Wednesday, December 25, 2019

New Step by Step Roadmap for Writing a Research Proposal

New Step by Step Roadmap for Writing a Research Proposal To critically evaluate your own paper ways to understand its limitations and implications for additional work and research in the area, and you ought to make it obvious which you're realistic in the way you see your undertaking. The proposal should have enough info to convince your readers that you have a significant research idea, that you've got a great grasp of the appropriate literature and the key problems, and your methodology is sound. Typically, a research proposal should contain all the crucial elements involved with the research procedure and include sufficient information for those readers to rate the proposed study. So if you're struggling with methodology research proposal writing or even defining the ideal methodology you understand now exactly where you have to come for expert experienced assistance. The Awful Side of Writing a Research Proposal Writing a great research paper demands good planning and pre paration to make certain that you map out carefully what it is that you're going to do and how you will do it. Writing a research proposal engages quite a few skills. Authors should consider whether the title is readily understood and in the event the significance of what they're attempting to accomplish clear. They must remember that the proposal is not the final thesis. Identify what type of research work you need to conduct. You need to put out your research questions as clearly as possible, explain issues that you wish to explore and say why it's important to achieve that. When you have defined your research questions, you need to place out broadly what you intend to do in order to answer them, and why. With this much research available on any certain topic, research questions must be as clear as possible in order to work in helping the writer direct her or his research. The Foolproof Writing a Research Proposal Strategy The target of a proposal is to demonstrate the s ignificance of study a chosen issue and to present the practical ways where the research ought to be conducted. Authors should not underestimate how getting other people to review their proposal can improve it. Your proposal isn't just something which has to be approved to find permission to continue it also forms the outline of how you are going to conduct that research so it's important to receive it right from the beginning. There are several research proposal writing service in UK and assignments that exist in the united kingdom, which assist you in writing the very best. You should care for the proposal as a chance to prove that you have started to explore an important region of study and that you own a question, or questions, that challenge and produce that area. The following thing is that you must be scientific with your methodology. One of the absolute most important things to keep in mind while drafting a proposal is the simple fact that authors need to tailor it to suit the audience. It is very important to be certain that the purpose and the significance is pertinent to the target audience. Writing a Research Proposal: No Longer a Mystery There are lots of firms specialising in writing PhD thesis that are ready to provide you their support which will just assist you in writing a prosperous PhD research proposal which is going to be a unique thesis and creates a valid and productive contribution to your field of study. Thesis proposal has an important part in expounding on the way the intended research will end into new knowledge within the discipline of study. Essentially, thesis statement should cover why the research was done or to put it differently the goal of the research. Bear in mind, it's critical in the social sciences your hypothesis is testable and falsifiable. Just make certain to know what you're speaking about and be prepared to demonstrate your ideas. Writing prior to going to bed is a great habit which isn't simple t o keep. Your thoughts will get a lot more open to impressive ideas, unique ideas and innovative techniques of working with problems. The research ought to be done around the core ideas and writing ought to be made accordingly. How to Choose Writing a Research Proposal Make a list of all of the sections that you know your proposal must cover. Sure, it doesn't stick to the outline in the specific order there isn't any single formula for writing after all, but you will locate all the elements there. The outline should clearly depict different topics and subtopics through the usage of headings and subheadings. This outline covers the main elements of a research proposal. If you're not a writer then taking somebody's help or by making appropriate investigating to compose the paper you can stay away from the deadly mistakes which can destroy your paper. You can't just borrow a notion from an author as though he's just lending you a mug or a jar. If you're not able to write down an excellent research proposal, get the aid of online writing service available online. You can rely on the very best essay help online. Writing a Research Proposal: No Longer a Mystery Sometimes research proposal is written as part of an upcoming dissertation, sometimes as a distinct work preceding it, there are times when you might not be asked to write it in any way. A research proposal is the initial step in writing your project, which means that it's the most crucial portion of your research. It is part of a formal research process, so take it seriously. Before you commence writing your research proposal, have a look at our online guidelines, which will help provide you with a crystal clear comprehension of that which we search for in a research proposal. The main purpose of your research proposal would be to establish what the reach of your topic is and make a very good case on why you must pursue it. Before selecting a research topic ask yourself these questions. A research proposal is basically a plan for work in order to check a hypothesis or set of hypotheses as a way to answer a research question. It serves the following functions. A research proposal is not merely a statement of interest in a particular topic area. A brief explanation of why it is necessary to deal with the issue is going to be provided also. Specify the question your research will answer, establish why it's a considerable question, show how you're likely to answer the question, and indicate what you expect we'll learn. Again, a narrow question that you are able to research in detail is much better than a broad one which you won't have the ability to cover in full. How to Get Started with Writing a Research Proposal? The conclusion is the part at which you will seal the offer. If you believe it to purchase research proposal you need to pay plenty of money, you're right. The majority of the moment, the best plan of action is to cut your losses and continue on to the next thing.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Mastering the World of Psychology Essay - 790 Words

Within the book Mastering the World of Psychology chapter five covers a basis surrounding the process of learning and how it relatively has permanent changes on behavior, knowledge, capability, or attitude (â€Å"Book†). These affects are acquired through everyday experiences such as actions that take place, enhancing our understanding of everything encompassed around us. As we continue to observe and apply associative learning we continue enhance our understanding of the world we live. The first question pertains to someone who was just counseled to avoid people and places from their previous drug days. The drug the patient has probably taken is highly addictive and within just one use the patient could return to old habits. Now by allowing†¦show more content†¦My mother would punish me by removing foods such as candy or sweet beverages in order to weaken what was causing me to not eat my vegetables. She could have also reinforced whenever I tried to eat my vegetabl es such as a rewarding me with sweet treats. Negative reinforcement is process of removing an undesirable consequence that strengthens the likely hood of a particular response. For example my mom told me that if I continue to eat my vegetables I won’t have problems with my body in the long run. No punishment contains positive and negative stimulus either adding or removing something that would stop a response from happening. Adding a stimulus could be spanking a child for doing something bad or removing someone’s video games for bad behavior all result in a response to stop an action from reoccurring. In question three psychologists approve child hood television in order to enforce and broaden the horizon of a child’s mind. Through the process of observing children are able to perceive what they take in and apply it to everyday life. Barney is a show that teaches children on manners, love and family relationships. 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Athletes are always looking for the next way to win, even if it is by the smallest of margins, however, competition may be fierce and very competitiveRead MoreDifference Between Freud vs. Erikson Essay1023 Words   |  5 PagesFreud and Erickson have similarities and differences in the things that do or explore within their theories and the way they do things. Freud was the most well known person to be called The Father of Psychology. He is the one who had introduced his theory of psychoanalysis that gave psychology a new name for the future or the new era. Freud used psychoanalysis as the method to understand how our minds work, as well as the way they grow and develop throughout the stages of development. PsychoanalysisRead MoreEssay about Psychology: Classical Conditioning1146 Words   |  5 Pagescontributions to the psychological field from several different doctors and their experiments. The first we are going to visit is Ivan Pavlov. His discoveries were accidental. 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Monday, December 9, 2019

Network System Design

Question: Write an essay on Network System Design? Answer: Analysis of Business Requirements Alfa Travel is a very well-known name in the field of tourism management in the United Kingdom. Alfa Travel mainly organized their tour packages by using their dedicated bus service. All tourism information system is maintained and managed by Manchester based head office. Alfa Travels office that is locating in the Manchester that department is entirely responsible for scheduling of any tour packages (Windeck, 2013). All the staff of Alfa travel is directly reported to Manchester office through company network over the Internet. Now Alfa travel picked up another tourism organization for more growth in their entire organization. The new organization that is incorporated with Alfa travel is providing air service based tourism packages. The newly incorporated organization need to connect with Alfa travels Manchester office. But due to some circumstance connection of both organization are become more complex (A and M, 2012). The main reason behind this situation is both organizations is located in different geographic location. For the making of a connection between both systems, a new network design is needed. According to their business purpose both of the system is are identical but they some minor differences. Like Alfa travel organized bus service base travel and tourism packages whereas new adopt organization is providing travel and tourism services by helicopters (Akram and Sheikh, 2012). For their connection, a new centralized server and network are needed which can feed both networks by synchronization of both organization servers. For doing a new server is needed connect over internet based hosting sites or their hosting over the internet. For their hosting services, they need to install a new server in Manchester or Edinburgh. But for more specialty in Manchester office end new server needed to place in the Manchester office location. And if this service is provided by another third party inte rnet base server hosting organization then selection of network is not necessary (Boche, Naik, and Alpcan, 2012). For third party server hosting service provider provide cloud-based infrastructure so any resource can be pulled from any location of a globe. New server needed to connect with both organization server. Their two-way connection approach is required to maintain network scalability. Bilateral means a connection between two different organizations server over internet and connection through a dedicated network that will provide significant functionality among both servers due to network transactions (Bonwetsch, 2012). Alfa Travels new server can keep track of both networks and updated simultaneously to provide the report in real time manner. Newly installed server can merge both results that are collected from these two servers and make the same report. Alfa travels need to migrate their web services like web portal, online booking onto a new server. Migration of web server is very necessary for synchronizing both organization data and information. Otherwise, a website cannot provide the practical result and create an anomaly in a physical server database. But after migration of web server with a new central server is very use ful for their business perspective (Chaki, Meghanathan, and Nagamalai, 2013). Now tourist can book any service related with Alfa tours by browsing its single website. But before the redesign of the net network system Alfa tours needed to concern about other concern like security constraints, storage area, etc. Network solution The Alfa Travel is an organization that has been conducting tours and travels package in the United Kingdom. The organization acquired new small business or organization that was also a one type of travel organization. The organization based in the Manchester and the new organization is based on the Edinburg (Eira, Pedro, and Pires, 2012). The primary organization wants a new network system that will connect these two organization servers, and they can do their job accordingly. A new cloud server is the one of the best solutions for this situation. Two mainframe central server are located in two different places. Therefore, the cloud is the best solution for this organization. One centralized cloud server will connect these two separate servers so that the staffs of this organization can access their server from any one of their branch (Garcia-Dorado et al., 2012). The main centralized cloud server will connect with the two others server; those are the file server, and another one is the web server. One main website also stores in the web server that can be accessible from the two different location. This network solution will allow the staffs to make a connection with both servers. The organization has ten workers, twenty-five drivers and eight pilots, five administrative and human resource employee (https://www.eng.tau.ac.il, 2016). They also have few marketing employee and management employee. This network solution will provide the computer system to all the employee that are connected to the data server for their purpose. The printers are connected to the server. Both branches have two separate printers, those are linked to the mainframe computer of the respective office. A system is created for the workers for ordering the parts for the business and the helicopters (https://www.scte.org, 2016). The driver can view their log and the schedule and route information. The new network solution helps the admin and the human resource department to consider the employee and manage the employee. Marketing employee can manage the marketing activity. Store files and backup resources Two main servers or the mainframe computer is connected to one centralized cloud server. The cloud server has two separate servers; one is the file server, and another one is the web server. All servers are connected to each other. So the employ can view data from any office. One of the primary facility is the centralized cloud server (Kavian and Leeson, 2012). The employees can store a file indirectly in the cloud, and the other employees can access this file if they are authorized. The primary facility of this system is the file can accessible from anywhere in the world. If the bus driver needs to store a file or Shearer a file with the office, then it is the very easier process to save and share the file (Lammle, 2011). The file is backed up on the cloud server if the local office server will be corrupted and crashed then it is not a big problem in this situation. Because all the server is connected to the cloud system and all the files are backed in the cloud (Lim et al., 2011). Use of required application Alfa travels are tours management based company, so they need to monitor their travel troops location in real time manner. For making this applicable Alfa travels network need to connect with the GPS based relocation service provider (Ren, Cai, and Su, 2012). After connecting GPS device on board of their travel medium like bus or helicopter GPS transponder will send their location coordinates to their company server address. After getting and identifying GPS device and its location GPS server will send automatic updated continually towards alpha travels central server (Luo et al., 2012). Alfa also travels need to implement Intrusion detection system and firewall to protect their data from intruders attacks. Alfa travels also need to improvise an automated SMS service system for sending reminder or alert. Automatic SMS system will create the message for their tourist phone number as a reminder (Maheshwari et al., 2012). Share the network resource or Printer In the first layer of the system, the virtual switch will be the organic communication medium among all gadgets that are utilized as a part of Alfa Travel Manchester office. Every one of the gadgets furthermore printers is expected to interface with the main switch. Association of a printer with the system switch can make an asset pool of serving printing administrations (Malekzadeh ., Ghani and Subramaniam, 2011). Every one of the gadgets can share a particular system based printer for their printing arrangement. The provided network is the better solution for the employee to use the printer. Checking and sending electronic mail internally and externally Alfa travels customized their network in some level of application. Different level of implementation is authorized to do the different task. Alfa also travels configure their email system as per their specific requirements. They structured their mail services in two broad category one is internal email and external email. Internal email is also classified in two general category, and they are in-house internal mail and in-organization mail services (Michalski and Wyant, 2012). For in-house services Alfa Travels office employee can send the email to their office premises. An employee can send their local mail by using a local mail server. For a case of in organization based email service provide same infrastructure services, but there are some changes present. For in team based mail services employee of both office can send their email under the navigation of Alfa travels centralized server. In this system, all the operator can send mail through entire centralized mail server (Park, Hong, and Kang, 2012). Apart from internal email services, external mail services can be used as globally for sending mail among employee or customer. Secure internet access The internet is secure in the organization because a firewall system is used in a primary network system. All the server is connected to the firewall. Firewall protect the unauthorized access in the primary system. Also, a virtual private network is created for the overall organization security purpose (Pop, 2012). Utilizing the most formal evaluation encryptions available, Private Internet Access will secure your association for you. Using encryption calculations fabricated by specialists in cryptography, it is to a significant degree troublesome, and conceivably inconceivable, to break our encryption advances (Popescu et al., 2013). Also, we give grade server firewalls, and IP was shrouding with each record. The main issue: you will have solidified security so you might appreciate the web. . . Internet Protocol address structure Manchester office Device Port number IP address Subnet musk Router1 Serial 3 / 0 222.240.10.2 255.255.255.252 Alfa Travels server Fa 0/0 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0 Computer1 Fa 0/0 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.0 Computer2 Fa 0/0 192.168.10.3 255.255.255.0 Computer3 Fa 0/0 192.168.10.4 255.255.255.0 Printer1 Gigabyte Ethernet 7/1 192.168.10.5 255.255.255.0 Printer 2 Gigabyte Ethernet 8/1 192.168.10.6 255.255.255.0 Edinburg office Device Port Number IP address Subnet Musk Router 2 Serial 3 / 0 222.240.10.2 255.255.255.252 Alfa Travels server Fa 0/0 192.168.10.7 255.255.255.0 Computer1 Fa 0/0 192.168.10.8 255.255.255.0 Printer1 Gigabyte Ethernet 7/1 192.168.10.9 255.255.255.0 Printer2 Gigabyte Ethernet 8/1 192.168.10.10 255.255.255.0 Computer1 Fa 0/0 192.168.10.11 255.255.255. Cost break down structure Work Break Down COST Network Structure 1 PC workstations 1.1 Setup workstation $1,000 1.2 install windows $12,000 1.3 Install office $10,000 1.4 Test workstation $0 1.5 Deploy workstations $1,250 2 Server 2.1 Server Structure $0 2.1.1 Design Server Structure $12,000 2.1.2 Implement Server Structure $10,000 2.2 Setup server $11,339 2.3 Install Server OS $14,540 . . 2.4 Test Structure $0 3 Network 3.1 Design Network Structure $7,500 3.2 Implement Network Structure $354,900 3.2.1 Implement internet access $15,000 3.2.2 Implement Email/Fax $1,000 3.2.3 Implement Printer $5,000 3.3 test network $0 4 Database 4.1 design database $10,000 4.1.1 DB structure $5,000 4.1.2 DB web front $1,250 4.2 Implement database $4,500 4.3 Test database $0 5 website 5.1 website design $45,000 5.2 implement website $12,500 5.3 test website $1,230 6 security 6.1 security design and features $5,000 6.2 implement security $3,500 6.3 test security $1,250 7 training 7.1 development training schedule $0 7.2 train employee $15,000 Network system Implementation The proposed network of Alfa travel organization is connect three different servers and a web server. So the design of the entire system must be done with some security measurement and network constant for providing a better scalable and effect network management. For doing this task the Alfa travels Manchester based office and Edinburg office need to redesign their entire network structure to communicate between newly installed centralized servers (QIAN et al., 2012). In the first phase of development Manchester, based office system is redesigned with an installation of new high-performance router and switches. In the first layer of a network, the functional switch will be the primary communication medium among all devices which are used in Alfa travel Manchester office (Ren, Cai, and Su, 2012). All the devices and also printer are needed to connect to the primary switch. The connection of printer with network switch can create a resource pool of serving printing services. All the d evices have the ability to share a single network based printer for their printing solution (Scc.spokane.edu, 2016). Manchester based office server is connected to a router where the primary function of the router is to create a service enabled platform among the network switch; Manchester based office server and internet service provider. Router is also protected by a thread party firewall service to identify the security threat and elements them (Tang, Zhang, and Liu, 2012). All the information of Manchester office computing devices is routed through three primary router and office server. The Edinburg office will have the same configuration like the Manchester office with some minor changes. Because the main functionality and maintainability are authorized under the Manchester based office (Windeck, 2013). The Edinburg office network based system will serve all the information as requested on the side of Manchester based office. For accessing information from Manchester based office will require some verification that will be made by the management authority of Manchester office. Now the major part is connecting the both network through a single centralized server. For connecting to a new centralized server needed to reconfigure both routers of the Alfa travels organization (Boche, Naik, and Alpcan, 2012). They need to configure their network address according to central server hosting provider network information. Due to security reason Alfa travels organization needs to customize their service by enabling the network firewall and ICT or information communication technology based on intrusion detection system devices. So they can do analysis their system and make some implement towards its security improvement (Chaki, Meghanathan, and Nagamalai, 2013). In this network information communication technology based on intrusion detection system devices or IDS is needed to configure for analyzing all inbound network packet. There is no necessity to filter inbounds network packet. The reason of disabling outbound network IDS system is there is no threat in its cont ent or network packet (Eira, Pedro, and Pires, 2012). In previous day, Alfa travels web server is connected along with the Manchester based office server. But for the new situation Alfa travels need to migrate it to a new centralized cloud server. So another office that is situated in Edinburg can also access the web content (Garcia - Dorado et al., 2012). Now all the information of two servers (Edinburg office server and Manchester office server) can simonteneuslly update create or delete web content for their user. On the user end, they also have the flexibility to book both tours package tickets by browsing a single website. Alfa travels mail server is needed to connect with the centralized server to serve both office central server (HTTP : // www. Eng .tau .ac .il .org, 2016). Network design implementation and critical appraisal For configuring of new centralized server needs to meet some particular condition. In the first phase of network configuration all the end devices like computers, network printers, need to configure their network domain, subnet mask and the network gateway. So they can access the entire network without any network anomaly (Kavian and Leeson, 2012). All the end devices the IP address must follow the fundamental rule of public IP addressing. For adding more security they can be configured with the IPv6 network addressing but it is not necessary due to internal network activity (Lim et al., 2011). All the end computing devices of the office needed to configure their subnet musk as the router subnet musk to accessing individual devices information. Alfa travels used the manageable switch for them each office so the switch can cause automatically manage the network bandwidth. Using a controllable switch is the very functional organization like Alfa travels because it has capability of scheduling the network resource in priority based (Luo et al., 2012). So any user who has maximum priority needed not to wait for bandwidth allocation. Cat 5 cable connects all the end devices with network switch (Maheshwari et al., 2012). Cat5 cable connected both the switch and end devices by their RJ45 ports. On every switch utilize the accompanying diagram to finish the ideal switch setups. Additionally, make certain to design tending to and hostnames. The main IP for each subnet ought to be allotted to the switch interface. The interfaces should be configured as specified in the IP tending to segment above; utilize a clock Rate of 64000on the R1-ISPS0/0/0 interface (Malekzadeh, Abdul Ghani, and Subramaniam, 2011). The static course onR1-ISP ought to indicate the Existing Student LAN subnet using R2-Central's serial interface IP address; the static route on R2-Central ought to be a static default course that focuses on R1-ISP's serial interface IP address (Michalski and Wyant, 2012). At whatever point you design a Cisco IOS gadget, make sure to spare your setup. The switch is connected to the router is configured with the Internet service provider Internet Protocol address. Both the offices have one switch and one router for the network purpose. Central office server is connected to the router. This server is content all the office data files and the all the relevant information. The router is connected to the one centralized server (Park, Hong, and Kang, 2012). That is cloud network. Manchester based office server is joined to a switch where the necessary capacity of the switch is to make an administration empowered stage among the system switch, Manchester based office server, and web access supplier. The switch is additionally ensured by a string party firewall administration to recognize the security risk and components them (Popescu et al., 2013). All the data of Manchester office processing gadgets are steered through three primary switches and office server. A website is also included for booking facility. The site is very simple, and basic HTML code is used. The user of this website can view this website by visiting the URL of the Alfa travels organization. In Cisco packet tracer, the network designer makes this website and include in it. The website can be viewed on any computer. All the end devices the IP address must follow the fundamental rule of public IP addressing. For adding more security they can be configured with the IPv6 network addressing but it is not necessary due to internal network activity (Lim et al., 2011). All the end computing devices of the office needed to configure their subnet musk as the router subnet musk to accessing individual devices information. Alfa travels used the manageable switch for them each office so the switch can cause automatically manage the network bandwidth. Using a controllable switch is the very functional organization like Alfa travels because it has capability of scheduling the network resource in priority based (Luo et al., 2012). So any user who has maximum priority needed not to wait for bandwidth allocation. Cat 5 cable connects all the end devices with network switch (Maheshwari et al., 2012). Cat5 cable connected both the switch and end devices by their RJ45 ports. On every switch utilize the accompanying diagram to finish the ideal switch setups. Additionally, make certain to design tending to and hostnames. The main IP for each subnet ought to be allotted to the switch interface. The interfaces should be configured as specified in the IP tending to segment above; utilize a clock Rate of 64000on the R1-ISPS0/0/0 interface (Malekzadeh, Abdul Ghani, and Subramaniam, 2011). The static course onR1-ISP ought to indicate the Existing Student LAN subnet using R2-Central's serial interface IP address; the static route on R2-Central ought to be a static default course that focuses on R1-ISP's serial interface IP address (Michalski and Wyant, 2012). At whatever point you design a Cisco IOS gadget, make sure to spare your setup. The switch is connected to the router is configured with the Internet service provider Internet Protocol address. Both the offices have one switch and one router for the network purpose. Central office server is connected to the router. This server is content all the office data files and the all the relevant information. The router is connected to the one centralized server (Park, Hong, and Kang, 2012). That is cloud network. Manchester based office server is joined to a switch where the necessary capacity of the switch is to make an administration empowered stage among the system switch, Manchester based office server, and web access supplier. The switch is additionally ensured by a string party firewall administration to recognize the security risk and components them (Popescu et al., 2013). All the data of Manchester office processing gadgets are steered through three primary switches and office server. A website is also included for booking facility. The site is very simple, and basic HTML code is used. The user of this website can view this website by visiting the URL of the Alfa travels organization. In Cisco packet tracer, the network designer makes this website and include in it. The website can be viewed on any computer.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Star Appliance Company Essay Example

Star Appliance Company Essay This paper will discuss how Star Appliance Company managed its cost of capital and plan for future investments. The paper will reveal corporate problems and present relevant management theories to lead the company into a solution. The underlying problems consist of choosing a new and more efficient financing strategy, and designing more accurate method of evaluating investment projects. Previously, the company was having positive sales performances which indirectly cause the problem to be hard to identify. However, as the company needed to expand their business, the new financial officer discovered several inefficiencies in managing corporate financing strategies and evaluating future investment. The condition was described by the WACC method.   The paper will present alternatives of solutions for the problem and in the end choose the most beneficial one for the case. The company must adopt a new financing strategy which incorporates a balanced proportion between debt and equity financing instruments. The company must also design a new evaluation strategy for the new investment projects which incorporate risks premiums, additional cost of investments and a margin of error in forecasting future cash flow. The financial department has obtained increasing roles in the corporate management concept. In previous times, marketing department projects sales, production department determined the necessary amount of assets required in order to meet the projections, and the financial department’s function was only to provide funds for providing other department with their requirements. However, this model of management is obsolete and replaced by more coordinated types of decision making, where financial managers are responsible for planning as well as controlling activities. This reflects the increasing importance of good financial considerations in each decision of the corporation. We will write a custom essay sample on Star Appliance Company specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Star Appliance Company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Star Appliance Company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer According to Weston and Brigham (1996), there are several detailed activities related to financial management. One of them is the activity of making investment and financing decisions. In line with corporate long term strategy, financial managers must provide funds to support growth. Successful companies usually have high rate of sales, which required additional factory investment, equipment and current assets to produce goods and services. In the more coordinated decision making activities, financial managers must help determining the optimum sales level and make decisions on specific investment that will be performed. Within those activities, there are also questions of whether to use internal or external financing, debt or equity financing, and short or long term debts. These are important aspects of corporate management that could determine whether the company is heading to success or financial failure. Within this paper, I am discussing the importance of considering cost of assets in corporate financial management. The case study will be the Star Appliance Company in 1977. In this paper, I will describe the problems within Star Appliance Company financial management and offer recommendation to solve existing problems within the company. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems Within the Star Company II.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Corporate Background The Star Appliance Company is a successful business of manufacturing home appliances, especially electric stoves and ovens. Soon after the company was established in 1922, it receives a warm welcome from the growing market for home appliances. The company focuses on providing its customers with premium types of home appliances with a slightly higher margin than its competitors. In a short time, the company managed to gather significant market share due to its reputation of providing high quality appliances. Corporate financial strategy –to use equities instead of debts- has seemed to be working splendidly as The Company was able to survive the great depression and maintain its existence with smaller-based operations but strong financial structure within the company. However, management has become aware that there are problems in maintaining profitable operations with existing lines. The company plans to enrich its product lines, but there are some concerns regarding how the company managed its cost of capital. Without strong financial management capabilities, investments in new product lines could destroy corporate profitability instead of developing it. Therefore, these problems must be addressed first. II.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hurdle Rates In simple understanding, hurdle rate means the minimum acceptable rate of return on a capital investment project. It is required to measure the limitation of when an investment is no longer considered profitable. The calculation has the basic logic of requiring returns to be higher than the cost of investment. However it also incorporate several factors such as the cost of risk, inflation, etc. It is a comprehensive look on how an investment will increase the wealth of the shareholders. Mathematically, the hurdle rate consists of the cost of the capital plus the project’s risk premium (‘The Hurdle Rate, 2006). II.2.1  Ã‚   Corporate Hurdle Rates The company seemed lacked logical reasoning to determine its hurdle rate. Corporate hurdle rate is based only by an experience on previous return of equity. According to the elaboration above, this policy is vulnerable to risks and provides low assurance for profit. The company must determine a new and more reasonable hurdle rate by incorporating factors such as cost of capital and risk premium (‘The Hurdle Rate’, 2006) II.2.2  Ã‚   Cost of Capital The cost of capital must be included within an investment calculation simply because we do not want to invest where we it provides us with no profit what so ever. Nevertheless, because obtaining money results additional costs, the concept cost of capital must include two things: the project cost and the financing cost. To be acceptable, a project must have a rate of return that exceeds the project cost plus the financing cost (‘The Hurdle Rate’, 2006) II.2.3  Ã‚   Risk Premium Nevertheless, cost of capital itself still does not provide a logical measurement toward a good financing decision. This is because every return from different sets of investment has a different degree of assurance. If the investment has less than 100% assurance for the return, then a risk premium must be included in the calculation of financing decision. However, the rate of risk premium must be set very in a very careful manner. Inadequate amount of risk premium will put our investment if jeopardy, on the other hand, over assuming the amount of risk premium will eliminate some profitable projects from consideration (‘The Hurdle Rate, 2006). II.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Financing Alternatives and Inflation II.3.1  Ã‚   Corporate Financing Strategy As mentioned in the case study, the company ha a unique strategy of financing. The company depends on equity financing methods a lot more than debt financing methods. On other words, the company survived through its years mostly by selling corporate equities. According to the case study, this is possible because the company has a remarkable reputation as a premium producer of household appliances and able to maintain good relationship with its affiliates. Nevertheless, Arthur Foster, the financial president of the company seemed confuse about corporate unwillingness to use debt instruments. Debt instruments have a considerably lower cost than equity, especially after incorporating tax into the calculation. The company might want to reconsider its policies of financing instruments. Furthermore, he argues that a proper additional margin must also be incorporated into the calculation to offset the effect of inflation. II.3.2  Ã‚   Debt and Equity Instruments The company prefers the equity financing because it has lower cost and smaller legal risk. However, due to corporate policy of increasing dividend rate, the alternative is no longer providing more efficiency compare to debt instruments. Generally, debt instruments will result a slightly higher capital cost and they would require monthly payment, nevertheless, they do not have the risk of loosing corporate control to shareholders. Moreover, if the company is able to maintain the good credibility toward creditors, after some time they would be more than happy to facilitate the company with debt extensions. On the other hand, the equity instruments are a tool of obtaining additional funds through affiliates or partners. These means management will loose more of the corporate control as the equity instruments build sups inside the company. Generally, the best option is to keep the proper balance between debt and equity financing instruments. Because the good balance differs among industry, the Star Appliance Company must put some effort in finding its own financing balance (‘Financing’, 2006). II.3.3  Ã‚   Inflation As stated by many economists in the late 1970’s, inflation was a significant factor influencing the cost of capital. A study by Cohen (1997) however, revealed that until today, inflation is still a significant influence for cost of capital. Inflation, even at its low rates, increases the user cost of capital significantly. If the rate of inflation decreases, the marginal gain in investment is greater compare to the rate of the decrease. This reflects the stronger effect of inflation toward cost of capital. Therefore, inflation should be incorporated in every investment analysis. II.4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Risk, Legal Fees and margin of Error The last of Foster’s concerns is about how the company accounts for investment risks that are significantly larger than the others. There are opinions that riskier information should be evaluated using higher hurdle rates. Furthermore, Foster believed that there should be a margin to account for the existence of legal fees such as safety, and environmental costs. This margin is required to prevent the additional costs to eat away corporate profit from the investment. Finally, the investments must also calculate a margin of error, in order to account for unexpected disturbance in the forecasting process. In case of using different hurdle rates for different projects, management theories favor the opposite. According to several management theories, investment and financing consideration has different factors that must not be brought together. Investment decisions are based on the consideration of which project are the most profitable, while financing decisions should focus on supporting investment decision and not altering it. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Star Company Cost of Equity Cost of Equity is measured by various indicators. However, one of the most utilized is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital ratio. A firm’s WACC is the overall required return on the firm as a whole. In simple terms, the ratio accounts for every possibility of financing a corporation. According to the WACC concept, a corporation can either be financed by debt, preferen stock or common stock. The WACC put all of these factors into equation that resulted the average interest the company must pay for every dollar it finances. The calculation is as follows: WACC = w1k1(1-T) + w2k2 + w3k3 W1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of debt K1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = the rate of interest W2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of preferen stock K2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = cost of preferen stock W3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of common equity K3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = cost of common equity (Weston Brigham, 1996) According to existing data, the company financed most of its investments using retained earnings. The company did not have any long-term debt, which means that the w1 and k1 equals to 0. The case study also reveals that the company did not have any preferred stock within corporate balances sheet, which mean that the w2 and k2 equals to 0. Thus, the only variable exist within Star Appliance Company’s WACC is the common stock variable. Without the presence of debt and preferred stock, If we calculate the number of dividend paid and divide the result with total common stock of the company, then we will obtain a very high number of WACC. nbsp; Calculation : WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of common stock * (dividend paid/ total value of common stock) WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 100% * [(dividend/share * total shares common stock)/total value of common stock] WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 100% * [(1.52 * 13,414,268)/ 27,835,000] WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 73% nbsp; The number means that on the period that ended December 31, 1978, the company paid as much as 73% for equity financing instruments. This is due to corporate operation to increase the rate of dividend paid, in order to satisfy shareholders. Despite corporate ability to sustain corporate operations and investment activities, the number is extremely high. Observing corporate financial structure, the company could easily obtain additional funding from debt instruments. Debts would have a much lower capital cost compare to the ‘sky-reaching’ dividend rate. nbsp; IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recommendation From the case study, we are able to capture two main problems of the Star Appliance Company. The first point is the problem of choosing from alternatives financing instrument. Arthur Foster believed that despite the acceptable state of corporate financial performance at the time, the company could be a lot more efficient by altering its financing strategy. The second issue is that of choosing between different methods of evaluating alternative investments. There are several alternatives of solution forth both problems. nbsp; IV.1   Ã‚  Ã‚   Choosing Financing Instruments The first choice is to maintain corporate policy of using retained earnings and equity instruments in financing. This alternative will not create a problem for the company in the short-run. However, in the long-run, the company would need to expand its business by performing investment activities that require large amount of funds. This condition has been described in the case study as the company is trying to finance three projects with existing resource. In order to move forward with this project, the company needs to increase the efficiency of its financial structure. Maintaining current financing strategy will deny the company from further profitable investments using the projects. The second choice is to use debt instruments to cover the needs for investment. This alternative could provide the company with large amount of funds, considering the company did not yet have a balance of long-term debt. However, debt instruments are known for its slightly higher cost compare to standard equity instrument’s cost. It also requires a monthly payment that could be a burden if occurred in large proportions. Furthermore, companies overburdened with debts generally less favored by shareholders and future investors. The third alternative is to maintain a balance between debt and equity financing. This can be achieved by observing the debt-to-equity ratio and maintaining it within the proper balance. Some companies believe that a good company would not have a debt-to-equity ratio of more than 3 to 1. However, a good balance for debt-to-equity financing differs within each industry and the company must benchmark to other sin the industry to find the right balance. nbsp; IV.2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Methods of Choosing Investment Projects Within this issue, foster emphasizes several important points: methods of determining the proper hurdle rate, incorporating inflation, incorporating legal cost and a margin of error. The first alternative is to remain practicing existing investment evaluation method: using 10% hurdle rate, with little consideration of inflation cost, legal cost and a margin of error. This method will result all three projects to be acceptable alternatives. The company might be able to successfully financed all three projects if it apply for further external financing instruments, however,   the level of accuracy within the calculation will be low and there will be no certainty of the real cash flow that will be received in following years. The second alternative would be to incorporate financing costs, risk premium, inflation, legal cost and a margin of error. There is no sufficient data to perform these types of calculation within this paper. However, it can be estimated that the second alternative will not be acceptable according to the new hurdle rate and the new evaluation standard. The third alternative is to incorporate financing costs, risk premium, inflation, legal cost, margin of error and additional margin for riskier investments that require additional asset. This alternative will present a more accurate calculation of existing projects, but it will influence investment decisions with consideration of financing, something that will reduce investment activities considerably. nbsp; V.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Solution In choosing financing alternatives, the best solution for Star Appliance Company is to start using considerable debt instrument. The target is to balance the proportion between debt and equity. The company should have no difficulties in obtaining additional funds from debt instruments because of its good reputation and zero balance of long term debt. The balanced proportion between debt and equity instruments will lead to efficient financial management and resulted optimum capacity for further investment activities. In designing methods of evaluating investment projects, the company should choose to incorporate inflation, legal fees and margin of error, but should not choose to make additional margins for relatively riskier projects. Each project should be calculated using similar percentage of hurdle rate plus additional costs mentioned previously. nbsp; VI.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion Unlike most companies, the company seemed to have no problem in marketing and selling its premium product. However, the premium profits caused management to neglect efficiency concerns in managing its operations and investment decisions. The problem became visible as the company appointed new financial officer and tried to plan for further investment. Despite previous success, company’s WACC displayed that corporate cost of capital is significantly higher than average. The new financial officer mentioned problems such as the lack consideration of inflation, legal fees and margin of error in evaluating new projects. These factors are important in providing managers with accurate investment decisions and accurate predictions of cash flow. For example, according to a study by Cohen (1997) inflation has a significant effect in cost of capital. Furthermore, not incorporating legal fees and margin of error will eat away the profit of the investment. The solution presented for the company is to redesign its financing strategy into a balanced proportion between debt and equity. In terms of evaluating investment activities, the company should incorporate additional fees and a margin of error.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Need a Job These 10 Fields Are Hiring Like Crazy

Need a Job These 10 Fields Are Hiring Like Crazy When we’re desperate to be employed, any job will do. But sometimes it pays to be a bit more discerning. LinkedIn recently released a report on the most promising positions for next year- all with good pay and good upward mobility. If you qualify for any of these, you’re in great shape to get scooped up. And if not, if you’re still deciding what you want to be when you grow up, consider getting trained in one of these fields ASAP. They’re on the rise, and don’t look like they’re going anywhere.1. HospitalistThis is a doctor who works exclusively in a hospital. The median salary is well over $200k per year, and there are currently more than 1,000 open positions for this role. That’s an 87% annual increase. And this job scores a 6 out of 10 for career advancement. Hospitalist is ranked #1 on LinkedIn’s report.2. PharmacistPharmacists make a median salary of about $123k, but there are something like 3,300 openings out there (a 45% increase over last year). With a 5 out of 10 career advancement score, this is pretty sweet. This career is ranked #3 on LinkedIn’s report.3. Sales EngineerNo medical training? No problem! Sales engineers sell particularly complex products like machinery, and must be knowledgeable about the things they sell. The median salary is about $80k per year, with 3,000 openings- a whopping 159% increase from last year. This job also scores 6 out of 10 for career advancement. Ranked #3 on LinkedIn’s report.4. TeacherTeachers are in supreme demand- there simply aren’t enough of them to go around. While the salary isn’t the best on the block, if you can teach math or science, you’re likely to get scooped up in a second. The state of California alone reported 75% of their school districts in dire need of teachers. Hopefully demand will lead to better salary growth in years to come.5. Dental HygienistDental hygienists are a key part of the dental team. With over 68,000 open positions, this job is only going to grow- in both salary and in duties. You’ll see a lot of potential for growth of all kinds if you choose this career path, with positions available nationwide.6. Market AnalystIf you have a head for numbers, you can examine trends and provide analysis and vital information to marketing teams for developing their strategies. And prospects look great: there are more than 100k analyst positions expected to open up in the coming years.7. TranslatorGlobal business continues to be more important than ever, and it’s very important to make sure nothing gets â€Å"lost in translation.† Expect there to be steady openings for translator positions in coming years.8. Nurse PractitionerAPRNs and NPs are in high demand, with more patients seeing nurse practitioners, nurse anesthesiologists, and nurse midwives in place of doctors. This field has a lot of potential for growth, as nurses take over more and more duties traditionally ascribed to doctors. And salaries are already bursting through the $100k mark.9. Physical Therapist and Therapist AssistantThese positions are set to enjoy massive growth, particularly with the equally massive spike in patients suffering from chronic pain. Demand is high and the scope of where you’re able to work is wide.10. StatisticianIt’s all about the numbers. If you’re a data whiz, you could work in government, business, health care, or engineering. Demand is high, and salaries are up near $80k per year- and that number was determined by†¦ you guessed it: statisticians.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Quebrada Jaguay - Terminal Pleistocene Archaeology

Quebrada Jaguay - Terminal Pleistocene Archaeology Quebrada Jaguay (designated QJ-280 by its excavator) is a multi-component archaeological site, located on an  alluvial terrace within the coastal desert of southern Peru, on the north bank an ephemeral stream near the town of Caman. At the time of its earliest occupation, it was about 7-8 kilometers (4-5 miles) in from the Peruvian coast and today is about 40 meters (130 feet) above sea level. The site was a fishing community, with a Terminal Pleistocene occupation date between about 13,000 and 11,400 calendar years ago (cal BP), based on a large suite of radiocarbon dates. Terminal Pleistocene sites are known in  Andean chronology as Preceramic Period I). The site is one of about 60 sites which have been found along the coast of Peru in this region, but it is the only one containing the Jaguay Phase occupations, and it is the earliest site in the region found to date (as of 2008, Sandweiss). The closest site with the same date is Quebrada Tacahuay, some 230 km (140 miles) to the south. It, like Quebrada Jaguay, is a seasonally-occupied fishing village: and those sites and many others extending from Alaska to Chile support the Pacific Coast Migration Model for the original colonization of the Americas. Chronology Late Preceramic Period, 4000 cal BP, Manos PhaseHiatus, 4000-8000 cal BPEarly Middle Preceramic Period, 8000-10,600 cal BP, Machas PhaseEarly Preceramic Period, 11,400-13,000 cal BP, Jaguay Phase During the Jaguay phase, the site was a seasonally-occupied coastal base camp for hunter-gatherers and fishermen who targeted mostly drum fish (Sciaenae, corvina or sea bass family), wedge clams (Mesodesma donancium), and freshwater and/or marine crustaceans. The occupations apparently were confined to the late winter/early summer months; the rest of the year, the people are believed to have moved inland and hunted terrestrial animals. Based on the size of the fish, the people were net fishing: the Machas phase occupations contain a few specimens of knotted cordage. The only terrestrial animals recovered from the site were small rodents, which were not likely food for the residents. Houses during the Jaguay phase were rectangular, based on the identification of postholes, and contained hearths; the houses were reconstructed several times in the same location but slightly different positions, evidence for seasonal occupations. Food remains and abundant lithic debitage were also recovered, but there were almost no finished tools. Poorly preserved plant remains were restricted to a few prickly pear cactus (Opuntia) seeds. The vast majority of the raw material for the stone tools (lithics) were local, but Alca obsidian identified by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis had been brought from its Pucuncho basin source in the Andean highlands some 130 km (80 mi) away and 3000 m (9800 ft) higher in elevation. Machas Phase The Machas Phase occupation at the site contains neither prickly pear nor obsidian: and during this period there are many more such villages in the region. The Machas phase occupation included several bottle gourd rind fragments; and a single semi-subterranean house, about 5 m (16 ft) in diameter and built with a foundation of mud and stone. It may have been roofed with wood or other organic material; it had a central hearth. The house depression is filled with a shell midden, and the house was also built on top of another shell midden. Archaeological Discovery Quebrada Jaguay was discovered by Frà ©dà ©ric Engel in 1970, as part of his investigations into the preceramic epoch along the coastline. Engel dated charcoal from one of his test pits, which came back to a remarkable 11,800 cal bp, unheard of at the time: in 1970, any site in the Americas older than 11,200 was considered heresy. Excavations were conducted at the site by Daniel Sandweiss in the 1990s, with a team of Peruvian, Canadian and U.S archaeologists. Sources Sandweiss DH. 2008. Early Fishing Societies in Western South America. In: Silverman H, and Isbell W, editors. The Handbook of South American Archaeology: Springer New York. p 145-156. Sandweiss DH, McInnis H, Burger RL, Cano A, Ojeda B, Paredes R, Sandweiss MdC, and Glascock MD. 1998. Quebrada Jaguay: early South American maritime adaptations. Science 281(5384):1830-1832. Sandweiss DH, and Richardson JBI. 2008. Central Andean Environments. In: Silverman H, and Isbell WH, editors. The Handbook of South American Archaeology: Springer New York. p 93-104. Tanner BR. 2001. Lithic Analysis of Chipped Stone Artifacts Recovered from Quebrada Jaguay, Peru. Electronic Theses and Dissertations: University of Maine.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

IPO underpricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IPO underpricing - Essay Example Many companies have a tendency of having underpriced IPOs so that potential investors can be attracted into them. Investors find it easier to influence the shares’ price with low offering price as their intention is to obtain the windfall gain in the period of issuing. Low-priced shares generally have a lot of capacity for share increase of price on the basis of market demand forces. As a result, low offering price signifies considerable share underpricing. IPO underpricing has been explained with the offering size of a company for a long time, which is consistent with the ex ante uncertainty theory. This concept reflects in the works of Beatty and Ritter (1986) as well as in McGuinness (1992). Tu and TSE (2006), in their analysis of the Chinese A-share market, state the size of offering as a critical determinant of the IPO underpricing. A company’s offering size is calculated through multiplication of the offer price with the offered number of shares. The equation for this is, size of offering = number of offered shares x price of offering. There is a perception that companies having bigger offerings’ size have superior management and control and are more mature as compared to the companies having smaller offering magnitudes. Bigger companies derive their tendency to underprice their shares from the fact that their information flow is relatively better than that of the smaller companies, that are more influenced by the a symmetry of information. Data used in this project was retrieved from the official website of Shanghai Stock Exchange (available at http://www.sse.com.cn) and also from the GTA Database. Like discussed before, there are five groups of shares in the Chinese stock market. However, it is just the A-share stocks that are completely quoted in Yuan. Many companies have a preference for being included in the Shanghai Stock Exchange instead of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in spite of

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Competition and financial stability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Competition and financial stability - Essay Example The competition is always seen as a requirement necessary for efficiency of the banking system. Although varied theoretical and empirical studies have attempted to argue that monopoly offer banks higher incentives to improve their financial performance, competition in the banking sector have also enabled banks to compete favorably; thus enabling banks to achieve their demanding needs effectively (Schinasi and International Monetary Fund, 2006). This is because of the notion that vulnerability and restraints on competition are necessary for preserving the stability of the banking system in the current financial market; therefore, the essay offers a critical assessment of the trade-offs between competition in the banking system and financial stability. Advantages of Competition Competition is desirable in the banking system because it contributes to increased competitive business performance across the banking sector (Marinc, 2012). The charter-value for competition stability theory as sumes that the more concentrated and less competitive banking systems, the higher chances of becoming more stable. The contrasting perspective to this theory is that a more concentrated banking structure may lead to more bank frailty. Boyd, De Nicolo and Jalal (2010) argue that market control in banking system increases profits, but bank steadiness ignores the prospective impact of market powers for banks. The authors argue that the higher interest rates in the banking sector may induce the banking industries to assume greater risks; hence, they find a positive relationship between concentration and bank fragility (Kohn, 2003). Many banking system support competition feebleness and this had significantly contributed to financial volatility in many banks across Canada and the UK. Therefore, the less bank rivalry, the less credit rationing and higher chance of malfunction in case loans are subjected to multiplicative reservations. Competition and higher level of concentration in the b anking sector can also create a positive impact on liability menace. Boyd, De, Jalal and International Monetary Fund (2009) argue that less competition in banking system can contribute to more financial stability in case information about the probability distribution of liquidity of the depositor is private. Allen, Carletti, Gale and Centre for Economic Policy Research (2011) assert that it is crucial to prevent banks from taking excessive risks in the competitive markets. Hence, the deposit interest rate ceilings are vital even with capital requirements. Beck, Beck and World Bank (2008) argues that concentration is not a consistent rivalry signal in the banking sector; thus, the bank illiquidity can augment in any fiscal market structure. Therefore, lower competition in the banking system is crucial because it enables banking relationships to endure for a long period. Drawbacks of Competition Competition in the financial market can impact steadiness in the banking system in diverse ways; first, competition can impact financial stability is through the interbank market system and through the payment system channels. Allen and Gale (2000) argue that perfect competition can prevent banks from offering liquidity to other banks that have been strike by short-term liquidity shortage. Therefore, there is no bank that will have adequate incentive to offer liquidity to the banks that have problems in case all banks are price takers.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Health maintenance organizations Essay Example for Free

Health maintenance organizations Essay There are nine private payer plans which include preferred provider organizations (PPO), health maintenance organizations (HMO), point of service (POS). Indemnity plans cost the most for employees and they usually have to choose a PPO plan. The new consumer driven health plan (CDHP) which a lot of people are picking, it has a high deductible combined with a funding option of some type. All of the plans have unique features for coverage of services and financial responsibility. PPO plans are the most popular plan that doctors, clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies contract with. One of the reasons that the PPO plans are so popular is because they pay the doctors a discounted fee for service based on their fee schedule. PPO plans offer a low premium that has a higher deductible or the other option is a high premium with a lower deductible. The patients are responsible to pay a copayment, and there is also a yearly deductible that the patient has to pay out of pocket. If a patient sees a doctor outside of the network without a referral, the plan will pay less and the patient is responsible for the remainder of the fee. Patients have their choice of providers, but if the patient goes to a out-of-network provider it will cost more. One thing to remember though is that all non-emergency services require pre-authorization. With HMO plans there is a list of providers that the patient can only go to, if they go to a doctor that is not in the list of providers they will have to pay extra. The only way that a patient should see a provider out of the network is if it is an emergency. HMO’s have an annual premium and a copayment that is due at the time of service. The main services the HMO’s cover is preventive and wellness checks and disease management. However, in order for complete coverage the enrollees must see a doctor that offers an HMO plan. The providers manage the care and referrals are required, low payments, ad this plan does cover preventative care. The indemnity plan allows the patient to see any physician but there are preauthorization’s required for some of the procedures. Their features are higher costs, there are deductibles, coinsurance payments, and preventative care is not usually covered. Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHP) has two elements that are included in this plan. One being a health plan, which is normally a PPO. This plan has a higher deductible and lower premium. Second is the special savings account which is used to pay medical bills before deductible is met. Point of service (POS) is similar to an HMO plan; specifically called an open HMO. This plan reduces restrictions, allowing members to choose providers outside of the HMO. However, a penalty fee is charged.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Issues Within the Discipline of Forestry :: Environment Conservation Growth Agriculture Paper

Issues Within the Discipline of Forestry The idea of forestry in the sense that we know it today is only about four hundred years old. Forestry developed mainly out of the need for a continual supply of wood products. There were a few forest reserves for hunting or preservation in Europe, but the idea of managing a forest for a number of resources is quite new. There are four stages that almost all societies have gone through when trying to develop this idea of forestry. The first stage has to do with the unregulated abuse of forest products to be used as energy, building supplies and also to be cleared to make way for agricultural land. This creates a kind of domino effect on forests everywhere. The overexploitation of regional forests means there will be a scarcity of products that are considered valuable, which in turn leads to the abuse of more outlying forests and the overexploitation of them and so on and so forth. In the United States this stage was seen with the colonization of America. Colonization began in the eas tern U.S. and as a result led to the destruction of forests there. People needed forest supplies to build their homes and farms, and when the regional forests were almost depleted they began taking resources from outlying forests (Kimmins, 1992). The U.S. prior to colonization had an estimated one billion acres of forested land. By the year 1900 that area had been reduced to 567 million acres (Berger, 1998, p.29). After this initial stage of carelessness is recognized there is a stage of regulation in order to make certain that the forests will be maintained for resources and other values. This is the point where the idea of forestry begins. Hamish Kimmins in his book Balancing Act: Environmental Issues in Forestry states this about the second stage, "It usually involves a centralized, authoritarian, non-ecological, administrative approach based on legislation and regulation rather than on a knowledge of how forests grow, how they respond to management, and how ecosystems function" (Kimmins, 1992, p.50). This administrative approach usually ends up failing, and there is recognition that management will only work if techniques that are in tune with the ecological characteristics of the area are taken into account. This stage was evident in the United States when the U.S. Bureau of Forestry was created in 1891 (Kimmins, 1992). The third stage is the promotion of an ecologically sound method to forestry. Issues Within the Discipline of Forestry :: Environment Conservation Growth Agriculture Paper Issues Within the Discipline of Forestry The idea of forestry in the sense that we know it today is only about four hundred years old. Forestry developed mainly out of the need for a continual supply of wood products. There were a few forest reserves for hunting or preservation in Europe, but the idea of managing a forest for a number of resources is quite new. There are four stages that almost all societies have gone through when trying to develop this idea of forestry. The first stage has to do with the unregulated abuse of forest products to be used as energy, building supplies and also to be cleared to make way for agricultural land. This creates a kind of domino effect on forests everywhere. The overexploitation of regional forests means there will be a scarcity of products that are considered valuable, which in turn leads to the abuse of more outlying forests and the overexploitation of them and so on and so forth. In the United States this stage was seen with the colonization of America. Colonization began in the eas tern U.S. and as a result led to the destruction of forests there. People needed forest supplies to build their homes and farms, and when the regional forests were almost depleted they began taking resources from outlying forests (Kimmins, 1992). The U.S. prior to colonization had an estimated one billion acres of forested land. By the year 1900 that area had been reduced to 567 million acres (Berger, 1998, p.29). After this initial stage of carelessness is recognized there is a stage of regulation in order to make certain that the forests will be maintained for resources and other values. This is the point where the idea of forestry begins. Hamish Kimmins in his book Balancing Act: Environmental Issues in Forestry states this about the second stage, "It usually involves a centralized, authoritarian, non-ecological, administrative approach based on legislation and regulation rather than on a knowledge of how forests grow, how they respond to management, and how ecosystems function" (Kimmins, 1992, p.50). This administrative approach usually ends up failing, and there is recognition that management will only work if techniques that are in tune with the ecological characteristics of the area are taken into account. This stage was evident in the United States when the U.S. Bureau of Forestry was created in 1891 (Kimmins, 1992). The third stage is the promotion of an ecologically sound method to forestry.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Motivational strategies Essay

Thesis: Motivation of young learners requires positive energy and preparedness from the instructor. Enthusiasm and teaching aids/materials being used make a big difference on the speed and quantity that a student can retain. To start with, I seek to challenge myself and push my boundaries further by asking and attempting to answer the question -How can I teach English more effectively, so that the people of the world can be empowered to knowing English? It is indeed a powerful question and one to which we all need to pay close attention to in this complex, bewildering and ultimately fascinating world of diverse cultures living together. The use of common language makes it so impossible for those who do not understand to have a sense of belonging. It is necessary in preparation for study action to note certain areas of input where speed and quantitative acquisition of English language can be enhanced, even with ease. Motivation tops among the very important constituents in any language acquisition among beginners. The worry of any teacher is also to ensure equal motivation for students at though researches have shown that different motivation tactics exist for different students. Aim at motivating students also needs to influence whatever existing motives, goals, dreams or ideas in the students for learning English language. According to Cheng definition of motivation (2007) â€Å"it is the combination of effort and the desire to achieve the goal of learning the language (English) with the development of favorable attitudes towards learning the language. † Of course, motivation requires constant positive energy and preparedness from instructor. I would like to categorize instructor energized motivation into intrinsic and extrinsic. While the intrinsic depends on the level of personal interest the instructor shows to students, extrinsic deals with the application of such facilitating instruments like teaching aids or materials and compensational measure. Compensational measures include the development of competitive study in order to award prize or openly shower of praise for good performance. I do not agree with the issue of punishment as a one of the means for it limits the learners’ ability to perform in the absence of pressure from instructor. To activate the positive energy in young learners, the use of a general area of interest has been found to speed learning through a sustained motivation. For example, learners who admire a popular figure in the language being learnt can be motivated by relating studies in that direction. Each time the learner is reminded of the figure, motivation increases to study the language of such figure to feel belong. Each learner can also be kept on positive swing mood during acquisition by a constant assurance form the instructor of the easy nature of the study which only requires very short time. Most category of learners feel bored when study is being prolonged; hence, the language lesson needs to be broken into different segment with short interval. This will ensure cerebral revitalization at the end of each session before taking up next task. A study in a class of 30 students showed how learners know English speedily when task was made to perform at interval. The second group who did not perform the task at interval requires double the learning time spent by the first group (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007). The use of teaching aids/materials is of no doubt one of the best way to increase learning speed and quantity of study per time. Teaching materials result in increasing students’ motivation. Te use of audio-visuals in teaching English language performs two tasks. One is the usual classroom teaching of new words. The second is the acquisition of such language in connection with the learners observed response to the spoken language. Most learners watch films irrespective of the language spoken in the scene. Actions are better picked that a action-less speech expression. Many studies have approved this use of audio-visuals for its evident large difference it makes in language acquisition. In summary, I will certainly aim at activating students self motivation believing that this is the key to make whatever measure puts in place by the instructor a more productive exercise. Reference Cheng, H. , & Dornyei, Z. (2007). The use of motivational strategies in language instruction: The case of EFL teaching in Taiwan. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1, 153–173.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Balanced Scorecard and Financial Perspective

African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(32), pp. 12520-12530, 14 December, 2011 Available online at http://www. academicjournals. org/AJBM DOI: 10. 5897/AJBM11. 928 ISSN 1993-8233  ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper An investigation into the interrelation between balanced score card factors: A case study in the automotive industry Jalalpoor Mahdieh1 and Tolouei Pedram2* 1 Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.Department of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 2 Accepted 14 June, 2011 Since 1990s, when Kaplan and Norton introduced balanced scorecard (BSC) model, this model has been considerably popular amongst managers all over the world. Although BSC is known as a successful performance measurement tool amongst managers, there have been criticisms of that including: How financial and non-financial measures are linked together? Are relationships in a direct way or there is bi-directional casualty?To overcome the limitations t o current BSC theory, this paper aims to describe main factors of each balanced scorecard BSC perspectives and investigate interrelation between them with consideration to automotive parts sector in Iran. For this aim, we analyze the relationship between various perspectives in structure of balanced scorecard and measure causal relationships between various perspectives and their role in improving financial perspective. This research was conducted through a set of monthly reports of Balances scorecard factors in Tosnco – company of auto industry – during a three-year period.Case study evidence verified the underlying theoretical hypothesis of BSC. It is verified that perspectives are positively correlated with each other and new interrelation between internal process perspectives factor and financial perspective evidence was also found. The innovative dimension of this research is that we actually applied BSC in Iran and investigated factors related to auto industry an d interrelation between factors with each other. Key words: Performance, process, customer, finance, factors. INTRODUCTION Performance measurement is considered a part of a performance management system. This process includes series of activities to eminently and spiritually achieve organizational excellence in the competitive field and focus the efficiency and effectiveness of these activities. Martinson (1999) offer several descriptions of organizational performance, and present a variety of models and methods to performance measurement at the same time. Traditional performance measurement methods *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email  protected] ut. ac. it Abbreviations: BSC, Balanced scorecard; statistical package for the social sciences. SPSS, that were based on financial measures- not only reflected the complete success or failure of companies that did not ave the necessary abilities, but also failed to establish a logical relation between the company’s success factor s and was unable to support management programs (Kaplan and Norton, 2001). Environmental management issues have received an increased amount of attention in recent years, as have various performance measurement systems (PMS) such as the balanced scorecard (BSC). At this time, BSC was presented as the most practical and comprehensive performance measurement model. In recent years, BSC has been a comprehensive model when looking at management issues for financial and non-financial purposes and has been very popular as it as attracted a lot of attention (Norreklit, 2000). This model offers a variety of performance factors in four Mahdieh and Pedram perspectives: The Financial perspective; the customer perspective; the internal business process perspective and the organizational learning and growth perspective. The BSC is a multi-criteria evaluation concept that highlights the importance of performance measurement (Tseng, 2010). Based on BSC, the cause and effect relationship between th e four perspectives have been created (WongOn-Wing et al. , 2007; Paul, 1998). In fact, the logic of cause and effect as the essence of he BSC approach-which distinguishes it from other approaches- is described (Atkinson et al. , 1997). It is stated that the learning and growth performance, internal process performance, costumer performance, and financial performance counteract each other eventually (DE Haas and Kleingeld, 1999). Jones and Sasser (1995) recognized a cause and effect relationship between loyalty and customer satisfaction and financial results, where customer satisfaction leads to loyalty and it is customer satisfaction that can bring positive financial results. Due to the chain relationship between perspectives, hanges in one perspective would cause changes and reactions in other perspectives. Consequently, managers can achieve improved financial results through the chain relationship between perspectives (Cohen et al. , 2008). Relationships in BSC model are indicate d within the framework of the fact that in order to make financial results, we must provide value for costumers, and this would happen only, when an organization improved internal processes and match them with costumers’ demands. Accordingly, in order to improved internal processes, and initialize processes that provide value for costumers, the rganization must reinforce growth and learning in the organization (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Hogue and James, in study of Australian construction companies in 2000, realized that the companies employing non-financial factors have made considerable financial results. Other researchers have realized that using BSC is indirectly related to improved performance and profitability (Malina and Selto, 2001). There are very few researches related to causal relationship between various factors; especially between financial perspective and other perspectives in BSC model. Amongst such researches we can point to a research, in Greece, that onside rs the relationship between parameters of BSC model in 90 companies. Results of this research indicate that improving non-financial perspectives results in better financial perspectives, and non-financial perspectives are interrelated (Cohen and Thiraios, 2008). Although BSC is known as a successful performance measurement tool amongst managers, there have been criticisms of that including: How are financial and nonfinancial measures are linked together? Are relationships in a direct way or there is bi-directional casualty? In this study, we present an approach to overcome the limitations to current BSC theory.The scope of our study is two-fold; the first goal is to investigate and identified main factors of each balanced score card perspectives with 12521 consider to automotive parts sector. We categorize the factors and determine their priority in regard to environment of automotive parts industry. While the second goal of the study is focused on cause and effects logics and linki ng financial and non-financial perspectives together. In this part, we will assess the influence of factors of each perspective on other perspectives and analyze the cause and effect relationship between them. In order to present a better image of reciprocal impacts f various factors, we have taken into consideration four perspectives of the automotive company with an exception of BSC, and then we will analyze the interrelationship between four perspectives. Considering the fact that in the present environment of Iran, management and control affairs are considerably important, and accurate scientific evaluations are amongst managers’ major concerns, BSC is considered to be one of the most comprehensive and functional tools of performance evaluation. This research measures the effects of different perspectives of balanced score card in an automotive parts manufacturing unit in Iran. LITERATURE REVIEWHere, we first explain how to use balanced scorecard, and then in the next par t, we investigate and identify factors related to each perspective. Part A – BSC Since 1990s, when Kaplan and Norton introduced BSC model, this model has been considerably popular amongst managers all over the world. Hundreds of organizations have already employed this model, or intend to employ it in near future (Rautiainen, 2008; Kald and Nilsson, 2000). Healthcare organization in Sweden has appreciated BSC model quite well, and has employed it as a solution to organizational problems, as well as a means of realizing organizational goals (Aidemark, 001). Germany, England and Italy have also successfully developed BSC model (Gehrke and Horvath, 2002). Numerous countries in Northern Europe have employed this model (Kald and Nilsson, 2000), and studies indicate that the model has been specifically favored in most of those countries; although in some countries, including France, where there is another model called â€Å"dashboard† rooted in their culture, BSC model is no t so popular (Bourguignon et al. , 2004). Kaplan and Norton stress on importance of three principals in the concept of BSC: 1. Maintaining causal relationship 2. Including adequate performance incentives and timulators 3. Maintaining the relationship with financial measurement factors (Speckbacher et al, 2003). 12522 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Figure 1. All perspectives of BSC. On this basis, researches refer to this model as a means of working out strategies based on causal relationship (Speckbacher et al. , 2003). Causal logic is considered to be the essence of BSC model. Other researchers name causal logic as the core of BSC model (Atkinson, 1997; Norreklit, 2000). There are also theories stressing that Kaplan and Norton (1996) have not adequately explained the causal relationships, and researchers claim that the entioned relationships are not causal, and are merely logic (Pedram, 2003). Another research, in Finland, is indicative of dissatisfactions caused by lack of causal relationsh ip between components of the model (Malmi, 2001). Although definition of causal relationships is the basis of accomplishment for balanced scorecard model, apparently many organizations do not take this into consideration (Aidmark, 2001; Ittner et al. , 2003). Part B – Factors related to each perspective in BSC In this paper, in order to measure and evaluate relationships between various perspectives, we searched or factors related to each perspective. The four perspectives of BSC are learning and growth, internal processes, costumer, and financial. Here we briefly explain characteristics of each perspective. Learning and growth perspective: stress on innovation, creativity, competition, capabilities, and target subjective properties. This perspective aims to identify professions (human assets), system (informational asset), and organizational state (organizational asset) in order to support internal processes. Internal process perspective: identify decisive processes in the o rganization. In this perspective, we ust make sure that company’s products and services meet the needs of customers. Costumer perspective: results in introduction of a valuable approach that guarantees loyalty of costumers. In this perspective we must keep constantly identifying parameters, which costumers consider as valuable, and provide them for costumers. Financial perspective: defines tangible outcomes of organization’s strategies and includes a series of traditional financial factors. This perspective covers longterm goals of the organization, and company’s major goals are usually put into this perspective. Financial erspective is usually considered to be a secondary aspect and a function of other perspectives. It is indeed the outcome of activities of other three non-financial perspectives. All perspectives, their causal relationships, and their relationships with strategies are shown in Figure 1. METHODOLOGY Kaplan and Norton stress that BSC is a model, and must be optimized in accordance with specific elements related to an organization or industry. This model cannot be used as a general model for various organizations and industries, or even for all aspects of an industry. Therefore, it must be designed and xecuted individually for each condition and each organization. Every organization must adjust BSC to its own mission, outlook, strategy, technology, organizational culture, and environment, in order to use it properly (Kaplan and Norton, 1993). For the same reason, we searched in related literature and Mahdieh and Pedram. studies and worked out factors related to each perspective within the realm of automotive parts. The factors are as follows: 1. There are some general factors in accordance with the requirements of international standard. Standard related to this industry is ISO/TS16949: 2009 and ISO9000 2.There are also factors related to costumer, which all companies must report to costumers periodically. 3. Factors related to other stake holder such as communities, share holders and employees 4. Factors included in scientific articles and researches with related subjects We took all required factors from the mentioned sources and put them in Table 1. Source of each factor is shown in the table too. After taking the viewpoints of experts and conditions of the Company into consideration, we selected main factors from Table 1. Factors shown in Table 2 are measured and analyzed as major factors throughout this article.Also in Table 3, the number of factors which are used in the paper is shown. Hypotheses formulation According to Kaplan and Norton model there is a continuous relationship between perspectives of BSC. According to this model, Kaplan and Norton claimed that outcomes of optimizing performance of learning and growth perspective are evident in better performance of internal business processes. This would accordingly have a positive effect on costumer perspective, and finally improves financial performance. These relationships are shown in Figure 2. The following research has aimed to evaluate this claim.In this article, we analyze the relationship between various perspectives in structure of balanced scorecard. Measuring causal relationships between various perspectives and their role in improving financial perspective is the final goal of this research. Three hypotheses were formed in this regard: H1. 1: There is a positive relationship between learning-growth perspective and internal process perspective. H1. 2: There is a positive relationship between internal process and costumer perspective. H1. 3: There is a positive relationship between customer perspective and financial perspective.In the next part, we investigated the relationship between each main perspective of BSC and detailed factors of the other perspectives. The second part of article will assess these hypotheses: H2. 1: There is a positive relationship between all factors of learning and growth perspective and internal process perspective in total. H2. 2: There is a positive relationship between all factors of internal process perspective and costumer perspective in total. H2. 3: There is a positive relationship between all factors of customer perspective and financial perspective in total. 12523 se performance factors which had been frequently used in literature of BSC. For financial perspective we used one financial criterion. In the following tables abbreviations and values related to each factor are brought from TOSN data during the period of 2006-2009. Number of factors in each perspective is shown in Table 4. We worked out level of realization of factors on the basis of company reports, covering the period of March 21st 2006 to March 20th 2010, and in a monthly order. In order to synchronize and facilitate calculations, we worked out reports related to the factors on a monthly basis and in forms of percentages.For each factor, we worked out 48 data from the existing information, we then calculated geometrical average of factors and determined the level of interrelation between each factor and geometrical average of the related perspective. We also worked out value of each factor for the period of March 21st 2006 to March 20th 2010. Measuring the relationship between perspectives This trend showed that the BSC, when executed have growth factor. By using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in this article, Level of interrelation between each factor and other factors of the same perspective was taken into consideration.By using SPSS, we determine importance rate of sub-scales (factors). The importance rate of each factor is shown in Tables 5, 6 and 7. Also the correlation between four main perspectives is shown in Table 8. The relationship between these four perspectives is shown in Figure 3. In Addition to relationships which are stated in Kaplan and Norton BSC card, it is obvious that there are some strong between perspectives. These relation ships demonstrate that not only these for perspectives are in contact with each other in simple direction as it is shown in Figure 2; they depend on each other indirectly. It eans that not only our hypotheses in the first part are based on facts; some other relationships should be taken into account. Next, we determined whether all the sub factors of each perspective influence on upper perspective. For this aim, we consider each factors of one perspective (for example learning) and calculated the correlation between all factors of that (L1-L8) with the next perspective (In this example, the process perspective). Based on BSC model, all of the factors of each perspective (Learning) must influence directly on the next perspective (process). We will investigate whether this claim is true or not.These relations are shown in Figure 4. Research method Conclusion Statistics used in this article are related to automotive parts manufacturing companies in Iran. The data are collected in Naien Development and Progress Company (TOSN Co. ). TOSN was established in January 1997. The main activity of this company is manufacturing main parts of automotive engine. The company is the sole manufacturer of some specific parts in Iran. The company outlook is defined as pioneering in manufacturing main parts of automotive engine in the Middle East. In this research we tried to In this article, we investigated factors related to each erspective. In order to measure and evaluate relationships between various perspectives, we searched for factors related to each perspective and ranked them for each perspective (Tables 5, 6 and 7). In the next part, we evaluated level of interrelation between non-financial perspectives and financial perspectives through 12524 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Table 1. General factors related to evaluating BSC perspectives. Perspective Factor Abbreviations Financial Return on assets return on equity inventory turnover sales margin assets turnover, debtors turnover R OE ROA IT SM AT DT Percentage of lost clientsPercentage of customers’ complaints Market share on time delivery to customer rate of orders variety of products (according to the market), Perceived level of quality Perceived level of trust to the products After-sales service Rate of new costumers Perceived level of service Brand awareness Brand image Perceived value of money Perceived level of service PLC PCC MSh OTD RO VoP PLoQ PLoT AfSS NC PLoS BA BI PVoM PLoS Effectiveness of the quality management system Degree of evaluation suppliers performance number of raw material suppliers Reduction defect (casting ,machining) Reduction scraps m ean time to repair ean time between faults repair costs Quality cost Per capita logistic per capita raw materials transportation costs per capita product transportation costs EQMS DoESP NRMS RD RS MTTR MTBF RC QC PL PRMTC PPTC Costumer Internal processes 1 source 2 4 * * * * * * * * 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mahdieh and Pedram. 12525 Table 1. Contd. production person-hours average daily production percentage of product realization Useful product line internal duplication error overall equipment efficiencyEffective dispatching of orders (in terms of price, specifications and delivery time) degree of cooperation with suppliers degree of cooperation with distribution channels Speed of adopting innovations already introduced in the market Speed of adopting innovations not yet introduced in the market rate of support the groundwork for establishment of a process-based organization Learning and Growth PPH ADP Ppr Upl Ide OEE EDO DoCS DoCDC SoAIaI SoAInI sgepo Per capita presented suggestion, per capita accepted suggestions per capita executed suggestions rate of training hours rate of training section efficiencyFrequency rate of accident Severity rate of accident rate of access to IT per capita non-cash bonus rate o f investment in new technology rate of innovative products and services exchange of information with co-operative companies Promotion of common business plans with co-operating companies Cooperative companies monitoring Collaboration and information exchange in the organization Pps Pas Pes Rth Rtse FRA SRA Rai PNCB InvTech IPS FExCO FPCBT CCM FCoEx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Source 1-factors from international standardSource 2-factors from customer viewpoint Source 3-factors focusing on stakeholder viewpoint Source 4-factors from literature review questioning main hypotheses in balanced scorecard logic. Indeed, we tried to find a real evidence for this claim. The questioned data in TOSN, manufacturer of automotive parts using balanced scorecard for 3 years, confirms this claim in some aspects. Results of presented hypotheses were as follows: Interrelations between growth perspective and intern al processes perspective was almost 0. 96. Also, interrelation between processes perspective and costumer perspective was 0. 824. Interrelation etween costumer perspective and financial perspective was 0. 781(results are shown in Table 8). Therefore, in this company there is a deep and 12526 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Table 2. Selected factors related to evaluating BSC perspectives in this article. Factor Financial perspective Sales margin Abbreviation Label Sm F Customer perspective Market share Perceived level of quality Perceived level of trust to the products After-sales service Perceived level of service Brand awareness Brand image Perceived value of money MSh PLoQ PLoT AfSS PLoS BA BI PVoM c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 c8 c8 Internal business and production process perspectiveEffective dispatching of orders (in terms of price, specifications and delivery time) degree of cooperation with suppliers degree of cooperation with distribution channels Speed of adopting innovations already introduced i n the market Speed of adopting innovations not yet introduced in the market Rate of support the groundwork for establishment of a process-based organization EDO DoCS DoCDC SoAIaI SoAInI Sgepo p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 Learning and growth perspective Rate of investment in new technology Rate of innovative products and services Exchange of information with co-operative companiesPromotion of common business plans with co-operating companies Collaboration and information exchange in the organization Rate of training hours Rate of training section efficiency Cooperative companies monitoring InvTech IPS FExCO FPCBT FCoEx Rth Rtse CCM l1 l2 l3 l4 l5 l6 l7 l8 Table 3. Number of factors in each perspective. Number of factor 1 8 6 8 23 Perspective Financial perspective Customer perspective Internal business and production process perspective Learning and growth perspective Total and positive relationship between non-financial factors of the model. According to BSC model, Kaplan and Norton claimed hat outcomes of optimizing performance of learning and growth perspective are evident in better performance of internal business processes. This would accordingly have a positive effect on costumer perspective, and finally improves financial performance. Kaplan and Norton did not investigate the different relationship between all perspectives. In this article, we assessed all the relationships between perspectives to determine the cause and effect relationship between all perspectives. Our research resulted in amazing conclusion. We found the relationship between business processes and financial perspective strong.Interrelation between financial perspective and internal Mahdieh and Pedram. 12527 Figure 2. Effect of factors of BSC on each other. Table 4. The importance rate of each factor in the learning perspective. L1 1 0. 854(**) 0. 933(**) 0. 938(**) 0. 947(**) 0. 969(**) 0. 968(**) 0. 959(**) 0. 975(**) L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L L2 0. 854(**) 1 0. 959(**) 0. 948(**) 0. 868(**) 0. 8 91(**) 0. 922(**) 0. 903(**) 0. 938(**) L3 0. 933(**) 0. 959(**) 1 0. 968(**) 0. 934(**) 0. 937(**) 0. 954(**) 0. 954(**) 0. 978(**) L4 0. 938(**) 0. 948(**) 0. 968(**) 1 0. 928(**) 0. 957(**) 0. 976(**) 0. 955(**) 0. 984(**) L5 0. 947(**) 0. 868(**) 0. 34(**) 0. 928(**) 1 0. 911(**) 0. 934(**) 0. 957(**) 0. 961(**) L6 0. 969(**) 0. 891(**) 0. 937(**) 0. 957(**) 0. 911(**) 1 0. 987(**) 0. 958(**) 0. 978(**) L7 0. 968(**) 0. 922(**) 0. 954(**) 0. 976(**) 0. 934(**) 0. 987(**) 1 0. 963(**) 0. 990(**) L8 0. 959(**) 0. 903(**) 0. 954(**) 0. 955(**) 0. 957(**) 0. 958(**) 0. 963(**) 1 0. 982(**) L 0. 975(**) 0. 938(**) 0. 978(**) 0. 984(**) 0. 961(**) 0. 978(**) 0. 990(**) 0. 982(**) 1 Table 5. The importance rate of each factor in the process perspective. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P P1 1 0. 852(**) 0. 918(**) 0. 765(**) 0. 916(**) 0. 865(**) 0. 962(**) P2 0. 852(**) 1 0. 663(**) 0. 951(**) . 925(**) 0. 853(**) 0. 920(**) P3 0. 918(**) 0. 663(**) 1 0. 580(**) 0. 736(**) 0. 683(**) 0. 827(**) P4 0 . 765(**) 0. 951(**) 0. 580(**) 1 0. 824(**) 0. 738(**) 0. 827(**) P5 0. 916(**) 0. 925(**) 0. 736(**) 0. 824(**) 1 0. 939(**) 0. 968(**) P6 0. 865(**) 0. 853(**) 0. 683(**) 0. 738(**) 0. 939(**) 1 0. 958(**) P 0. 962(**) 0. 920(**) 0. 827(**) 0. 827(**) 0. 968(**) 0. 958(**) 1 Table 6. The importance rate of each factor in the customer perspective. C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C C1 1 0. 979(**) 0. 959(**) 0. 872(**) 0. 953(**) 0. 945(**) 0. 806(**) 0. 820(**) 0. 938(**) C2 0. 979(**) 1 0. 948(**) 0. 891(**) 0. 947(**) 0. 53(**) 0. 855(**) 0. 876(**) 0. 965(**) C3 0. 959(**) 0. 948(**) 1 0. 849(**) 0. 972(**) 0. 960(**) 0. 705(**) 0. 733(**) 0. 898(**) C4 0. 872(**) 0. 891(**) 0. 849(**) 1 0. 873(**) 0. 933(**) 0. 879(**) 0. 878(**) 0. 956(**) C5 0. 953(**) 0. 947(**) 0. 972(**) 0. 873(**) 1 0. 970(**) 0. 733(**) 0. 764(**) 0. 917(**) C6 0. 945(**) 0. 953(**) 0. 960(**) 0. 933(**) 0. 970(**) 1 0. 804(**) 0. 829(**) 0. 961(**) C7 0. 806(**) 0. 855(**) 0. 705(**) 0. 879(**) 0. 733(**) 0. 8 04(**) 1 0. 985(**) 0. 935(**) C8 0. 820(**) 0. 876(**) 0. 733(**) 0. 878(**) 0. 764(**) 0. 829(**) 0. 985(**) 1 0. 946(**) C 0. 938(**) 0. 965(**) 0. 898(**) . 956(**) 0. 917(**) 0. 961(**) 0. 935(**) 0. 946(**) 1 ** Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). processes of production and business was positive and equal to 0. 946. Based on this finding, we tried to determine the reason for this relationship. For this aim, we considered all the factors of each perspective and we evaluated these detailed relationship. Interrelation between factors of process perspective and financial 12528 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Table 7. The relationship between main perspectives. L P C F L 1 0. 967(**) 0. 888(**) 0. 950(**) P 0. 967(**) 1 0. 824(**) 0. 946(**) C 0. 888(**) 0. 824(**) 0. 771(**) F 0. 950(**) 0. 946(**) 0. 771(**) 1 ** Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). Table 8. The relationship between each factor of one perspective with the next perspective. Relatio nship between factors of learning perspective and three other perspectives Learning factor Process Customer Financial ** ** ** L1 0. 971 0. 793 0. 968 ** ** L2 0. 854 0. 967 0. 827** ** ** L3 0. 921 0. 916 0. 911** ** ** L4 0. 951 0. 917 0. 914** ** ** L5 0. 910 0. 793 0. 929** ** ** L6 0. 984 0. 852 0. 944** ** ** L7 0. 977 0. 884 0. 945** L8 0. 947** 0. 843** 0. 932** Relation Strongly accepted Moderately acceptedStrongly accepted Strongly accepted Moderately accepted Strongly accepted Strongly accepted Strongly accepted Relationship between factors of process perspective and three other perspectives Process factor Learning Customer Financial Relation P1 0. 880** 0. 740** 0. 889** Direct relationship P2 0. 940** 0. 964** 0. 849** Strongly accepted P3 0. 687** 0. 547** 0. 729** Direct relationship P4 0. 869** 0. 968** 0. 765** Strongly accepted ** ** P5 0. 934 0. 817 0. 888** Direct relationship P6 0. 960** 0. 752** 0. 936** Direct relationship Relationship between factors of custo mer perspective and three other perspectives Customer FactorLearning Process Financial Relation C1 0. 753** 0. 711** 0. 822** Strongly accepted C2 0. 821** 0. 775** 0. 696** Not accepted C3 0. 656** 0. 579** 0. 803** Strongly accepted ** ** C4 0. 506 0. 525 0. 677** Strongly accepted C5 0. 628** 0. 664** 0. 531** Not accepted C6 0. 748** 0. 663** 0. 600** Not accepted ** ** C7 0. 957 0. 936 0. 961** Strongly accepted C8 0. 921** 0. 923** 0. 937** Strongly accepted perspective as a whole was the greatest level of interrelation between financial and non-financial factors. As it was earlier demonstrated, there is a strong direct relationship between business process perspective and inancial perspective. This relationship has not been declared as a direct relation in Kaplan and Norton Model; whilst its more analysis will be useful regarding its high occurrence rate, factors p1, p3, p5, p6 are the main reason for such strong correlation between business processes perspective and financia l perspective. It shows that although, according the model, the relations are series like and bottom-up, there are other relations amongst perspectives as well which must be considered. More detailed analysis of such relations may be posed as the following: P1 high correlation with the financial perspective:Effective dispatching of orders (in terms of price, specifications and delivery time) with financial perspective; given the status quo of the company, relation of this factor with financial perspective is so that more Mahdieh and Pedram 12529 Figure 3. The relationship between four perspectives in BSC. Figure 4. The relationship between main perspectives factors. attention to this factor will lead to faster payment by the customer and hence improvement of financial status of the company. market with financial perspective; this factor relates to R and D field. And regarding its high importance for the ustomer, it will result in faster payment and also will create direct relationsh ip with financial perspective. P3 high correlation with the financial perspective: Degree of cooperation with distribution channels, with financial perspective; this factor affects on p1 factor and improves the performance in terms of financial perspective. P5 high correlation with the financial perspective: Speed of adopting innovations not yet introduced in the P6 high correlation with the financial perspective: Rate of supporting the groundwork for establishment of a process-based organization with financial; because of its elation with â€Å"activity based cost† (ABC) method, it has found relationship with processes and processes separation topics. Considering such direct relations between these two perspectives and their definitions, it can be concluded 12530 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. that although the offered relations in this model are verified in this case, all relations have not been considered in BSC model. Thus, consideration of all of these relations is essential to ac hieve the strategic goals of the company. Research limitations and suggestion for further Factors introduced in each perspective were general. 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