strategy that affects the project value. During capital budgeting, the deficiency of capital markets, bankruptcy costs were mostly ignored when there is capital market imperfection (Holmà ©n, 2005). This reason is also backed up by Stulz (1999) who believes that there are certain aspects which are neglected while making decisions based on NPV (Stulz 1999). There is no doubt that NPV is the most commonly used technique, but there are also other alternates like payback period etc. The payback method used is consider the most imperfect method because firstly it overlooks cash flows and secondly time value of money; this factor is ignored. According to Graham and Harvey (2001), which is also a surprising fact that 57% of Corporate Finance Organizations (CFo) apply payback method for capital budgeting decisions and 76% use NPV method (Graham and Harvey, 2001). Koedik et al (2004) says that the met hod of payback is widely used not only in Europe but also in UK, Germany and France. It is second largely popular technique in Netherlands subsequent to NPV (Koedjik et al, 2004, pg 71-101). As stated previously in the report, most of the organization use capital budgeting in different ways and techniques depending on the size and growth because if a company is bigger in size and position is stable then they have higher expectations and they will use more complex techniques because they have extra shares in the markets and they have got enough time to achieve what they have budgeted. As mentioned in the research done by Holmà ©n (2005), large and growing organization, the majority of them use NPV more willingly then other techniques (Holmà ©n, 2005). Even Ryan AND Ryan (2002) states in his research that NPV and IRR is most popular capital budgeted technique in progressed organization. Patricia and Glenns research was done on 1000 companies and the outcome was, about 49.8% big organizations use NPV and on the other hand 44.6% use IRR with the possibility of using each more commonly being 85.1% and 76.7% respectively (Ryan and Ryan, 2002). Collis and Jarvis (2000) say that in small companies financial decision is all depends on owners and managers that how they use their resources and information to manage and control their process (Collis and Jarvis, 2000). Consequently, According to Peel and Wilson (1996), if financial management practices in the small firm sector could be improved significantly, then fewer firms would fail economic welfare would be increased substantially (Peel and Wilson, 1996). Normally in practise small companies tend to follow the criterion of big financial names but according to their size and growth they make their own policies and strategies with clear intention keeping in mind their objects and goals and are quite similar like the big organizations are following. These can be explained critically as follows. First, the financial management practices of large firms are neither conclusive nor indisputable. On the contrary, they are controversial and continually changing (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). Second, the larger companies themselves, even with highly skilled and experienced staff, do not always stick strictly to standards defined by them so could not avoid the serious failure in real practise of financial decision making (Jarvis et al., 1996).Third, many research studies have demonstrated that because of the structure small companies do not function in the circumstances as large organizations because of the different environment, economy and financi al restrictions (Curran, 1990). According to McMahon and Stanger (1995), because of different size and growth there is a difference in operation environment and so in the level of risk and uncertainty (McMahon and Stanger, 1995). So it can be said that uniqueness of small firms required financial strategies which suits to its requirements and which are designed to fulfil its requirement according to their scale and quite similar to the strategies of big successful organizations (Jarvis et al., 1996). Small organizations have limited resources to manage the strategies in the real world as compare to the big organization (Jennings and Beaver, 1997). So the fact is that small companies have different environment and conditions as compare to large organizations because the decisions making capability of small firms is often unstable by success point of view which big organizations dont face many times. According to Taylor III (1998) research, when assess the investment management there are two perspective namely local and global. In local perspective company performance can be calculated by its smaller units and then combine them on a local level. If performance of the company at the local level is good then it will maximize the performance of the organization as a smaller component. Local measures include usually Pay back method, IRR (Internal Rate of Return) and NPV (Net Present Value). On the other hand global measures assess any company performance as complete unit. If the performance of company as complete unit is fine it will maximize the performance of the organization completely. In global measures ROI (Return on Investment) net profit and cash flow techniques are being used (Taylor, 1998). As above explained that the difference of capital budgeting techniques in small and big organizations. Now see that do these techniques make any difference in public and private sector. According to Habib et al (1997) tells how financial decisions made. In his paper he said, Recent developments, such as privatization and the private finance initiative, have raised the issue of which assets should be owned by the public sector and whether assets have different values in the public and private sectors (Habib et al 1997). The research shows that there is a difference between capital investment in each sector and in different organizations depending upon their size, capabilities and growth and how well establish companies maximize shareholders value and how finance managers take decisions for the benefit of shareholders. As the research continues it tells us that NPV (Net Present Value) is used to calculate shareholders value but calculation by NPV shows a risk in the financial market and more research shows that calculation by NPV calculation in evaluating the risk factor is efficient or not. Further research shows that projects using NPV in most of the public sectors are quite similar so the outcome is also similar which will help in getting the profitability and maximize the shareholders wealth (Habib et al,1997). Capital budgeting techniques which are frequently used these days in every organization do involve certain amount of risk. In investment decisions the techniques involved not always give perfect outcome. Drury andTalyes (1997) in their research say that for a long time capital budgeting techniques in UK and USA and using all four techniques of capital budgeting i.e. NPV, IRR, ARR and PBP. Further says despite the increased usage of the more theoretically sound discounting techniques, several writers in both the UK and USA have claimed that companies are under investing because they misapply or misinterpret discounted cash flow techniques(Drury and Tayles, 1997). Other writers like Finnie (1988), Hodder and Riggs (1985) and Kaplan (1986) say that firms are guilty of rejecting worthwhile investments because the improper treatment of inflation in the financial appraisal; inflation affects both future cash flows and the cost of capital that is used to discount the cash flows (Finnie, 198 8; Hodder and Riggs, 1985; Kaplan 1986). Amongst the risk involved in the investment appraisal techniques is the use of excessive discount rates. Dimson and Marsh (1994) say that many UK companies may be using excessively high discount rates to appraise investments and, as a result, these companies are in danger of under investing (Dimson and Marsh, 1994). Porter (1992) says that in the USA it has also been alleged that firms used discount rates to evaluate investment projects that are higher than their estimated cost of capital (Porter, 1992) Ehrhardt and Daves (1999), in their research for unusual and extraordinary cash flows, say that by ignoring cash flows, capital budgeting results are incorrect which are Quite large From normal operating cash flows risk are quite different Not part of companies normal operating cash flows. There are some risk avoidance methods which can be used to get more accuracy in investment decisions. These methods and techniques can be used for the future purposes in taking financial decisions (Ehrhardt and Daves, 1999). Take right decision at the right time is important so to get good outcome from capital budgeting it is essential to use right technique at the right time. (Pollet et al, 2006). Research shows that there is a difficulty in calculating the theory of capital budgeting and find different opportunities of investment and when making investment decisions the market should be consider positive. Further it is observed that organization using complex budgeting techniques to achieve their high standard goals and objectives for short term and in order to gain maximum market share, but on the other side companies with high goals for long term use target oriented strategies which are not very difficult to achieve (Della Vigna and Pollet, 2006). Chapter 3: Research Objectives Research questions How much external and Internal funds impact on Corporate financial decisions and how? How corporate capital structures effect the financial decision making? Has tax effect in corporate financial decisions? If yes how and how much? Objectives To find out the financial decision making process of a company and the basic ideas on which that decision is based. To identify how taxes affect the process of financial decision making process and how much the effect will be? To find out how different type of investments effect the financial decision making process and how much the effect will be? To research how can we reduce the risk of decision making in the industry using corporate financial decision, how a company should make its decision and which aspects a company should be concerned about while making an investment decision? Chapter 4: Methodology Research Philosophy According to Remenyi et al (2003, p.32) positivistic philosophy aims at the derivation of laws or law-like generality which are related in natural and physical sciences. In quantitative research the researchers are allowed to understand the concept of the problem which is under observation. Facts and the causes of behaviour is the major emphasis area(Bogdan and Biklen 1988), in which the numeric information can be calculated, and summarized using a mathematical process and then the final outcome which is in statistical terminology is formulated (Charles 1995). There are two features common in realistic philosophy and positivism philosophy: a belief that for data collection in social and natural sciences the approach is almost same and for explanation and assurance to the view that scientists normally pay attention to the external reality (Bryman 2001). The interprevistic philosophy in contrast, emphasize that the suppositions of both philosophies are unnecessary; especially in cases where many factors manipulate the objective of the study, very complex to separate and control in experimental laboratory settings (Hirschheim and Klein 1994). Qualitative research, generally defined, means any kind of research that generates result not arrived at through quantification (Strauss and Corbin 1990, p.17) and which take place from real-world circumstances (Patton 2001, p.39). In this situation this study is using interprevistic approach because the findings i.e. how to make investment decisions and how much will be the risk in that decision and how much will be the impact of that investment afterwards is really difficult to calculate exactly and also is a complex collection in real-world scenario, so it will not appropriate to use positivistic approach. Research approach Inductive reasoning implement to the situations where measurements or some particular observations are formed towards formulating broader conclusions, generalizations and theories (Saunders et al. 2003, p.87-88). The deductive reasoning is the approach in which one start thinking about generalizations, and then continues towards the particulars of how to implement the generalizations (Saunders et al. 2003, p.86-87), mostly applicable in disciplines where agreed facts and established theories are available (Remenyi et al. 2000, p.75) From the following table will tells the major differences among inductive and deductive approaches and in this research, inductive approach will be used as it is best suitable for an interpretivistic research. Deduction Induction Processing from theory to data high structured approach collection of quantitative data independence to researcher understanding research context closely realization that the researcher is the part of research process collection of qualitative data providing flexible structure allow to change the research emphasis by the progress of research <
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