Nature vs. Nurture Essay

Over recent years the nature vs. nurture debate has been extensively discussed and researched. Should human characteristics such as intelligence, personality, behavior and ability be attributed to our genetics or our environment? One problem with this is how to pin a trait down to either an inherited or learned characteristic, or perhaps itÂ’s both. Are we to blame for our behavior or is inevitable due to our genetics? This question and others seems to be part of the controversy over the subject. Also, these questions play a factor in how to change and adapt behavior. Different techniques would be more effective depending on the cause of a particular behavior or characteristic. When analyzing the causes of behavior problems in children the question of nature vs. nurture is a legitimate question. One recent study conducted by the University of Virginia and several others including one in Australia studied 1,045 twins and their 2,051 children. Some of the parents were identical twins with others being fraternal. This affected the amount of genes that were shared among the siblings. Participants were twins from a volunteer twin registry and information was gathered through a series of phone interviews beginning in 1993 and ending in 2003. The study discovered that spousal fighting wasnÂ’t to blame for behavioral problems in their children. Rather, it was the genes that influenced how often they argued with spouses. These genes when passed to their children caused more conduct problems. The conclusion of the study was that in family therapy, more focus on the child rather than the parents would be more effective (Society for Research in Child Development, 2007). This conclusion supports the theory that it is nature or our genetics that influence this particular behavior. On the other end of the spectrum another study involved observing children in different childcare settings. Researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development studied the children beginning in 1991 from the age of one month until they were school age. These 1,364 participants were selected at birth and were studied through phone and personal interviews at three month intervals. The childrenÂ’s cognitive and social functioning was measured at certain intervals and followed up to the  children on sixth grade. It was concluded that center based care yielded more aggression and disobedience than other types of childcare, with the quality of childcare was also found to be a factor (Society for Research in Child Development, 2007). This conclusion supports the theory that it is nurture or our environment that influences this particular behavior and the type of care children receive is an important factor in a childÂ’s development. Both of these studies posed the question of whether the cause of a particular problem, this one being behavioral issues, is genetic or ones environment. Both of these studies looked exclusively at one cause or the other with little being discussed about the other possibilities. The differences in the studies was the length of time given to each study with the genetic study being short term and the childcare study involving observations over a period of time. Another difference is the twin study looked at parents of a specific group, that being twins. The child care study looked at the children of many different types of parents. While both of these studies have their merits, neither study was able to conclusively determine the cause of behavioral problems observed as being attributed solely to genetics or the environment. The question of which one plays a greater role will likely continue to be asked. Hopefully this leads to more research and answers that will further our understanding of human behavior. References Society for Research in Child Development (2007, March 26). Center-based Care Yields More Behavior Problems; In Other Types Of Care, Problems Short-lived. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com ¬ /releases/2007/03/070326095340.htm. Society for Research in Child Development (2007, February 7). Parents’ Genes, Not Parents’ Arguing, May Cause Children’s Conduct Problems. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com ¬ /releases/2007/02/070207090943.htm.

Fast food restauran Essay

For each category I analyse I will show the male and female results in comparison then summarise what I interpret from the results below. Due to the fact that there are more females in Stotfold than there are males. The females’ preferences will have a larger bearing on any possible fast food restaurant to be developed. As there are unequal results from both genders I have converted my results to percentages before showing them on the graph. Visit Frequency Below is a bar chart comparing the visit frequency of male and female. I have shown the data on a bar chart because it is easier to compare. Male and female do not differ significantly as far as visit frequency is concerned. Most customers visit a fast food restaurant every two weeks, which, if there are enough customers, is sufficient to keep a fast food business afloat. Most Important Feature The bar chart below shows what both male and female consider to be the most important feature of a fast food restaurant. This just confirms what the general analysis stated: – that if a business is to succeed its customers must have confidence in its hygiene. The bar chart below shows a comparison between male and female fast food type preferences. The females’ main preferences are already well catered for in Stotfold. Kebab shops are, however , hard to find in this area and are highly popular among males. If a Kebab restaurant opened in Stotfold it could target male customers, although I have noticed that it is not just younger males that enjoy kebabs as one might have expected. Cost The chart below shows what male and females expect to pay for a fast food meal for one. This chart shows that more men are prepared to pay more for their meal than women. I think this can be shown more clearly so here is another chart showing the same information but with different price categories. This shows that the majority of males expect to pay over i 4 whereas females expect to pay below. This shows the male market is more profitable providing production and retail costs are kept to a minimum, 4) Place Information about Stotfold Stotfold is a growing town. The development of new houses in the area means that by 2004 the population will have risen by nearly 25%. The population of Stotfold in 2000 was 6680. In 2004 it is estimated that it will rise to 8180. There are also plans to develop a leisure centre in Stotfold, which may attract even more people to the area. Stotfold is on the border between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; there are many fast food restaurants in Hertfordshire, including large franchises, which would pose a threat to small companies opening up in the area. In my research I have collected information from Bedfordshire but the well-established businesses in Hertfordshire should be taken into account when deciding to start a new company in the area. There is an area of land on the outskirts of Stotfold by the old doctors surgery. It has planning permission and there is a possibility of a Sports facility being put up there. It is on a main road so has good access and a cycle path leading past the area. It would be extremely expensive to develop this land but if a new Sports facility were to be opened there it may be possible to incorporate a new restaurant on the complex. Below is a map showing the location I referred to. The area is within the shaded rectangle.

Analyse the Purchasing Power Parity Theory and Discuss Its Applicability

Question: â€Å"Analyse the purchasing power parity theory and discuss its applicability† In this essay I will analyze the theory of Purchasing Power Parity and discuss its applicability. I will begin by explaining the basic concepts of PPP. In order to get a deeper understanding of the theory I will also briefly touch on topics such as the Law of One Price, the Big Mac index and similar subjects related to the Purchasing Power Parity theory. Furthermore the PPP theory will be put in to practice and its applicability will be discussed and evaluated using real life examples. It is necessary to understand the functions of the PPP theory before giving a definition to it. The purchasing power parity theory is a measurement that is being used within the economy to compare the currencies of different countries and to see if their currencies are under or over valuated. It is also commonly used as a measurement to compare the living standard between two countries. The Purchasing Power Parity theory is developed on the basis of the law of one price (LOP). The law states that once converted to a common currency, the same good should sell for the same price in different countries. (Kalinda Mkenda, 2001) To give an example of this lets neglect all the factors such as taxes, tariffs and transportations costs. The law of one price can then be explained with the following formula: e = PSWE/PUK where e equals the nominal exchange rate and P price. If I buy a bike in Sweden for 1000:- this means the same bike should, in theory cost ?100 to buy in UK which gives us a nominal exchange rate of 10. If a bike would sell for any price higher in UK, there would be a clear advantage for consumers to go to Sweden to buy bikes (remember that factors such as travelling costs are neglected in this example). Also, it would be beneficial for traders to go to Sweden and buy bikes and sell them in UK for a profit, also called arbitrage. However, this kind of activity would slowly drive prices higher in Sweden and lower in UK and in the end resulting in market equilibrium based on the theory of supply and demand (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006). This leads us to the Purchasing Power Parity theory which states that price differences between countries in the long run is not sustainable because the market will drive the prices to equilibrium and that â€Å"a currency must have the same purchasing power in all countries† (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006 p. 650). â€Å"Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) are currency conversion rates that both convert to a common currency and equalise the purchasing power of different currencies. In other words, they eliminate the differences in price levels between countries in the process of conversion. (OECD, 2010) The PPP can be expressed in either absolute or relative terms. The absolute theory on measuring exchange rates is the one mentioned above and is the theory this paper will mainly focus on. The other version, relative, is based on price movements. (Ong, 2003) It states that the inflation rate between two countries must be the same if the exchange rate is going to stay the same. That is, if the inflation in one country X is higher than the country Y, its exchange rate will depreciate against country Y exchange rate based on the following formula: % e = % Inflationx -% Inflationy here e is the change in exchange rate. As stated above, the absolute PPP theory is mainly used as a tool of measuring how a currency is valuated and whether it’s under or over valuated. One very popular way to do this is using the Big Mac index (See appendix A) put together by The Economist. The Big Mac index is an index of how much a Big Mac costs in different countries. With this index we can compare the predicted exchange rate with the actual exchange rate to how a country’s currency is valued. When we compare the PPP we use a basket of goods which is identical in the comparing countries, in this case our basket is a Big Mac. When doing this we can predict an exchange rate based on the Law of one Price and PPP. When comparing the predicted exchange rate with the nominal exchange rate and this illustrates whether a currency is over or under valuated. Looking at the Big Mac index (See appendix B) we can see that Norway’s currency is over valuated by almost 90% against the American dollar. This implies that in the long run the Norwegian Krone is expected to depreciate against the US dollar using the PPP theory. PPP is also being used for comparing different living standards in different countries. If you for example use the GDP per capita you don’t quite get an accurate overview of the standards as factors such as living costs and pricing varies between the countries. By eliminating the price differences in two countries and compare the raw price differences we get a clear overview of a country’s living standard. Looking at the data in table 1 (See appendix C), we can see that the difference of GDP per capita between Sweden and UK is about ~8500 units, however, by comparing the GDP per capita based on PPP per capita we discover a much smaller difference (~1000 units. This suggest that the actual living standard of these two countries are quite similar, something that does not show when comparing GDP per capita which is why using PPP is a better method than using GDP per capita when measuring welfare as it takes into account differences in prices and purchasing power. (International Monetary Fund, 2009) By developing root unit tests that account for both structura l change and maintaining a long-run mean or trends Papell and Prodan (2006) argues that there is additional evidence that PPP is valid in the long run. However data shows that there can be substantial and long periods of time with deviation from PPP exchange rate for either the relative or the absolute versions. (Pakko and Pollard, 2003) We can describe these variations with a few main explanations, starting off with the assumptions we had to make while explaining the law of one price: taxes, tariffs and transportations costs, but also adding a few points such as differentiated goods, pricing to market and non-traded goods. Marrewijk et al , 2006), (Pakko and Pollard, 2003), (Moffat, 2010) One simple reason why the law of one price and PPP fails is that exchange rates are influenced by many other different factors than just pricing. The existence of trade barriers and costs is one. Any variable that will increase the price in another country such as shipping costs or taxes will neglect the arbitrage opportunity and affect the exchange rates related to the PPP theory. Other important factors to consider are that when explaining the law of one price we use a basket of identical goods, in real life however, very few goods are the same and people in different countries consume different goods. Also, some goods cannot be traded across borders; real estate, haircuts and carwashes are examples of these, also called non-tradable goods. While a piece of property can be traded, its location cannot be changed, thus, prices of property can vary widely between different locations and we can expect this to account for deviations from PPP. When calculating the PPP we also require the markets to be perfectly competitive. If a market is not perfectly competitive some firms may have more control than others and may use this as an opportunity for price discrimination and regulate the price for an identical good differently depending on the customer (Economist, 2010b) which will also cause the PPP to deviate from its expected value. As we can see by this, the purchasing power parity is a useful theory to use for measuring a country’s expected currency and living standard in the long run as it consider factors that are left out when using data such as GDP per capita or CPI, this way you get a much better perspective of the actual values. The theory has been excessively tested in empirical studies with mixed results ( Mac Donald, 1993), (Abuaf, N and Jorion, P, 1990), (Papell and Prodan, 2006), (Patel, 1990). Studies show that in the short-term there can be substantial deviations from the expected PPP and exchange rates related to the previously discussed factors, which makes it limited for predicting exchange rates in the near future. However, this argument illustrates that this theory holds true in the long run when calculating currencies and long term equilibrium.

HEB Grocery Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HEB Grocery Company - Assignment Example An elaborate plan was made and a new director, John Sturm was hired speifically to lead the E-retailing project. Some good investment went into the back ground research and eventual inplimentation of the E-retailing system. Having embraced technology in its operations in the past, this did not look as a far-fetched idea, it was therefore very welcome. The system involved an overhaul of the HEB online presence; the website had to be redone to include more detailed catalog, product description, product user manuals and point of sale or check out features. Customers were expected to log in into the company’s website, make orders, pay for the orders and eventually have to good delivered at their door steps. The company went on to put up a distribution and delivery system for the products that were ordered online. This was a service that was expected to have runaway success at least on the eyes of the executives at HEB even though profit was a long term issues. It was expcted that the venture would break even in three years and remain into the future. This optimism caused the team to overlook various anormalies that were quite glaring from the word go. Key among the anormalies was the cost implecations of the venture. A rough estimate of the cost indicated that the company would spend up to $5 to pick a customer’s order in the store, and $10 to deliver it to their home. This translated into 15% more overhead cost. The other issue was the cost of maintaining the E-retail system not to mention the cost of putting up a delivery system. Despite these bottle-necks, the company went ahead with the project and on 8th march, 2000; Mr. Fully Clingman (The COO) through a memo to all departments announced the restructuring of management to accommodate the new venture. The rest of the members of staff were equally elated at the prospets of the new system of doing business. In the following months the company would engage in pilot implementations even as they gaged the customer response. Mr. Sturm, the director incharge of HEB.com argued strongly in favour of the project saying that the creation of a transactional pharmacy would enable HEB to leverage existing assets. As well as develop e-commerce expertise, and thus begin to build an online customer base that could be transitioned to online groceries. In retrospects, it’s true that HEB focused more on the company and what they wanted to do in light of what their competitors were doing and consequently lost touch with the customer. One of the strengths that had brought HEB to its current status at the time was its close engagement with the customers. Especially its Community service activities and customer loyalty programs. These are thing that the customers and the community valued so much yet they were going to have to forfeit them in favor of E-retailing. The shopping expirience of walking into a grocery store and picking what you want according to your preference woud also be compr omised. Another very important factor was the kind of goods that people would buy from the grocery store. These were goods that were easily perishable and are usually need fresh; this could not be quaranteed on the E-retailing system due to the transportation factor. The extra over head cost of picking and delivering a product to a consumer from the E-retail system was quite high. 15% over and above the usual cost meant that only those who were extreamly staved for time and had loads of cash would embrace the system. The final and the most important factor was the expected income returns from the project Vis a vie the time to took to break even. Even though profits

Quantitative and qualitative measures of real estate investment Essay

Quantitative and qualitative measures of real estate investment performance, and their use, usefulness and limitations in the re - Essay Example According to Feng, (2010, p, 11), Internal Rate of Return and property based portfolios have also been used. The quantitative and qualitative measures of real estate investment performance are useful, but they have some limitations, in the real estate investment decision-making process. This is because of the complex nature of real estate investment. Therefore, it may be difficult to absolutely appraise performance in real estate investment. In reference to Albert Einstein’s quote, â€Å"Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted," it is worthy to note that there is no precise method of performance method that includes all the important elements and leaves out elements that do not contribute to performance measurement. In measuring real estate investment performance, real estate investors and managers, as well as, analysts use methods such as Simple Pay-Back and Simple Return on Investment (ROI) models (Muldavin, 2010, p, 98). Thes e models may be partially effective because they take into account factors such as the amount of return earned or associated with real investment. However, Simple Pay-Back and Simple Return on Investment models are essentially faulty because they fail to consider revenue or risk (Muldavin, 2010, p, 98). ... , these financial models obtain their results, based principally on initial development costs of real estate investments and operations costs savings (Muldavin, 2010, p, 98). It is not only the initial development costs and operations costs that determine the performance level of a real estate investment. There are other factors such as risk, based on market trends, which are expected to influence the performance of an investment. These factors are left out; hence they do not count all the elements that contribute to real investment performance. With this in mind, it can then be deduced that not everything that counts can be counted. Another measure that is used in the measurement of performance of a real estate investment is the financial model for evaluating real estate investments, Discounted Cash Flow analysis (DCF) (Muldavin, 2010, p, 98). The Discounted Cash Flow analysis addresses financial implications of sustainability. It also, facilitates the integration of quantitative an d qualitative analysis to measure the sustainable property's financial performance (Muldavin, 2010, p, 98). However, it should be noted that it is not only financial implications of sustainability of a real investment that counts, but also other factors that are market related, which cannot be quantified. Therefore, not all that counts can be counted. The use quantitative and qualitative methods in the measurement of performance of real estate investments involve the formulation of some financial assumptions, which are made for property. These financial assumptions pertain to performance measures such as rent, occupancies, and capitalization rates. The financial assumptions are derived, based on qualitative judgement and analysis of the best quantitative and qualitative information

System analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

System analysis - Article Example From the decisions, this article demonstrates the response of an organization to feedback generated from the information. The article uses a hierarchical structure in illustration of information flow, with an inclusion of information status changes at different levels. The second aspect of the structure is a topic-by-topic discussion, with illustrative diagrams, showing all steps of information development. These elements are relevant for the development of a system analyst. The rationale of this resource is that it can develop me into a competent system analyst and designer. This is because it incorporates aspects of organizational behavior into the processes of system analysis and design. It generates and reflects relevant decision information applicable in the change management systems and processes in organizations (French, 2011). The choice of this resource considered a holistic approach of organization behavior in line with the components of system analyst’s roles and scope of actions. The strengths of this resource are threefold. As a system analyst, I can develop competence by applicability it to many organizations, involving it in a practical procedures and use its published information as authoritative reference. The resource has practical demonstration of the processes, which a system analyst can use in relation to the Mary’s Seven Steps. The seven steps are easy for a system analyst to follow since the sequence is clear from one practical step to the next. As a System Analyst, the resource is reliable as a form publication of John Wiley and Sons Publishers in New York City. This makes it a more credible and dependable resource than unpublished materials. While using this article, one of the challenges likely for a system analyst and designer is that it does not have the latest information. It lacks timely information, hence it inspires the system analyst to seek the most relevant information with publication year being not later

Prime Minister's Question Time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prime Minister's Question Time - Essay Example he tasked the prime minister to respond to whether his government will remain on record from 1920 as the only government that left the economic conditions of the citizens worse than he found them. In his response, he refuted the claims that the economic levels of the overall citizens were deteriorating rather citing the record from International Monetary Fund (IMF) that signifies that Britains economic growth was on the rise. the records from IMF also signified that employment levels were on the increase again according to the response by the prime minister. from the 2010 manifestation of providing better life conditions. growth, jobs, and wages are increasing despite inflation. he refuted the issue of failing to attain economic growth through arguing that women employment and the youths employment levels are on the increase. From the Prime Ministers point of view, the energy policy and minimum wage policy are dangerous and will preset negative shifts of the within the economy. tax c uts that the government is providing is not only ensuring life is fair for the low income earners but also reducing the government reduction. Reduction of public spending and ensuring appropriate tax reports remain among the significant achievements leading to economic growth. He dismissed the idea of increasing minimum wage arguing that it will influence inflation and that focusing on overall economic growth is the essential factor. He disagreed with the idea of reducing the amount spent on defense to 2% of GDP arguing defense was a crucial factor within the growth of an economy. after the establishment of the inquiry committee six years the opposition accused the government of failing to table a report or focus on means of delivering the inquiry report of UKs involvement in the war in Iran. Cameron accused the opposition for voting

Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 18

Abortion - Essay Example According to Peter Singer’s argument, human beings have a certain property that makes it morally wrong to kill them. The inherent property possessed by human beings increases their value and arguably overcomes any decision aimed at terminating life. However, infants do not possess the same property. Therefore, the fact that the properties are not evident in infants, Singer deduces that this does not make it morally wrong to kill them. He conversely considers the fact that some people who may have valued the infant may feel wronged. Such bestowing of value to infants by a section of the society emanates due to diversity in thoughts and believe. From the analysis this argument as presented by Singer, it is clear that it is based on the fact that he is of the opinion that killing an infant is less serious compared to killing a person. Therefore, it is correct inference that according to Singer, infants are less human and do not possess the same fundamental rights enjoyed by human beings (Lodp, 2013). Singer also advances the notion that infants who are rejected because they are physically handicapped are better off dead. Critical analysis of this sentiment shows that Singer believes that unwanted infants should not be subjected to the suffering that comes along with being raised in a hostile society or family. Instead of being discriminated on the basis of their physical appearance, abortion is a better remedy to the problem of infants being physically disabled. Therefore, Singer fundamentally supports his arguments by referring to the contemporary plight of human beings. From his illustrations on the development of the fetus during the early stages of pregnancy development, Singer tries to prove that the fetus cannot be harmed by not being brought into existence. His assumption is that, during the early stages of development, the fetus is not a fully grown life form or human being that can feel the pain of being killed. Singer has

Projects 1,3,5 Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Projects 1,3,5 - Math Problem Example Both of these particular dishwashers are 24 inch dishwashers, which makes them comparable. They both offer front control operation on their doors, and both offer a 1 year limited warranty. At first, it appears that the Hotpoint dishwasher will come out on top, as it starts out with the lower price point, beating out the sale price of the GE by a difference of $70.10, and beating the non-sale price of the GE by $110.00. Is it worth the additional hundred dollars to get the GE? The approximate operating cost per year of the Hotpoint is $24, while the GE has an approximate annual operating cost of $29. This brings the price difference up to $75.10 on sale or $115 standard for the first year. Whether or not this price difference is worth it, depends strongly on whether or not the additional features that the GE brings to the table are worth it to the person making the purchase. The GE offers a lower decibel level (it runs quieter than the Hotpoint), has a hard food disposer and water fil ter, has six different wash levels (two more than the Hotpoint), a stemware holder, a steam prewash setting, the silverware rack on the door (instead of contained in the lower rack itself), and nylon racks instead of the PVC racks that the Hotpoint has to offer. ... /Appliances-Dishwashers-Disposers-Dishwashers-Built-In-Dishwashers/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc3njZ1z10atjZ1z141o3Z1z10atj/R-203604506/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UR52tmewV8E Hotpoint Front Control Dishwasher in White: http://www.homedepot.com/Appliances-Dishwashers-Disposers-Dishwashers-Built-In-Dishwashers/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc3njZ1z10atjZ1z10atj/R-203547883/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051&superSkuId=203153378#specifications (Insert name and box number here) MA120 BID:294 February 18, 2013 Project 3: Systems of Equations Part A: Solving a System of Linear Equations BID: 294 [a]x +3y-z=4 2x-[b]y+7z=12 x+2y+[c]z=18 ----------------------- 2x+3y-z=4 2x-9y+7z=12 x+2y+4z=18 ------------------------ x = 38/29, y = 46/29, z = 98/29 The url used to solve this equation was: http://wims.unice.fr/wims/en_tool~linear~linsolver.en.html Part B: Applications of Systems of Linear Equations The stopping distance of a car traveling at 25 mph is 61.7 ft. and fo r a car traveling at 35 mph it is 106 ft. The stopping distance in feet can be described by the equation y = ax2+ bx, where x is the speed in mph. What is the stopping distance for a car traveling 55 mph? 625a+ 25b = 61.7 1225a+ 35b = 106 ---------------------------------- a = 0.056057142857143, b = 1.066571428571429 3025a+ 55b =y 169.572857143 + 58.6614285714 = y y = 228.234285714 The stopping distance of a car traveling 55mph would be 228.23 ft. (Insert name and box number here) MA 120 BID: 294 18 February 2013 Project 5: Linear Programming Applications An automobile manufacturer makes cars and trucks in a factory that is divided into two shops. Shop 1, which performs basic assembly, must work five man-days on each truck, but only two man-days on each car. Shop 2, which performs finishing

Right, Wrong and the Truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Right, Wrong and the Truth - Essay Example It is easy to find a person who might even kill someone else just to be able to get his hands on some wealth. Bertrand Russell writes, â€Å"Philosophy, if it cannot answer so many questions as we could wish, has at least the power of asking questions which increase the interest of the world, and show the strangeness and wonder lying just below the surface even in the commonest things of daily life.† Ethics play a very important role in the life of any kind of a citizen; may he be a layman or a business man. In every part of life, every man has the choice of being where he is, choosing the decisions that he must take in order to make his own life better, and having the choice of stepping on other people’s dreams to do the same or not. In business for example, ethics play an important role when people decide to cheat or not to cheat by selling bad quality products to consumers. Again, the question of what is right and what is wrong arises over here because morally speaki ng, it is wrong to cheat people and have them pay a higher price for something that is not worthy of the same. According to historical norms, various customs that have been taking place since times immemorial still find their way within our modern lives. However, some of these customs are banned according to the legal system within countries because they are simply very immoral in nature. For example, in earlier times, discrimination and slavery played a very important role in the lives of the upper class; however today, it is against the law to be discriminating against any person on any basis including gender, caste, creed, race etc. Thus, this is a question of both ethics and morality because it helps to understand what may be closer to being right and what may be morally accepted by society at large without harming the maximum number of people involved in the process. In many cases, the truth is far from what may be right or wrong and not many people can do something to change t hat. For example, it might be wrong to practice female infanticide in parts of the world, however, the truth is that many tribes and families have been practising it for a long time in remote areas and will not stop because it has almost become custom like. In villages in India, it is tough for people to stop practising this heinous act because they are not aware of its implications and carry it out because it is a tradition for them to be able to give birth to a boy. Coming back to socio cultural dimensions around the world, again, the idea of understanding what may be right or wrong is almost funny. It is like explaining the theory of brightness and darkness to a blind person. For the blind man, the darkness in his world holds a different kind of colour altogether that a normal person will never be able to understand. At the same time, someone who is colour-blind sees the world in a different manner than a person who is able to differentiate between colours easily. Thus, it all bo ils down to a matter of perspective; today what may seem right to one group of people may be extremely wrong in the eyes of the other. The world is made up of different kinds of people who hold different thoughts and notion within their minds. It is very difficult to be able to change people’s minds and get them to believe in what a single person might be thinking.

Conflicts in Organizations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Conflicts in Organizations - Assignment Example The working environment of the organization may suffer turmoil which can be a cause of emotional or physical discomfort, not only for the warring individuals but also for people who are not related to conflicts in any manner. Modern HRM sciences take such ‘conflicts at work’ seriously and seek to explain the causes of such conflicts. Many theories focus on aspect like the creation of tension within the environment of organizations, which then contribute to conflict genesis. Many on the other hand blame an ongoing change to be the causative agent of conflicts. Whatever the cause, it is a well-accepted fact that ongoing conflicts in the environment of an organization are a well-known cause of decreased productivity and it is for this reason that timely intervention is required to avoid losses that may ensue if the issue is left unattended. The paper will take into consideration the various aspects of conflicts that arise within my organization and then take a step forward to analyze the situation in the light of famous theories. An attempt to provide recommendations for the resolution of the issue will be followed by the creation of a feasible plan that is acceptable to the various stakeholders involved in the issue. I work with Acuity Insurance and my working affiliation with the company is no less than 7 years old. I have seen many ups and downs of my company and these favourable or unfavourable circumstances have always been a source of learning for me. My company is one of the luckiest companies that not only survived the recent times of financial crises but also due to its excellent management succeeded in maintaining high profitability. The ultimate consequence of all this is the fact that the number of employees has increased during recent times and many people visit our HR office for jobs on the regular basis.

Natural food and drink industry Essay Example for Free

Natural food and drink industry Essay Executive Summary The all natural food and drink industry is relatively new, it has emerged as part of the clean label trend and is seen as an alternative to the organic products or products labeled as â€Å"free-from†. The global all natural food and drink market has shown a steady growth during the last few years and is expected to grow due to rising demands for healthy, nutritional, natural foods and drinks without chemicals and artificial ingredients. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 35% annually, Indian non-carbonated drink market is likely to touch Rs. 54,000 crore by 2015 from the current level of Rs. 22,000 crore including fruit drinks, nectars and juices etc. Our company J-GAPS started in 2014 thereby tapping this potential in the Indian market had come up with a natural flavored drink segment in terms of coconut water with Kewra and Mint with the product named SIPCO in order to revive freshness. This could be seen as great opportunity in Maharashtra near the Konkan region where the natural source of tender coconut could be fully utilized to provide healthy natural beverage to people. The financial assistance is catered by coconut development board in terms of 50% cost of production. The vision of our company is to provide a natural drink to the consumer so as to improve their health in a fast paced lifestyle. Identifying the gap in this market through market analysis especially in terms of coconut water wherein there are hardly tetra packs available in order to make it convenient for people to have the nutritional drink without carrying the hard husk. The main drivers of introducing such a natural beverage includes rising consumer concerns regarding artificial ingredients, artificially introduced hormones and genetically modified products, and their awareness of the long term health benefits of natural food and good nutrition thereby having a lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS). We therefore see ahead a great potential in this market as GEN – Y would be the most prominent segment to be tapped in order to sustain in the market and thereby expand our presence in India. 1. Current Marketing Situation 1.1 Industry overview The Indian packaged tender coconut water is still an industry in its development phase. There exist a very few players in this market. J-GAPS  aims to position its product in the general market where exist players like Pepsi, Coca cola, Parle agro foods etc. who are major players in the soft drink segment. The emerging trend among consumers to go for healthy and natural food products will drive this industry. Coconut water is a fruit juice with many unique features and a major one is a low calorie content .This makes it a very attractive prospect for weight management positioned juices. 1.2 Company description J-GAPS will primarily engage in extracting, processing and adding flavors to tender coconut water which is then ready to be delivered to stores. It is a privately held firm will be located in Ratnagiri in the state of Maharashtra .We have identified a location which is closer to the coconut farms. J-GAPS sources the tender coconut for its requirements from its own farms and also additionally from other farmers directly. Our processing unit has a capacity of processing liters water annually. 1.3 Market analysis- Tender flavored coconut water is recommended for people of all ages. With the consumers turning health conscious and preferring natural products, we believe that our product has a strong market both in domestic circles and in countries abroad. Our main target customer is the young generations who have a fancy for energy drinks. We also target sport persons with our special energy pack. We want to make our drink available for homes, offices, hospitals, sports persons, marriages, other occasions, hotels and restaurants. The recent studies showing the impact of aerated drinks on health has turned customer to ignore such artificially produced drinks and go for natural food drinks. The rising population will require larger amount of food drinks. Our product will be a natural thirst quencher with added flavor of Kewra essence in it which will be beneficial during the long summer months. 1.4 Major Segmentation Approach 1.5 PESTLE Analysis The Pestle Analysis identifies the political, economic, social, technological, legal and ecological influences on an organization. Political factors Various political factors affect the fruit juice industry. With the change of government the policies regulating the industry might change. As the taxation policy keeps changing, it has a significant effect on fruit juice industry. The government plans of encouraging foreign direct investments would affect our industry highly as organized fruit juice industry has only 3 % share as of now in the market but with FDIs it could increase significantly by coming of bigger players. Economic factors Our company would rely on trucks to move our raw materials to the processing plant and distribute our finished product so, fuel is also an important subject, so the company is subject to the fuel price fluctuation, and to possible fuel crisis. Since, ours is an agro based industry so we would be exposed to the risks of high prices due to crop failure, non-availability of raw material because of pest attack etc. Other economic factors affecting fruit juice industry are often linked to variability in real growth, inflation, interest rates, governmental actions and other factors. Factors like money supply, energy availability and cost, business cycles, etc. would also affect our company. Socio-cultural factors We are more than a billion strong nations and the youngest country as well. We are also home to the great Indian middle class. The major growth drivers in fruit juice market are increase in health consciousness among consumers, increase in disposable incomes and more sophisticated cocktail culture. There is more money circulating in the economy. With life becoming more hectic and tiring, consumer preferences are witnessing a visible shift towards healthy foods. Even the younger generation has started shifting from fizz to fresh and healthy. As people are becoming more and more educated, they are taking the healthy route. Technological factors Fruit juices have become big business throughout much of the developed and developing world with the increasing health conscious proportion of population. In this ever growing industry technology plays a major role in maintaining the quality and cost efficiency to generate higher profits.  Better technology can increase the shelf life of our product. Technology refers to both production process as well as machinery. Legal factors Processed fruit juices are regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations as a food product and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. The Food and Drugs Act creates identity standards, provides a basis for labelling requirements and establishes the safety parameters for soft drinks. As food safety requirements become more advanced across the beverage industry, tracking and traceability capabilities are a prerequisite. Ecological factors One environmental issue that food processing companies face is waste remaining from packaging. However, the problem often lies in feasibility of collection, separation and purification of the consumers’ disposed bottles or drinks packets. Environmental issues have gained importance because of regulatory requirements. It is not possible to sell a new packaging material without covering all the environmental issues. The reduction of materials in packing cartons can potentially provide both financial and environmental benefits. . We propose to provide our product in tetra packs so that lesser damage is done to the environment in comparison to PET bottles. 2. Product review 2.1 Product features In India coconut water has always been considered as a health drink to refresh the body due to its nutritional value. Tender Coconut Water is considered the healthiest best sports drink in the world, because it contains vitamins. It is very refreshing and rich in sugar, electrolytes and minerals – available in the natural form in most sterile conditions. It is a natural isotonic drink where the electrolyte levels are similar to those found in the human body. The water of fresh green coconuts is actually fat free. Our company keeping this factor in mind has come up with two natural flavored drink containing 1. Kewra essence which has a floral fragrance thereby providing a cooling effect in the drink. 2. Mint flavor to provide freshness and energizing flavor to the drink Chota Anna would have two variants in terms of Kewra drink and Mint drink. Kewra drink Mint drink Coconut water Coconut water Kewra essence Mint sugar honey Farm Fresh Tender Coconut are selected (50% capacity extracted) and the rest purchased from the Ratnagiri Association Coconut supplier and Natural Tender Coconut Water is squeezed out, untouched by hand and put through a special process in order to add the natural flavors of Kewra essence and Mint. The product is packed in food-grade Bottles/ Cans, which keeps it fresh for 9/18 months. The taste is natural and hence good.

The South Australian Renewable Energy Policy

The South Australian Renewable Energy Policy Power Plays Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the South Australian renewable policy following recent repeated events causing state-wide blackouts and chaos, however, according to other media sources, the opposition has also been stating that the renewable policy is not to blame. Kai Johnston reports. The news implements a variety of persuasive techniques such as attacking, providing evidence or silencing point of views. All of this is deliberately used to reinforce an idea to influence their audiences attitudes, values and beliefs of the turmoil of the South Australian renewable energy policy. This policy has been viewed by numerous news reports as a crisis that has crippled the entire states future, with some reports blaming the Labors renewable policy and other reports blaming mother nature.The causes of this crisis have sparked intense political debates and clashes between the federal Liberal and Labor parties, and even from multiple mass media sources. The South Australian renewable energy policy was an initiative imposed by the SA state Labor government in mid-2009, which sought to increase the renewable energy target to 33% by 2020. This initiative was supported through federal and state funding to achieve these targets. Since 2009, the state government has provided funding for development of renewable energy processes and farms, allowing this target to be achieved within 5 years of operation in 2013. In 2014 a new goal of 50% renewable generation state-wide was set to be achieved by 2025 and so this push commenced with an estimated $10 billion to fund the program. However, the rapid drive towards renewables has recently resulted in multiple blackouts over the past few months. This has sparked a massive blame game from both sides of Parliament with Liberals marketing that the introduction of wind and solar has made the power grid very vulnerable. While Labor argues that transmission lines were broken in the severe storms that roc ked the state at that time. Green dreamers are weaving baskets in the dark is an article authored by Janet Albrechtsen for The Australian. This article is heavily opinionative and contradicts every aspect of the Energy Policy with a spicy, heavy tone that slates the Labor party who was responsible for this policy. Albrechtsen describes the South Australian energy policy as the biggest policy hoax in the modern era. Theres one thing worse than a bunch of deluded commentators who treat green energy as a religion And thats the South Australian Labor government. The authors approach to this issue and utilization of persuasive techniques in this text are quite obvious, in fact her entire article is full of emotive and attacking language directed at the Labor party. Albrechtsens article also includes an array of evidence through explained statistical inquiries that help support this attack against Weatherills policy. His policy has promised a transformation of the economy, more jobs and an increased drive in investment. However, according to the authors evidence, these promises have not been fulfilled since renewables were introduced, but instead, they have led the state to accumulating the reputation for the lowest; employment, economy, business investment and growth throughout the entire nation. South Australias electricity prices have also doubled as a result of the policy as indicated in the article, the author also mentions how the difference between feeling good and doing good is now irrefutable. It doesnt feel good to be unemployed or out of business It doesnt feel good to have the power switched off in summer heat or winter cold It doesnt feel good to be subjected to the Lefts utopian dreams that hurt the poor the most The author uses the repetitious statements it doesnt feel good to effectively reinforce that renewables are crippling the state, and by invoking sympathy from the readers, this technique has potentially established a foundation that has persuaded the readers to agree with her perspective. Opposing this attack on renewables is a Sydney Morning Herald article by Mark Kenny, with the headline PM Malcolm Turnbull and ministers were told wind not to blame for SA blackout, which also uses multiple persuasive techniques to convey the writers opinion in a more subtle attack. The author, has constructed the article with a sense of expertise and superiority over Mr Turnbull, arguing that wind is not to blame while using quotes to support his idea. There has been unprecedented damage to network, with 20+ steel transmission towers down in the north of the state due to wind damage Energy Market Operators Devastating storms Kenny utilizes emotive language and evidence through quotes from the energy market operators to imply that the cause of the blackouts was from some freak storm that damaged transmission lines. A hysterical Mr Turnbull had been caught playing politics with a very deep crisis enveloping our energy system.-Mark Butler Climate change and energy minister This quote has been deliberately used to manipulate the audiences thinking to see that Mr Turnbull is capitalizing on the power crisis by lying to the nation to secure his votes. Butler implies that Turnbull is over-reacting and has been caught laying the blame on to Labors renewable policy when in actual fact, normal coal fired power generation would have also failed if subjected to these storms. Kenny manipulates his readers to view these blackouts as a result of catastrophic, once in a lifetime weather occurrences, hence contradicting Mr Turnbulls political blame game. The article Labor cant keep the lights on, which was written by Rosie Lewis for The Australian. This takes a more frustrated and aggressive approach to the renewable argument than the previous article. This text attacks Labors renewable policy throughout by repeatedly stating that they have failed planning for and generating enough backup electricity to keep the grid above water. Turbull is quoted as saying Theyve failed to do the work to ensure South Australians can keep the lights and air conditioners on. Extraordinary complacency and reckless negligence. Persuasive techniques such as the quotes from Mr Turnbull, include attacks on the policy and the use of emotive language to influence the audience. It also reinforces the idea that the South Australian Labor has not only failed, but crippled the state with a lack of planning. The graphs illustrated above shows the energy generation in comparison to the demand at certain times of the day. The implementation of these graphs allows viewers to clearly observe the significant issues associated with wind generation against the power demands, these graphs have been used to reinforce and add more credibility and persuasiveness to the argument that renewable energy is not a reliable source. SA power: How the State Government plans to fix energy crisis is an article authored by Daniel Wills for the SA paper, The Advertiser. This text acts as a response to the political blame game, as it sheds the blame off from the Labors back, that has been conveyed by Mr Turnbull, and attempts to redirect this blame towards the Energy Market Operators. The market operator has insufficient intel about how it operates. That is unacceptable. Tom Koutsantonis, energy minister. Here the energy minister is using attacking language against the energy operators. We have to step up and take control of our own future, and we are determined to do that. -Mr Weatherill (S.A Labor premier)   Ã‚   Wills has utilized these quotes to establish a point of view that something needs to be done to prevent further blackouts and to imply that the energy operators have left South Australia in the dark. These quotes use the techniques of inclusive language, urgency and appeals to hope to establish a call to arms for the audience to feel compelled to stand with Mr Weatherill. In this report Wills has been able to persuade his audience to believe that it was the market operators who did not ensure the reliability of power at the times when the state needed it the most. With the battle of politics waging and news treatments jumping in on the action, it is impossible to understand the simple questions we all have on our minds. What really did cause this crisis and who are we to stand alongside? KAI JOHNSTON Bibliography Wills, D. (2017). How the State Govt plans to fix SAs energy crisis. [online] Adelaidenow.com.au. Available at: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-power-how-the-state-government-plans-to-fix-energy-crisis/news-story/b6d6bceb9d9c0203f0bc9bd9637e32f6 [Accessed 19 Feb. 2017]. Lewis, R. (2017). Labor cant keep the lights on. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/sa-power-outages-hiccups-says-labor/news-story/c6ca2aaca59d5e1b77106b099d4e5e87 [Accessed 22 Feb. 2017]. Kenny, M. (2017). PM and ministers were told wind not to blame for SA blackout. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-and-ministers-were-told-wind-not-to-blame-for-sa-blackout-20170212-guaxf0.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2017]. Renewablessa.sa.gov.au. (2017). About Us RenewablesSA. [online] Available at: http://renewablessa.sa.gov.au [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]. Albrechtsen, J. (2017). Green dreamers are weaving baskets in the dark. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/janet-albrechtsen/green-dreamers-are-weaving-baskets-in-the-dark/news-story/4a17b417b568d6f1ab28ebdf63139a08 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017].

A Case Study Of Uninor

A Case Study Of Uninor As the centre of economic activity shifts towards east, Multinational corporations are increasingly adopting the inorganic route to growth in these markets. Mergers Acquisitions, Joint ventures and strategic alliances are becoming the vehicle for establishing presence in markets like India, China and South Africa. Fascinating as they may seem, Mergers Acquisitions and Joint Ventures have also been the most complex transactions involving financial, business and cultural issues. Through this project, we intend to understand the motives which drive such transactions. Also, we intend to understand the parameters which are crucial to make any JV work. We have chosen to study the fiercely competitive Indian Telecom market for our study as it has seen numerous International players entering the lucrative market through Joint Ventures. Our company for the study is Uninor, which is also one of the fastest growing new entrants in the sector. What makes the case of Uninor more interesting is the unique combination of Indias second largest real estate company, Unitech Ltd and Norway-based Telenor, the 6th largest mobile communications group in the world. The top management is drawn from Telenors global telecom specialists as well as Indians who have local expertise in developing telecom services in India. In this context, the cultural dimension to decision making in Uninor assumes enormous importance. Through the course of this study, we shall first look at mergers and acquisitions as a means to expand for companies. The key drivers, the specific motives as well as the examples related to situations which may mandate an MA transaction instead of growing organically. In the next section, we shall look at the Indian telecom industry and its future potential for growth, major trends and the government regulations which have defined the industry and catalyzed Joint Ventures among foreign and Indian firms. Then, we shall move over to the analysis of India according to Porters Diamond model and the cultural synchrony between India and Norway according to Hofstedes cultural dimensions. These analyses shall enable us to evaluate the paradigms of this Joint Venture. Subsequently, we shall analyze key components of Uninors Strategy in India and also its performance in the past year. We shall also look at its future growth strategy and the hurdles to achieving its targets. We shall conclude our study by looking at the transformative effect of strategic alliances and the Uninor case in India. Introduction The phrase mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without having to create another business entity. An acquisition is also known as a takeover or buyout, in which one company buys the other (target company). When two companies come together and form a new company altogether, it is known as merger. On the contrary, an acquisition can be friendly or hostile depending on the size of the players involved. Acquisition usually refers to the takeover of a smaller firm by a larger firm. However, one can notice sometimes an acquisition of a larger company by a smaller one. This phenomenon is known as a reverse takeover. The acquisition process is very complex with many dimensions influencing its outcome. There are many reasons why a company seeks acquisition. One is that some vital resource may be otherwise difficult to obtain for the firm, especially if the resource is necessary to adapt and function successfully within the local environment. The following list, not an exhaustive one, gives few motives for company seeking International expansion. Geographic and Industrial Diversification Accelerating Growth Industry Consolidation Utilization of Lower Raw Material and Labor Costs Leveraging Intangible Assets Minimizing Tax Liabilities Avoiding Entry Barriers Fluctuating Exchange Rates Following Customers For instance, an existing company may have personnel that the investor cannot easily hire at a good price on its own. By buying an existing company, the buyer gets not only labor and management but also the organizational structure of the target company. In addition, a company can also gain the good will and brand identification the local company has which is important for marketing mass consumer products, especially in a new market. One can also find financial considerations in few cases. For example, if a company depends substantially on local financing rather than on the transfer of capital may find it easier to gain access to local capital through an acquisition. Local suppliers find it relatively easy and are more comfortable interacting with an already existing company rather than a foreign enterprise. In few cases, companies find acquisitions as a means to reduce costs and risks compared to setting up a fully owned subsidiary. A company may be able to buy facilities, particularly those which are performing poor for less than the cost of new construction. This saves a lot of money to the company. If an investor has a fear that a market does not justify added capacity, the risk of depressed prices and lower unit sales per producer occurs if it adds one more producer to the market is avoided by acquisition. A company may choose to build if No desired company is available for acquisition Acquisition will lead to carry over problems Acquisition is harder to finance Strategic Alliances Alliances can be described based on their objectives and where they fit in a firms value chain. In terms of objectives, one can assume that scale alliances aim at providing efficiency through risk pooling i.e. pooling of similar assets so that individual partners can carry out business activities in which they already have good experience. On the other hand, link alliances make use of complementary resources to expand into new business areas. Each organization entering into a cross-border alliance has its own objectives for operating internationally. Further some alliances take place between partner entities functioning on a different level of value chain, known as vertical alliance, and sometimes on the same level of value chain known as horizontal alliance. On a broader scale, the objectives for cross-border mergers can be divided into the following three categories which were refined earlier. Sales expansion Resource acquisition Risk minimization The following section describes in detail the influence of each of these objectives on the decision of a merger. General Motives: To Spread and reduce costs: To manufacture or sell in foreign countries, any company must incur certain fixed costs. If the volume of business is small, it is cheaper for the company to outsource the work to a specialist rather than handle it internally. The outsourcing agent can spread the costs to more than one company and thus reap the benefits of economies of scale. If the business increases, then the company can rethink its plan of outsourcing and produce everything internally. The company handling the production or sales can lower its average costs by covering its fixed costs more fully. On the other hand, the outsourcing company does not have to incur the fixed costs that otherwise be charged to a small amount of production volume thus overburdening the customers in turn. To Specialize in Competencies: Each company has a unique combination of competencies. It is better for a company to concentrate on those activities that best fits its competencies and improve its performance and leaving out the other activities in which the core competency of the firm does not lie. This concentration can be horizontal as well as vertical. To Avoid or Counter Competition: It is not common to notice few markets that are not large enough to hold many competitors. ITC, for example, observed this phenomenon and pre-empted the competition to emerge as a big player in the Indian industry. Any potential threat should be nipped in the bud itself. Sometimes companies also combine resources to fight a market leader and share the profits jointly. For example, Coca-Cola and Danones joint effort to challenge PepsiCo and Nestle can be viewed as one such strategic move. To secure Vertical and Horizontal Links: It is clear that there are numerous potential cost savings and supply assurances in case of a vertical integration. However, sometimes companies lack the competency or the resources necessary to manage the complete value and supply chain. In these instances it is common to notice a merger. For example, LUKOIL has abundant oil reserves but as it lacked final distribution skills, in addition to making acquisitions abroad, it also made arrangements in countries that ensure a good market for its petroleum. Horizontal links provide finished products and components. For such kind of finished products, economies of scope can be achieved in distribution by having a full line of products to sell thus increasing the sales per fixed cost of a visit to potential customer. To Gain Knowledge: In the present competitive world innovating new ideas to develop products and deliver them is necessary to gain an edge over the rival. Many companies go for a merger to learn about a partners technology, operating methods so their own competencies will broaden and deepen, making them more competitive in the future. We can consider the example of Chinese government that allows foreign companies to tap the Chinese market in exchange for their transfer of technology. Specific Motives To gain Location-specific Assets: The following factors create barriers for companies that want to operate abroad. Cultural Political Competitive Economic differences Going for a merger or an acquisition equips the company to handle these differences and thus providing profitability. For example, Walmart first tried to enter Japanese market but withdrew its operations only to return with a Japanese partner, Seiyu, which is more familiar with local tastes and rules for opening new stores. To Overcome Governmental Constraints: Few nations require compulsory presence of a domestic player as a partner in the operations of a foreign company while few dont. In this case a merger is more favorable. The legal factors which constraint may be Direct prohibitions against certain operating firms Indirect prohibitions (regulations affecting profitability) Mergers and Acquisitions that take place across countries allow for greater spreading of assets among the partner nations. To Diversify Geographically: Operations in many countries (diversification geographically) can smoothen the companys sales and earnings as the business cycles occur at different times within different countries. Though this might not be the actual reason for diversification this does play a minor role in decision making. Mainly, if a product conditions favor a diversification rather than a concentration strategy, due to product life cycle etc, then there exists a strong reason for establishing foreign presence by collaborative arrangements, mergers. The higher the risk managers perceive in a foreign market, the greater their desire to form collaborative arrangements in that market. Problems with Mergers and other alliances Having discussed in detail the reasons why a company goes for a cross-border merger, it also makes sense to highlight the difficulties that arise while collaborating with another company. Each of the above factors is very important while considering a decision to acquire or merge with another company. The stake involved, the management attention, cultural differences, contribution to the merger etc play a key role in its success. Telecom industry in India Introduction Telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India and also one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Telecom Industry is evaluated with the following parameters: Number of subscribers: According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of telephone subscriber base in the country reached 653.92 million as on May 31, 2010 Growth rate: An increase of 2.49 per cent from 638.05 million in April 2010.   Teledensity (Telephones per 100 people): Overall teledensity in India has reached 55.38 Some major investments The attractiveness of the telecom market has resulted in high investments from across the world which was the reason for entry of numerous foreign players and introduction of new services. Recent bidding for 3G network spectrum allocation was one of the most followed biddings due to the high stakes involved for some of the best players in telecom industry. According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the telecommunications sector which includes radio paging, mobile services and basic telephone services attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 2,554 million during 2009-10. The cumulative flow of FDI in the sector during April 2000 and March 2010 is US$ 8,930.61 million. The Merger and Acquisition deals in telecom industry were worth US$ 22.73 billion during April-June 2010, which represented 67.19 per cent of the total valuation of the deals across all the sectors during the period analyzed.   Some of the recent Mergers and Acquisitions include: Reliance Communication Ltd that merged GTL infrastructure Ltd, its telecom tower business, for US$ 11 billion Other major MA deals included acquiring of Kuwait-based Zain telecoms African business for US$ 10.7 billion by BhartiAirtel   Acquisition of Infotel broadband for US$ 1032.26 million by Reliance Industries Norway-based telecom operator Telenor has bought a further 7 per cent in Unitech Wireless for a little over US$ 431.3 million. Telenor now has 67.25 per cent hold of the company New trends- The Gamechangers 3G services Public sector companies namely BSNL and MTNL have already launched their 3G services across India in all 22 circles. The other companies (All of them were private entities) took part in a 3G auction process that was held to give 3G licenses in all the 22 circles. The bidding started after numerous political interventions stopped it for almost 2 years. The process started with a lot of media attention mainly due to the delay in the process and the amount of investments that were expected, especially for all India license. The process was completed using an e-bidding process that was held simultaneously with broadband wireless auctions for a period of 34 days. The auction prices went beyond expectations. A pan-India bid for third generation spectrum stood at US$ 3.6 billion. However no operator could bid and obtain the pan India license. The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication bagged the highest number of 13 circles at a cost of US$ 1.9 billion, followed by BhartiAirtel in 12, Idea in 11 and Vodafone and the Tatas in nine circles each, according to the Department of Telecommunications. Rural telephony One concern that remains in the telecom industry is the penetration to rural India that has not been up to the expected levels till now. Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh opined, Although the growth in the last few years has been truly impressive and our tariffs are among the lowest in the world, vast stretches of our rural population have little or no telecom penetration. Rural tele-density is still in single digits. I had heard of plans for a Phone in Every Village some twenty years ago. We have not yet reached that goal. This is why we have emphasized telecom connectivity in our Bharat Nirman programme. TRAI suggested the following in 2008-09 report: It has been observed that despite several attempts over the last ten years, telecom infrastructure in rural areas is lagging behind the expected levels. There has been a phenomenal spurt in the growth of tele-density in the country with the evolution of new wireless technologies, but the gap between the urban and rural teledensity has been increasing. As can be seen in the figure the growth of telecom in rural India has been lagging and hence the government and TRAI are giving stricter guidelines to telecom companies about the rural penetration. Hence telecom penetration would play a vital role in telecom operators strategy for the coming years. Mergers and Acquisitions in Telecom in India As already discussed there are many reasons for a company to pursue the path of Mergers and Acquisitions. In telecom industry in India some of the reasons why companies take up M A are: General motives To spread and reduce costs To specialize in competencies To gain knowledge Specific motives To gain location-specific assets To overcome governmental constraints To diversify geographically One reason that stands out the most in these set of factors is the governmental constraints. The governmental constraints in telecom industry are laid out through Department of Telecom and they are monitored by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The constraints on foreign investment in India are as follows: FDI upto 100% in Telecom manufacturing ISPs without gateways Infrastructure provider (IP) I Call Centres IT enabled services FDI upto 74% in ISPs with gateways IP II Radio Paging FDI upto 49% in other telecom services Cellular Basic NLD and other services Expected strategy path in Telecom sector in India Following graph shows the Price sensitivity of the market versus the cost leadership that a company should achieve: India Price Sensitivity Cost leadership Differentiation Any company that wants to enter the Indian market should look at attaining cost leadership as the market is highly price sensitive. Cost leadership can be achieved through economies of scale if the partnering firm is an existing telecom player with established network resources. Motives for going Global for any company Uninors motives for going Global Spreading costs Achieving specialization Avoiding competition in domestic market Securing Vertical and Horizontal links Gaining technical expertise Increase revenue to sustain growth Tapping new markets due to saturation of domestic market Diversifying geographically i.e. International presence Hofstede cultural dimension differences between India and Norway Country PDI IDV MAS UAI India 77 48 56 40 Norway 31 69 8 50 PDI Power Distance Index IDV Individualism MAS Masculinity UAI Uncertainty Avoidance Index Source: Greet Hofstede Scores -ITIM International Hofstedes cultural Dimension INDIA NORWAY Power Distance Very High. In India the level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as well as the leaders Low. The inequality in power distribution in Norway is very less Individualism Moderately high. Collectivism is expected to the levels of family ties to a very large extent and has no political sense Very High. The relationships between individuals are weak limited to his/her immediate family Masculinity High. More preference is given to the materialistic gains in India Low. In Norway feminine values such as quality of life are given more preference Uncertainty Avoidance Low. Opinions are subjected to change. More oriented towards the acceptance of uncertainty Moderately High. People in Norway are less likely to accept uncertainty According to the survey conducted by Hofstede among IBM employees India has power distance index as the where as in Norway Individualism is ranked higher than the other cultural dimensions. From the above figure it is clearly evident that there are significant cultural differences between India and Norway. The western management theories and practices that are successful in Norway may not work well in India. Indians hold different cultural core values than their western counter parts. The Indian culture is hierarchical where the cultural norms have changed the way of thinking which affects various management operations, which Norwegian firms may find it difficult to understand. There is a huge difference between Indian and Norwegian work culture. In India a little authority is given to the middle management or lower management in decision making, in general top management beholds the full authority to make decisions. Whereas in Norway decision making process in a conflict situation involving individuals of different levels of seniority. The management style in India is less aggressive in comparison with Norwegian style. Indians prefer male values such as competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition and the accumulation of wealth and materialistic possessions whereas in Norway people prefer female values such as relationships and quality of life. In Norway people are more oriented to develop and display their individual personalities and to choose their own affiliations than in India. Porters Diamond Model for India Demand: India consists of a population of 1.14 billion, 17.31% of the worlds population. It has around 300 million population of highly consumable middle class status. India is ranked second in the world in terms of having the largest telecommunication network, after china with more than 653 million subscribers. The telecom market in India has been growing by 20 to 40 percent every year since past 3 years. And is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11% in the coming next 10 years. The Indian telecom market is estimated to be $8 billion in 2010. 83% of market share comprises of basic service providers and only 17% value added service providers. Emerging technologies like 3G and penetration of internet in telecom sector are going to be growth drivers in the Indian telecom industry because of increase in demand for latest technologies. Supporting Industries: The Indian telecom industry has vast range of state of the art telecom equipment manufacturers. The production of telecom equipment is valued at $12.3billion in 2010. Indian imports of telecom equipment accounted for 21% of US equipment production in 2009. Further Indian mobile companies strengthened their market position by launching various handsets. Indian mobile phone brands consists of 14% markets share. Telecommunication equipment major Nokia Siemens is planning source components worth $28.5 billion from India in 2010-11. In 2009 it sourced components worth $20 billion. Indian telecom equipment production is estimated grow at a CAGR of 17.1% to reach $25 billion by 2014. India is fast emerging as a hub for global telecom Manufacturing and the production and exports of telecom equipment in the country have been on a steady rise. Leading global players have made significant investments in setting up manufacturing and RD facilities in India, with many more being planned. Resource Endowment India is a knowledge pool with cheap labor. Indian telecom industry has skilled labor available at low cost. With abundant skills availability, there are large swathes of lower tier vendors who can still compete on costs. Industry Structure and Firm Strategy Indian telecom industry is the worlds cheapest service provider. Indian telecom market has viewed a tremendous average growth rate of 40% for the last 3 years. It has become very competitive recently with advent of global players after the government made a policy change allowing FDI up to 74% in telecom industry. Major players are rapidly increasing their market share by continuously improving their network coverage, technology, customer relations by offering their services at significantly lower prices. New entrants like Virgin mobile, Aircel etc. are trying to position themselves as low cost value added service providers focusing on emerging technologies. Telenor is the worlds 7th largest telecommunications service provider and it aims to be a leading global mobile operator by leveraging on its international experience and technological expertise. It wants to achieve its goal by focusing on three regions Consolidation of its position in the voice market through global expansions, acquisitions, mergers and JVs/partnerships Mobile to Mobile communications and financial services Telecom/media/IT convergence, primarily through third-party applications and services UNINOR- The Genesis Unitech Wireless won a wireless services licence for all 22 Indian telecom circles in2008. In early 2009, Unitech Group and Telenor agreed on a majority take-over by Telenor of Unitechs wireless business. Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in the company in March, May and November 2009, respectively. In September, the mobile operation changed its name to Uninor. On October 19 2009, the Cabinet Committee (CCEA) announced approved Telenors acquisition of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless. UNINOR Presence Uninor launched its service in India in December in 8 telecom circles. It turned out to be the speediest telecom roll-out in India. Within 5 months, it entered five more circles including the metros of Mumbai and Kolkata. Uninor has its headquarters at Gurgaon and 11 regional headquarters in the following cities: Kolkata Kolkata, West Bengal Orissa Circle Delhi / Noida (NCR) Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Rajasthan Circle Patna Bihar Jharkhand Circle Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Gujarat Lucknow Guwahati Chandigarh Indore Ahmedabad Chennai Chennai, Tamil Nadu Bangalore Karnataka Circle Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Circle Kochi- Kerala Circle Uninors Strategic Alliances Uninor has outsourced its major operational functions to established players with proven expertise. The operational model is based on low-cost operations with a gradual network-build up, infrastructure sharing, comparatively cheap GSM equipment sourced from international markets, and IT-outsourcing. Uninor has entered into network and base station service agreements with partners with expertise in given areas like- Wireless-TT Info Service Limited for Tower sharing agreements Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technologies India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson Telecommunications for network and radio equipment. Wipro Technologies for integrated IT services. UNINORs Strategy in India Uninor based its growth model in the fiercely competitive Indian market by providing value to the customers through a new tariff, called Dynamic Pricing. Dynamic Pricing is an innovative pricing strategy that Uninor has pioneered in which the customer is charged different charges depending on the location and the network to which the call is made. Going by the maximum discount offered by the company, a one-minute call could cost as low as 24 paise compared to 60 paise charged by other operators. UNINOR- Performance in India In the month of June, Uninor topped the list of new mobile operators by adding maximum connections to the tune of 1.01 million. The new mobile service providers together accounted for 1.65 million which was 13.5% of the total mobile subscriber additions during this period. Source: Share Khan Brokerage report on Telecom sector, 16th July 2010 Uninor had added just 2.1m active subscribers i.e. just 50% of the reported 4.3m as of Mar-10. The company defines active subscribers as those that used network during last 30 days. Even on active subscribers, ARPU at ~Rs 86 suggests low usage especially given that mobile revenues could have a higher contribution from activation fee during the launch period. The tariff cuts aimed at increasing the user might be a reason for the low ARPU. The new mobile operators including Etisalat DB, Loop , Uninor, Videocon, and STel added just 1.7 million new users in June 2010. Uninor added 10 lakh subscribers during this period. It is around 15 per cent of 12.29 million new subscriber base added during this duration by the industry. As a result, barring Uninor, none of the other players has managed to get even 1% market share of the 456-million subscriber GSM mobile market. According to the TRAI licence conditions, new operators are required to complete roll out in all the circles within three years and that deadline is fast approaching. CAPEX Guidance Lowered by TELENOR Telenor cut back its India capex guidance by 25% i.e. Rs5.5bn for FY10. Uninor reasoned this to a combination of lack of spectrum, the stringent security clearance process for equipments and the need to adjust roll-out speed for distributors. Uninor may find it tough to retain traffic beyond 1-2 quarters given the low level of tariffs already. Uninor has rolled out 18,000 cell sites (which was around 13,300 at end-Dec 2009). Uninor is currently operating in 13 circles with subscriber base of 43 lakhs (which was 1.2 million at December end 2009). Conclusion Through the course of the study, we assessed the reasons which make MA and other means of inorganic growth, the preferred route to enter a market for international corporations. We tried to list down the motives and the vision behind such cross border transactions. We realized that a diverse range of parameters drive MAs globally. They can range from getting around government regulations to gaining a first mover advantage in a growing market. As more global corporations try to establish their foothold over the emerging markets, we witness interesting new trends. Their entry into emerging markets is increasingly by partnering with the local companies. This is perhaps also catalyzed by government regulations which stipulate maximum FDI limits for multinational corporations from abroad. We also looked at factors which contribute to the decision to enter/not enter a particular market for a corporation including the competitive advantage to the corporation and the cultural synergies between the parent market of the company and the new prospective market. We chose the extremely dynamic telecom sector for our analysis as it has seen numerous international players enter through the JV route. We analysed the dynamics of the telecom sector and the fallout of the recent 3G spectrum allocations on the sector. Uninor is the case we took for analyzing the actual details of an existing JV. We chose Uninor as its unique in the way that unitech wireless had no pri

Sino-Soviet relations Essays -- Soviet Union Russia History Communism

Sino-Soviet relations Following the Second World War a new political order existed. The world essentially was divided between two dominant and opposed spheres, that of the United States and that under the hegemony of the Soviet Union. This global order heavily influenced the foreign policy decisions of policy makers in both Washington and Moscow. Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist party and the absolute dictator of the Soviet Union, sought national security for the Soviet Union above all else in the sphere of foreign relations. Stalin’s dealings with other governments, including other Communist leaders, aimed largely towards serving the needs he perceived to exist in his country. Stalin’s government in dealing with China and Chinese communists, therefore, was more concerned with Soviet national security than with the fulfillment of the international communist revolution. Soviet-Chinese Relations Under Lenin Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party and the Revolution of 1917 which ushered in communist rule in Russia, believed firmly in the idea of a world revolution and the eventual victory of the International Soviet Republic. Lenin, in making contact with the government in Peking, expressed that â€Å"The Chinese revolution will lead to revolution throughout the entire East, and will bring finally the downfall of world imperialism.† On May 4, 1919 Chinese students and intellectuals demonstrated against what they viewed as pro-Japanese sentiments in the Peking government during what became known as the May Fourth Movement. Moscow began monitoring the situation in China with hopes of fostering a communist movement. In 1921 a meeting was held in Shanghai in which a new party, the Chinese Comm... ...he Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Articles Chen, Jian. â€Å"Working Paper #1: The Sino-Soviet Alliance and China's Entry into the Korean War.† Cold War International History Project Virtual Archive. 1 Jun. 1992. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 30 March 2003. . Chapters in edited books Jun, Niu. â€Å"The Orgins of the Sino-Soviet Alliance,† in Westad, Odd Arne, ed. Brothers In Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945-1963. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. Westad, Odd Arne. â€Å"Introduction,† in Westad, Odd Arne, ed. Brothers In Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945-1963. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998.

Ancient Rome Essay -- essays research papers

The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in the central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history, and then collapsed. According to Roman legend. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. In the A.D. 100’s, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the northern coast of Africa. The empire then began to crumble, party because it was too big for Rome to govern.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The millions of people who lived in the Roman Empire spoke many languages and followed many different customs and religions. But the Roman Empire bound them together under a common system of law and government. The languages of the ancient Romans, Latin, became the basis of French, Italian, Spanish, and the other Romance languages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Roman Empire probably had from 50 to 70 million people at its height. Of that maybe nearly 1 million people lived in Rome, and from 5 to 6 million lived in the rest of Italy. The people of ancient Rome were dived into various social classes. Members of the senate and their families made up the most powerful upper class group. Most people belonged to the lower classes and had little social standing. In the lower class, Romans were distinguished between citizens and slaves. Citizens were farmers, city workers, and soldiers. Most slaves were captured in warfare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rome was the ...

Hr Practice in Gp

Culturally compatible HR strategy in Grameenphone Ltd. SUBMITTED TO: Mr. A K M Mominul Haque Talukdar (MHT), Faculty Member, School of Business, North South University. SUBMITTED BY: Group – 3 Section-1 HRM-480 NameID # A K M YunusMony053 361 030 M Sabbir Hassan061 390 030 M Tajvir Abbas061 392 030 M Khayruzzaman061 628 030 Nastashea Nadia Mollika062 535 030 ShefaetulHoqueBhuiyan071 022 030 Refath E Islam072 600 030 SUBMISSION DATE: 30th March, 2010 LETTER OF TRANSMITAL 30th of March, 2010 Mr. A K M Mominul Haque Talukdar (MHT) Faculty Member, School of Business, North South University, Dhaka. Subject: Submission of HRM480 report Dear Sir, In the following pages, we have done our report titled â€Å"Culturally compatible HR strategy in Grameenphone Ltd. † as HRM480 course requirement. We have enjoyed preparing the project. In preparing this project, we have tried our level best to include all the relevant information and tried to identify different problems. As we are beginner, we may make some mistakes. If you consider our mistakes as pardonable, we will be very pleased and it will be very helpful for our future career. Sincerely Yours- Members of group # 3 Section-1 HRM-480 NameID #Signature A K M YunusMony053 361 030———– M Sabbir Hassan061 390 030———– M Tajvir Abbas061 392 030———– M Khayruzzaman061 628 030———– Nastashea Nadia Mollika062 535 030———– ShefaetulHoqueBhuiyan071 022 030———– Refath E Islam072 600 030———– Acknowledgment This project has been an eye-opener for us and we have been fortunate to have the support, assistance and encouragement of a number of individuals while preparing this report, without their support it would be hard to complete this study. We express our sincere gratitude to our Institutional Supervisor Mr. A K M Mominul Haque Talukdar (MHT), Lecturer, School of Business, North South University, Dhaka for guiding us in completing this study. His words of wisdom will always be remembered, and we are convinced that the knowledge of Strategic HRM that he has imparted would go a long way through our professional career. Secondly, we are also obliged to M Sabbir Hassan, Grameenphone Ltd. for his valuable time and providing us with the important information. He also shared with us necessary organization structural facts. We will also thank the other employees of Grameenphone Ltd. or sparing their time from work and filling out our questionnaires, which helped us to analyze our project. Our thanks also goes to the team members whose unflagging capacity for creative work and long hours made the project successful – under the pressure of deadlines. This report is successfully completed by our entire group member’s extreme effort. It was not possible for a single person to make the project successful. Moreover we would like to disclose our deepest esteem and gratefulness for our faculty, Mr. A K M Mominul Haque Talukder, for his extended helping hand and mentorship. To oc INTRODUCTION Our group (Group – 3) was assigned to select a company and evaluate it in terms of its cultural compatibility of HR issues which we researched on Grameenphone Ltd. Mr. AKM Mominul Haque Talukder, our faculty for this HRM480 course, has provided us with the opportunity to learn more about this topic through this project, which will eventually help us, understand how these things work in the real world. Through the extensive research this project required, we have gathered a lot of practical experience and have been able to identify such things in real life rather than just reading from a book. We are also grateful to Grameenphone Ltd. for allowing us to conduct such a survey about their organization. The research work started with us distributing questionnaires to 60 employees of Grameenphone Ltd. The questionnaires contained 2 dependent variables and 5 independent variables for analysis. Each variable consisted of 5 questions, with options available for answering. Once the data were collected from Grameenphone Ltd, we entered them into the SPSS software. The software provided us with various tables such as ANOVA, etc. and graphs such as Regression line, etc. All these helped us work out the analysis part. Our main objective was to find out whether Grameenphone Ltd. could carry out their organizational culture efficiency or not. The project was not just something that we had to do for class. This was something that provided us with knowledge and skills which would help us for years to come. Since we are the future managers of this country, we must learn to carry out such practices such as cultural practices with utmost efficiency. Choosing and hiring candidates is something which not only affects the organization but also the economy as a whole. The choosing of actually talented individuals gives hope to us all. It gives us the drive we need in order to work hard and make life seem fair. ? EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In order to find secure and best possible results regarding culturally compatible HR strategy, our team worked out a pattern which was both logical and sequential. The mission of our group and this project work was to analyze the way the employees of Grameenphone Ltd, think and feel and how these in turn affect the organization as a whole. Therefore, it was required of us to come up with a questionnaire and we have done so in such a way that would help us explore their perceptions and ideologies. All the information has been transformed into usable data which can be referred to in order to better understand their organizational culture and recruitment patters. Due to our experience with courses such as ECO 172, ECO 173, etc and also from the courses of MGT321, MGT351, HRM370, and HRM410 with our faculty Mr. A K M Mominul Haque Talukder, it was possible for us to round up this project successfully. Data analysis is something which is going to help us in the future by helping us truly understand situations and perspectives that make up an organization. This process started with us selecting 60 employees from different parts of the organization to fill in the questionnaire. We then converted those data into the SPSS database for further analysis. Before doing so, we had to first become familiar with the usage of the SPSS software, which was somewhat complicated. Also, it was slightly tricky to get the selected people to answer all questions in the questionnaire, for various reasons including the fact that some of them did not want to be too honest while some had trouble interpreting the meanings of the questions. The raw data collected was used for reliability tests to ensure its accuracy. In order to make the data usable for later stages, data reduction techniques had to be applied. Once the data had been approved, it was used for linear regression analysis and graphical representation of the regression analysis. Thus, eventually it was possible to understand and compare and contrast the perceptions of the different employees in a place such as AB Bank. The regression analysis provided Fcalc values which were compared to the F table. This is something that helps analyze and make decisions regarding whether to accept or reject the various relationships. SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY As a business expectative in future, we should have to gather experience beside our survey. We should not concern our lesson only in classroom but to implement it in practical life that will help us in our future life. A clear objective helps in preparation of well decorated report in order to take the right type of decision. So, identifying objectives is very much important. Our purpose of preparing the report is: Understanding the inter-organizational culture. Understanding the link between HR strategies with organizational culture. Evaluate the factors that affect strategic human resource management to learn the knowledge about the factors which are ultimately affecting strategic HRM. To understand real aspects of strategic HRM from staffing to top-managerial decisions. To understand the link between some important HR issues like communication, staffing and development, internal philosophy, flexibility job structure, performance management, with customer satisfaction and retention management. It is common knowledge that the compatibility of culture with Strategic HRM is one of the most basic and important functions of an organization. Unless a company is able to make a good cultural environment for strategic HR to an organization, all its stakeholders and employees will eventually suffer, which might be a result of dissatisfaction of customers as well. It is important for us to identify the seriousness of this function which is taken up by the HRM department. As future managers of this country, we must understand the pros and cons of every single action which is implemented during the recruitment process. Grameenphone Ltd. has provided us with a platform to study their culturally compatible HR strategy. We thank them for this opportunity which will help us gain first-hand experience and understanding of these things. The employees at Grameenphone Ltd. have been gracious enough to answer our questions in the questionnaires we provided them with. Some of the questions may have been slightly intruding, but that is the whole point of the research – to find out the employees’ true thoughts and feelings towards their cultural compatibility with their HR strategy. We hope to shed light on the various good things, and perhaps on some level of mismanagement going on at Grameenphone Ltd. nd their organizational culture with their HR strategy. The result of this research can help enhance all the good things going on in the organization, and also bring about opportunities to fix those things that may be wrong with it. After all, an organization is nothing without the people who keep it going. ? METHODOLOGY Methods of data collection: Methodology is the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline or a particular procedure or set of procedures. It consists of both primary and secondary data. Primary data collection: We had to collect information from 60 employees of Grameenphone Ltd. We also had collect from three different branches that took us about 5 days. To collect the required information we made a questionnaire (given above) filled with questions related to choosing and hiring candidates , which would help us to understand how the HR mangers and senior while calling on for interview assess the raw test score, competencies, analytical skills, etc and average the whole result . They then check out family background, drug test, and criminal record etc and then hire the candidate. Hence, to collect this information we had to take an appointment with the Md. Bajlul Huda, Manager, Grameenphone Ltd. and went to the office accordingly. When we reached there we first brief him about our whole assignment as well as the questionnaire. He was very helpful with the whole task and assigned us with one of his Division Manager who took us to different level of the office and introduce to their sub-ordinates. We tried to survey all the dept. available in the office like the Finance Director, the HR dept. head, the Marketing Director and the Managing Dept. We divided our group members and each of us took some employees at a time to be available to them while they were filling up the questionnaire in order to answer to their queries. While filling some had little delusion on hr terms which we as a team need to elaborate the process of each term. And in that way it was also easier for us to collect all the correct required data as we were talking to only 1 employee at a time. And after they filled out the questionnaire we took their visiting cards along with their designation and stapled it to their papers. SECONDARY DATA: The raw data collected was then used for reliability tests to ensure its accuracy. Depending on the accuracy we had to implement data reduction using certain factors making the data usable for later stages. The approved data was then used for linear regression analysis and the obtaining graphical representation of the regression analysis. We then came up with relationships of the employee perceptions and various decision making criteria that are found in the daily working environment in an organization like Grameenphone Ltd. The regression analysis provided us with Fcalc values which were compared to the F table; which assisted us in deciding whether to accept or reject the relation between the various relationships we formed previously. ? LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY As we have to make a report on the ‘Culturally compatible HR strategy’ practices of Grameenphone Limited by meeting a survey, we were really unable to collect enough information due to their official restrictions. These restrictions could not be eliminated without seeming offensive or intrusive. Many things were so confidential that we were we could not gain access to them. Thus, we had to conduct our analysis on whatever information we could gather, which was not enough. At the very beginning, we had a lot of difficulties in collecting information from the employees. Most employees were reluctant to fill up the questionnaire we prepared for them to fill up. Perhaps some of the questions made them uncomfortable, or perhaps they just did not have time. However, there was no reason to feel uncomfortable since the questionnaires were meant to be filled anonymously. We had to convince most of them to fill them up. Finally we could convince 50 employees to fill up the forms. Some of them didn’t tick all the answers and some ticked random answers without understanding the questions, or not even reading them properly. So, while studying the filled up questionnaires, we had a lot of complications in analyzing the data. The questionnaires prepared by us contained a lot of technical terms, which were comprehensible only to people who were familiar with HRM terminologies. Conditions like these created a lot of problems for the personnel filling he questionnaires, and they often asked us questions regarding what the question meant. It seemed like some of them found it extremely hard to truly understand the meanings of some of the questions. As we had to entertain a lot of queries at the same time, we were unable to allocate equal time and attention to everyone. This was purely unintentional, but it may have led to misinterpretation from our side towards the employees. While working on the filled up questionnaires we faced quite a number of problems, which prevented us from obtaining results of optimum accuracy. As we had to use SPSS software, we faced compatibility problem on SPSS with windows Vista and windows 7. We also encountered a few other minor problems during the primary data collection and while interpreting the data. Beside this we have faced the following hindrances in preparing this report: Lack of knowledge and experience regarding subject matter of employees filling the questionnaire. Shortage of time. Lack of sufficient privileges. Lack of communication facilities. Difficulty in getting an appointment. SPSS software compatibility problem with windows Vista and windows 7. The survey report focuses Cultural compatible HR strategy in Grameenphone Ltd. The survey may not be more comparable or more valid due to our lack of knowledge and experience regarding statistical data handling and interpretations. Also, it should be mentioned that we had trouble working out on the relationships between the various dependent and independent variables. ? COMPANY PROFILE Grameenphone, widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 62% shares of grameenphone and Grameen Telecom owns the remaining. Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh. It also established the first 24-hour Call Center to support its subscribers. With the slogan Stay Close, stated goal of Grameenphone is to provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh. From the very beginning, Grameenphone placed emphasis on providing good after-sales services. In recent years, the focus has been to provide after-sales within a short distance from where the customers live. There are now more than 600 GP Service Desks across the country covering nearly all upazilla’s of 64 districts. In addition, there are 72 Grameenphone Centers in all the divisional cities and they remain open from 8am-7pm every day including allholidays. GP has generated direct and indirect employment for a large number of people over the years. The company presently has more than 5,000 full and temporary employees. Another 100,000 people are directly dependent on Grameenphone for their livelihood, working for the Grameenphone dealers, retailers, scratch card outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and others. There are more detail about Grameenphone Ltd. is given below; VISION: To be a leading provider of telecommunication services all overBangladesh with satisfied customers, shareholder, and enthusiastic employees. MISSION: GrameenPhone Ltd. aims at providing reliable, widespread, convenient mobile and cost effective telephone services to the people in Bangladesh irrespective of where they live. Such services will also help Bangladesh keep pace with other countries including those in South Africa region and reducing her existing disparity in telecom services between urban and rural areas. HISTORY: November 11, 1996: GrameenPhone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. March 26, 1997: GrameenPhone launched it’s on the Independence Day of Bangladesh. 1998 June: Launched mobile to mobile service (Without PSTN access). 1999 August: Launched first Prepaid Service in the country. 2003 August: Reached One million Subscribers. 003 October: Launched prepaid product with PSTN connectivity. 2004 August: Reached 2 million Subscribers. 2005 April: Reached 3 million Subscribers, Launch of â€Å"djuice†, a youth brand, for the first time in Bangladesh. 2005 August: Reached 4 million subscribers. 2005 September: Launched EDGE and Voice SMS for the first time in Bangladesh. 2005 October: Reached 5 million subscribers. 2006 J anuary: Launch of Business Solutions- segmented offering for the Business Segment, Reached 6 million subscribers. 2006September: Launch of CIC. 2006 November: Celebrated 10million subs in 10 years & launched New Logo, Launch of Health line. 006 December: Launched Smile Prepaid & explore Post-paid, Launch of Bill Pay. 2007 February: Business Solution Re-launched. 2007 April: Djuice Re-launched. 2009: Launch of Bill-pay service. 2010 March: Launched 4 new Prepaid package named â€Å"Apon†, â€Å"Bondhu†, â€Å"Shohoj† and â€Å"Adjusted djuice† with new attractive tariff plans. The company has so far invested more than BDT 10,700 crore (USD 1. 6 billion) to build the network infrastructure since its inception in 1997. It has invested over BDT 3,100 crore (USD 450 million) during the first three quarters of 2007 while BDT 2,100 crore (USD 310 million) was invested in 006 alone. Grameenphone is also one the largest taxpayers in the country, having contributed nearly BDT 7000 crore in direct and indirect taxes to the Government Exchequer over the years. Of this amount, over BDT 2000 crore was paid in 2006 alone. Since its inception in March 1997, Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 percent of the country's population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone was also the first operator to introduce the pre-paid service in September 1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced value-added services such as VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, WAP, SMS-based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and many other products and services. The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to high-speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area. There are currently nearly 3 million EDGE/GPRS users in the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone nearly doubled its subscriber base during the initial years while the growth was much faster during the later years. It ended the inaugural year with 18,000 customers, 30,000 by the end of 1998, 60,000 in 1999, 193,000 in 2000, 471,000 in 2001, 775,000 in 2002, 1. 16 million in 2003, 2. 4 million in 2004, 5. 5 million in 2005, 11. 3 million in 2006, and it ended 2007 with 16. 5 million customers. From the very beginning, Grameenphone placed emphasis on providing good after-sales services. In recent years, the focus has been to provide after-sales within a short distance from where the customers live. There are now more than 600 GP Service Desks across the country covering nearly all upazilla’s of 64 districts. In addition, there are 72 Grameenphone Centers in all the divisional cities and they remain open from 8am-7pm every day including allholidays. GP has generated direct and indirect employment for a large number of people over the years. The company presently has more than 5,000 full and temporary employees. Another 100,000 people are directly dependent on Grameenphone for their livelihood, working for the Grameenphone dealers, retailers, scratch card outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and others. In addition, the Village Phone Program, also started in 1997, provides a good income-earning opportunity to more than 210,000 mostly women Village Phone operators living in rural areas. The Village Phone Program is a unique initiative to provide universal access to telecommunications service in remote, rural areas. Administered by Grameen Telecom Corporation, it enables rural people who normally cannot afford to own a telephone to avail the service while providing the VP operators an opportunity to earn a living. The Village Phone initiative was given the â€Å"GSM in the Community† award at the global GSM Congress held in Cannes, France in February 2000. Grameenphone was also adjudged the Best Joint Venture Enterprise of the Year at the Bangladesh Business Awards in 2002. Grameenphone was presented with the GSM Association's Global Mobile Award for ‘Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development' at the 3GSM World Congress held in Singapore, in October 2006, for its Community Information Center (CIC) project, and for its Health Line Service project at the 3GSM World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2007. Grameenphone considers its employees to be one of its most important assets. GP has an extensive employee benefit scheme in place including Gratuity, Provident Fund, Group Insurance, Family Health Insurance, Transportation Facility, Day Care Centre, Children's Education Support, and Higher Education Support for employees, in-house medical support and other initiatives. CURRENT OFFERINGS: Prepaid Price pans: Grameenphone Ltd. announced a new range of price plans that is expected to bring greater simplicity in the pre-paid category. The company has also revealed a new price plan for its djuice product as well. The three prices packages – Shohoj, Aapon, Bondhu, along with djuice – have been developed for pre-paid subscribers and offers interchange ability and easy migration. The Shohoj package will cater to users who need to call all networks and offers callers a low, flat rate of BDT 0. 79 per minute to any operator number. Shohoj users will also have the option to SMS any number at BDT 1 per SMS. The Aapon package has been designed for callers who have a predominately Grameenphone calling base. Aapon offers a special day time tariff and night time tariff (12pm-4pm and 12am-8am respectively) of 49 paisa per minute. Aapon users can also call three FnF numbers (Grameenphone numbers only) at 49 paisa per minute any time, and send SMS to the FnF numbers at BDT 0. 50 paisa per SMS. Aapon users will also have the option to SMS any number (GP and other operator) at BDT 1 per SMS. The Bondhu package is for users whose calls are usually limited to a tight FnF circle. This package offers the highest number of FnFs and users can call seven FnF numbers at 49 paisa per minute any time. With Bondhu package, calls to all other numbers (Other than the seven FnFs) are BDT 0. 99 per minute. SMS rates are BDT 0. 50 per SMS to GP numbers and BDT 1 to other operator numbers. Djuice retains its youth focus where there is big interest in community tariffs and special night time tariffs. What’s new is that any Grameenphone pre-paid customer can opt for djuice, or vice versa. Notably a regular migration fee of BDT 10 will be charged for migration to or from all packages after 13 April 2010. Post-paid price plans: With the new xplore post-paid, discover the pleasure of doing much more. Packed with a treasure of new features and facilities it keeps you in touch with your loved ones and gives you access to unlimited information and entertainment. xplore post-paid sets you free! Grameenphone Internet: Internet is the most convenient medium of information, through which people can enhance their knowledge, spread the same from one corner of the globe to whichever place they wish with a single click. Communication solutions developed by Grameenphone across all the media have always focused one single thing – to help people stay close to their dear ones and to enlighten heir lives through free and flawless access to information. Grameenphone internet is another step towards fulfilling this goal. With this step, Grameenphone promises to enlighten the lives of 20 million people by providing easier and faster access to information than ever before. Grameenphone so far brought Internet to people in the following ways: 1) Desktop and Laptop browsing: by using the mobile as modem or by internet modem 2) Mobile screen browsing: WAP/internet browsing on the mobile. 3) CIC: More than 550 CICs all over the country for those who do not have access to PC or other facilities. Grameenphone is looking to expand further into the digital world by expanding its internet platforms and developing more internet related products, thus becoming the biggest Internet Service Provider of Bangladesh. Package 1 (P1) is a pay-as-you-go offer. It is available for both prepaid and post-paid subscribers. For every kilobyte (KB) of data browsed, subscribers are charged Tk. 0. 02 (excluding VAT). Package 2 (P2) is available for post-paid subscribers only. Existing P2 prepaid subscribers will continue to enjoy this service unless they cancel the service willingly or fail to renew the service on time due to insufficient balance. Once P2 is deactivated from any existing P2 prepaid subscriber after 31st July 2009 due to insufficient balance or cancellation by the user, it will not be available for that user anymore Package 3 (P3) is for postpaid subscribers. Subscribers can enjoy the service from 12:00AM-8:00AM and monthly charge is BDT 300 (excluding VAT). From 8:01AM-11:59PM, subscriber can enjoy pay-as-you-go offer like P1. Package 4 (P4) is for prepaid subscribers. Subscribers can enjoy the service from 12:00AM – 11:59PM (within a day) with 150MB data usage limit in a day and daily charge is BDT 60 (excluding VAT). From 12:00 AM of the next day, pay-as-you-go (P1) charges will be applicable. Package 5 (P5) is an internet offer of 3 GB per month @ BDT 700+VAT. The package has a life time of 30 days (from the date of activation). After expiration of the specified volume or the life time of the package whichever finishes first, P1 (BDT 0. 02/KB) charge will be applicable. Package 6(P6) is an internet offer of 1 GB per [email  protected] BDT 300+VAT. The package has a life time of 30 days (from the date of activation). After expiration of the specified volume or the life time of the package whichever finishes first, P1 (BDT 0. 2/KB) charge will be applicable. Grameenphone Internet modem For the first time, Grameenphone is offering branded Internet modem (USB EDGE Modem) for its subscribers. This modem: Is Sleek & Smart Looking Supports GSM 900/1800 Is Plug & Play [Windows 2000, XP, Vista & Mac OS] Has default GP configuration / settings Provides Customized Dashboard including GP Logo Has SMS serv ices & Phonebook Option Provides daily, monthly & yearly usage data Has very easy SIM Insertion Method Has one year full warranty & after sales service Mobitaka Grameenphone brings yet another technological marvel- Mobitaka Ticketing! With Mobitaka Ticketing service, you can buy Intercity Train tickets in advance from your own mobile phone! You don’t need to stand in the long queues, overcome lots of hassles to collect a railway ticket. You can sit at the comfort of your own home and stop worrying about collecting train ticket for you upcoming journey. We want you to stay close to your dear ones and hence Mobitaka ticketing is for you. Value Added Services You can use your mobile phone for many other purposes than making voice alls. With GrameenPhone’s VAS, you can use your mobile phone to: Send and receive text messages, picture messages, voice messages Download ring tones, logos, wallpapers Obtain news updates, cricket score updates Browse the Internet and also send and receive e-mails Transfer data and send fax Participate in competitions and vote for your opinions You will be able to use all these services whenever you need them, wherever you are. All you need is to have a GP mobile phone to get these services. Messaging Services Information Alerts Data Transfer Fax Entertainment Services Browsing the Internet Send and receive e-mails Download Contents Customize Your Handset Participate in Competitions Vote your Opinions Services are: Studyline Music Radio Call Block Service Miss Call Alert Bill pay Stock information Instant messaging Cricket Update Cell Bazaar Web SMS Mobile Backup etc. International Roaming In March 1999, Grameenphone introduced this premium service for the first time in Bangladesh and now provides International Roaming service to its own subscribers traveling abroad as well as to foreign operators’ subscribers traveling in Bangladesh. For the first time in Bangladesh in July 2006, Grameenphone launched Roaming Services (both GSM and EDGE/GPRS) with CAMEL Phase II for Pre-paid In-bound subscribers. Grameenphone has unique ‘One to One’ relationship with all its International Roaming partner operators. As of May 2009, Grameenphone has 357 GSM partner operators in 120 countries in 6 continents and 137 EDGE/GPRS partner operators in 55 countries. ? GRAMEENPHONE HR PRACTICES: Grameenphone Human Resource system is one of the best systems in Bangladesh. The strategy of Human Resource Division is followed from Telenor strategy. HR is a Critical Enabler for Telenor in the Pursuit of its Strategic Goals. HR is a key to ensuring an Organization that provides a competitive advantage by being simple, aligned and efficient. A Culture centred on the customer and characterized by diversity, generosity and an international mind-set. Leaders, Who have a passion for business, excel at empowering people and never compromise on Telenor's ethical standards People, Who perform at the peak of their ability because they feel a sense of mission, accomplishment and growth. Corporate HR Corporate HR is responsible for global HR support and processes, and is organized as follows: Organization and Leadership Capabilities: Strategic responsibility for IVC (Internal Value Creation – Employee survey) and TLDP (Telenor Leadership Development Process). Global HR Development Compensation and benefits Employee Role Local HR Local HR departments serve managers and other employees with Human Resources and organizational development related topics. They are also in charge of the implementation and follow up of processes like IVC (Internal Value Creation – Employee survey) and TLDP (Telenor Leadership Development Process). HR Services HR Services is a resource centre for personnel administrative services in Telenor for the Nordic region. Internal Value Creation (IVC) Internal value Creation or IVC is a tool for creating value internally to all the employees of the organization. For better motivation and maximum effort from all the employees this tool helps a lot for achieving the vision. The purpose of the IVC Grameenphone vision Is â€Å"We exist to help our customers get the full benefit of communication services In their daily lives. † The key to achieve this vision ? a mind-set where each and every one of them works together. The IVC process offers them not only an opportunity to assess their progress in working towards this vision, but also to carry out actions that will improve their people and organization In order to meet future challenges and Implement the strategies. This is required from the Manager in this process Inform the employees before the survey and encourage participation. Pr esent the survey findings to them. Develop an action plan together with them. Implement, follow up and report on the actions. Communicate and celebrate results. HR operations: Preparing and providing circulars for internal and external recruitment Arranging hiring and selection process Recruiting employees Joining procedures Providing salary information’s Providing benefits and compensations Leave management Performance appraisal & evaluation Allocating resources including humans resources Handle employee separation process Arranging Training programs Arranging motivational and refreshing programs for the employees etc. LATEST STRATEGIC HR APPROACH: Very recently Grameenphone internally has launched a new approach to motivate the employees as Grameenphone always believes that internal customers should be satisfied first in order to make the external customers satisfied. As Grameenphone declared these year as EDGE year and all their concentration is on EDGE they are offering 10% commission on each EDGE package selling by the employees of Grameenphone and also in the last month there was another motivational offer for employees and that was the best EDGE seller will get BDT 100,000, second best seller BDT 60,000 and the third one was BDT 40,000. So employees are feeling motivated and trying to sale more in order to get those benefits and their satisfaction rate is going higher. And internal surveys says that Consumer Satisfaction Index of Grameenphone is the highest in Bangladesh these days and its all because of the satisfaction of the employees. Another strategic approach of Grameenphone is SEED which each likely to be idea generation. On this program employees are offered to submit their creative and innovative ideas that can add more values to Grameenphone and the best idea generator person will get BDT 1 million. So Grameenphone is very creative in their strategic HR approaches and they are always one step ahead to everyone in the industry. ? Literature Review During the formulation of human resource strategies organizations must consider their internal and external realistic factors. When realities change successful HR do have adoption with current realities. Culture is one of the fundamental factors of organizations internal realities. Survey can be conducted to know about the existing culture. There are some topics that should be included in the questionnaire like performance, information and resources, operational philosophy, and human resource. Here performance is all about meeting the organizational goal, customer satisfaction, results regarding short term and long term. Information and resources includes their management system and allocation of resources. Operational philosophy is about relation between culture value and risk taking, types of management whether it is leadership or close control. Human resources include the perception of employees as a cost of assets. It is important to clarify and communicate the organizations vision or mission that it is widely understood. It is needed to check out the current realities to make ensure the vision or mission is still viable or not. Strategies have to be formulated to fit and support the culture. Human resource strategy consists of interrelated functional strategies. The functional components are selection and staffing, organization and human resource development, and reward. The utility and software firm has different human strategy that is required to meet their needs. They have different strategy regarding their staffing policy, development, rewards, and design. The utility should concern about increased sensitivity and satisfying customer needs, increased the factors that will give benefit the total organization, emphasis on cost management, increased application of employees’ potential value. On the other hand software firm critical needs are more delegation by manager, more recognition of support functions, better creation and communication of long range plans, according equal weight to overall organizational performance and product or unit performance. There are some organizations with poorly defined or fragmented culture. There were created some conflicts between the information systems function, the customer service function and the more mainstream functions related to production and delivery of primary service. Cultural assessment was needed to determine the key points of difference between senior management’s desired culture and the culture desired by people in the functional business was beneficial. The utility and the software firm no one has dysfunctional culture. Some organizations have significant misalignments of culture which is very large gaps between what the culture is and what people feel it should be. INSTRUMENT DESIGING (Questionnaire) Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard. Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. In Grameenphone customer satisfaction is there number one motto. They are inconsiderable regarding this matter of customer satisfaction. Retention Management Retention management is a systematic process of retaining employees. In our questionnaire we have included several questions related to the effectiveness of Retention management in Grameen Phone Bangladesh Ltd. We have included dimensions like flexible work hours, training and development opportunity, and friendly work environment to find out how important these are to the employees as managers use these criteria frequently to stop employees from leaving the company. Adequate help from the superiors, salary well above market rate are also important for employee retention. . Your organization helps you with your performance problems. 2. The work schedules are flexible. 3. My organization offers well –above- market wage. 4. Ample training and development opportunity is offered. 5. The company has a friendly work environment. Communication: Communication is the best way behind the development of a particular company. Its justified whether the customers are sa tisfied through the service or not. As we all know that the service of Grameen Phone is the best service so far in our country that we exemplified most often. They focused on the customer as well as the communication with them so that they can aware about the problems of the customers. This is a two way communication process. In our questionnaire we have included so many topics like its help to achieve company’s mission and vision. To bring the effectiveness in the organization both the horizontal and vertical communication process is important. Internal communication should be focused more. 1. You believe communication process will strengthen the mission or vision of the company? 2. Your organization allows both horizontal and vertical communication process effectively. 3. Do you think healthy internal communication process will leads to employee satisfaction. 4. Do you believe healthy internal communication will emphasis on doing what will benefit the entire organization? 5. Do you believe all necessary information and resources should be communicated widely and completely inside the organization. Staffing and development: Staffing means the whole recruitment process of the employees. From the very beginning of selecting the employees is very important for a particular organization. Here in Grameen Phone they have followed a specific and very organized process of staffing employees. Development is a certain process of improving employees’ skills and abilities that are needed for the organization in future consequences. Very selected employees who have proved themselves beneficial for the organization in the long run got the opportunity to develop themselves through this process. Here we indicate some questions like employees are satisfied of their staffing and development process or not. Staffing process should be fair for all the employees. Empowerment is exists in the organization or not we also have included the question in our survey. And so on. 1. You believe fair staffing and development procedure leads to employee satisfaction. 2. You believe your organization follows fair staffing and development procedure. 3. Your organization allows internal staffing and development procedure. 4. Your organization believes in providing empowerment. 5. Your organization believes staffing process as an investment. Flexibility in job structure: Here flexibility means that the job structures are changeable. With the demand of the time and the employees’ capabilities the job design can be changed. In Grameen Phone it’s not practiced that much but for the better survey we have asked the questions regarding this issue that flexible work system is good for employees’ performance. It creates a healthy relation between the manager and the subordinates. Likewise some other important question on this topic. 1. You believe flexible structure with defined roles that are change frequently will allow the organization to perform best in the future. 2. Flexible job structure allows managers to delegate tasks to subordinates. 3. Flexibility in job structure is helpful for better creation and communication of long range plans. 4. Flexible job structure ensures more accountability towards the job. 5. Because of flexible job structure employees achieved enough skills which will be helpful to face any stress situation. Internal Philosophy: Internal philosophy states about what are the different steps are the company willing to initiate for the betterment of the employee base. Grameen Phone cares about its existing employee base and ensures safety for its employees. Because of the international company most of the decisions usually prepared in the abroad and in Bangladesh employees hardly get opportunity to participate in decision making procedure. Grammen Phone ensures equal treatment for its entire employee base and obviously try to match the responsibility and autonomy for in every level of employment. 1. Your organizational culture values balanced risk taking or safety at all cost. 2. Your organization culture follows participation in decision making. 3. You believe managers should concern about overall results rather than care only about their own units. 4. Your organizational ensures perfect match between autonomy and job responsibility. 5. Your organization ensures equal justice for all level of employees. Performance management: A specific guideline is very important to the employees to perform their jobs. This is also an important aspect of orientation method and evaluation system. If the employees find any inconsistency within this structure they grow resentment towards the management which gradually leads to voluntary turnover. Thus we included this dimension to find out how the employees of this particular company perceive the company’s outline for performance management and how effective it is to retain the employees. 1. Your organization has an effective and well structured performance management and evaluation system. . Assistance and continuous feed-back is given on a continuous basis 3. Managers who use this management system have proper education and training to use it. 4. Performance and evaluation result are documented for future reference. 5. Your organization provides extra incentives for best performance. ? Findings and Analysis DATA INTERPRETATION Mean: A parameter refers to a specific population characteristics and a statistic refers to a sample characteristics. Measures of average value of every responses of a particular value are usually computed from sample data through mean function. This enabled us to see the relative responses of a certain dimension Regression (R2 AND AUXILIARY R2 to find out MULTICOLINEARITY): Regression analysis discusses the linear relationship in terms of dependency of one on the other. It provides us a statistical technique for obtaining the line that best fits the data points. R square: R square measures the proportion of variation in a model which is explained by the repressors jointly. This quantity varies from 0 to 1. The higher values indicate a better regression. Actually R square is the percentage explained variability. R bar square: R square of individual regressor. Multicollinearity: In a regression model if one regressor changes are associated with changes in other regressors then the problem of multicollinearity arises. In a regression model two or more independent variables are perfectly collinear if one or more of the variables can be expressed as a linear combination of the other variables. Discussion about Reliability & Factor analysis: Reliability of measurement refers to the stability of measurement of sample data/attribute. This is of concern both within a single time period in which the attribute is being measured and between time periods. By factor analysis we reduce those questions which are found to be unreliable. Correlation: A strong linear relationship is defined as a condition where the individual observation points are close to a straight line. Correlation coefficient provides a measure of the strength of the linear relationship between two random variables. A correlation of 0 indicates that there is no linear relationship between the two random variables. ANOVA (F-VALUE): ANOVA: ANOVA is the analysis of variance which is concerned with analysis the effect of one or more factors on the experiment units. CORRELATION Correlation shows whether positive or negative relationship exists between one independent and one dependent variable. If relationship exists Correlation Table helps us to find out whether the relationship is significant or not. A significant relationship between a dependent and an independent variable suggests that to predict dependent variable that independent variable in the regression model. From this table of correlation we find that Our 1st dependent variable Retention management is correlated with independent variables Communication, Staffing and Development, Flexibility in job structure, internal Philosophy and Performance Management. Our 2nd dependent variable Customer Satisfaction correlated with independent variables Communication, Staffing and Development, Flexibility in job structure, internal Philosophy and Performance Management. 1. CM (Communication) VS CSM (Customer satisfaction) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between communication vs customer satisfaction is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. Ensuring effective communication is very important factor for having satisfied customer base because through this factor the management and HR people can know the requirements of the customers and what the expectations of the customers from the company are. 2. CM ( Communication) VS RMM ( Retention Management) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between communication vs Retention management is showing a Single star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 05 levels. If the company can ensure effective communication method inside the organization, it allows the company to retain its current employee base. 3. SDM (Staffing & Development) VS CSM (Customer satisfaction). Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between Staffing and development vs customer satisfaction is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. If the company follows the fair and clear staffing and development procedure, help the company to acquire loyal employee base and thus loyal employee base help to attain customer satisfaction. . SDM (Staffing & Development) VS RMM (Retention Management) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between staffing and development vs retention management is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. Fair staffing and development process of the company helps to retain its current employee base because the employee holds a positive perception regarding the company selection and employee development process. 5. FM (Flexibility in job structure) VS CSM (Customer Satisfaction) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between Flexibility in job structure vs customer satisfaction is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. Flexibility in job structure boost employee satisfaction and in the end it helps to increase customer satisfaction. We are saying that because if an employee gets enough flexibility to perform a task then he/she would try to perform that task very efficiently and effectively and which leads to ensure satisfied customer base. 6. FM (Flexibility in job structure) VS RMM (Retention Management) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between Flexibility in job structure vs Retention management is not significant. 7. IPM (Internal Philosophy) VS CSM (Customer Satisfaction) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between internal philosophy vs Customer Satisfaction is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. It is very true that if a company has a healthy internal philosophy it obviously ensures satisfied customer base. Company having a healthy internal philosophy would try to know the desire of different customer base and obviously try to act according to that policy. Healthy internal philosophy ensures a healthy relationship among all the divisions of the company and all the division work together to satisfy its customer and as well try to attract new customer to enhance growth. 8. IPM (Internal Philosophy) VS RMM (Retention Management) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between internal philosophy vs Retention Management is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. It is true that internal philosophy of a company helps to retain current employee. If the philosophy of the company is employee centered, it helps to retain the employee because they found that company is really caring about themselves. It helps the HR department of the company to view the employee as an investment rather than a cost. 9. PMM (Performance Management) VS CSM (Customer Satisfaction) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between Performance management vs Customer Satisfaction is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. If the company follows performance management effectively, it leads to ensure customer satisfaction. If the company has well structured performance measurement and evaluation system, it can judge effectively what the current performance to satisfy customer base is and what should be the real scenario of this procedure. If the company provides extra incentives for the outstanding performance, it increase employee motivation towards work and ultimately it leads to customer satisfaction. 10. PMM (Performance Management) VS RMM (Retention Management) Relationship with Literature review: The correlation between Performance management vs retention management is showing a double star. It signifies that the correlation is very significant at 0. 01 levels. If the company can able to manage the performance of the employee base effectively it would be helpful for the company to retain customer base because the perception of employees would be positive regarding the company at this point. ? LINEAR REGRESSION: Data Interpretation: 1. Customer satisfaction VS Communication Model Summary ModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate 1. 373(a). 139. 124. 44333 a Predictors: (Constant), CM When comparing Customer satisfaction with Communication we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between customer satisfaction and communication. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between customer satisfaction and communication. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 9. 361 Significant Value = . 003a (9. 361) ; Significant Value (. 003a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and communication. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 139 which is almost equal to 0. 14. That means there is a strong relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: Ensuring effective communication is very important factor for having satisfied customer base because through this factor the management and HR people can know the requirements of the customers and what the expections of the customers from the company are. So it helps the company to devise a plan to satisfy those needs of customers effectively. 2. Customer satisfaction VS Flexibility in job structure. Model Summary ModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate 1. 393(a). 154. 140. 43935 a Predictors: (Constant), FM When comparing Customer satisfaction with flexibility in job structure we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between customer satisfaction and flexibility in job structure. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between customer satisfaction and flexibility in job structure. ? Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if lt; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 10. 588 Significant Value = . 002a (9. 361) ; Significant Value (. 002a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and communication. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 154 which is almost equal to 0. 15. That means there is a strong relationship betwe en these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: Flexibility in job structure boost employee satisfaction and in the end it helps to increase customer satisfaction. We are saying that because if an employee gets enough flexibility to perform a task then he/she would try to perform that task very efficiently and effectively and which leads to ensure satisfied customer base. 3. Customer satisfaction VS internal Philosophy: Model Summary ModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate 1. 341(a). 116. 101. 44920 a Predictors: (Constant), IPM When comparing Customer satisfaction with internal Philosophy we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between customer satisfaction and internal philosophy. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between customer satisfaction and internal philosophy. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 7. 612 Significant Value = . 008a (7. 612) ; Significant Value (. 008a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and internal Philosophy. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 116 which is almost equal to 0. 12. That means there is a strong relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: It is very true that if a company has a healthy internal philosophy it obviously ensures satisfied customer base. Company having a healthy internal philosophy would try to know the desire of different customer base and obviously try to act according to that policy. Healthy internal philosophy ensures a healthy relationship among all the divisions of the company and all the division work together to satisfy its customer and as well try to attract new customer to enhance growth. 4. Customer satisfaction VS Performance management. When comparing Customer satisfaction with Performance management we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between customer satisfaction and performance management. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between customer satisfaction and performance management. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 46. 228 Significant Value = . 000a (46. 228) ; Significant Value (. 000a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and performance management. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 444 which is almost equal to 0. 45. That means there is a strong relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: If the company follows performance management effectively, it leads to ensure customer satisfaction. If the company has well structured performance measurement and evaluation system, it can judge effectively what the current performance to satisfy customer base is and what should be the real scenario of this procedure. If the company provides extra incentives for the outstanding performance, it increase employee motivation towards work and ultimately it leads to customer satisfaction. 5. Customer satisfaction VS Staffing and development. When comparing Customer satisfaction with Staffing and development we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between customer satisfaction and Staffing and development. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between customer satisfaction and Staffing and development. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 30. 668 Significant Value = . 000a (30. 668) ; Significant Value (. 000a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of customer satisfaction and Staffing and development. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 346 which is almost equal to 0. 35. That means there is a strong relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: If the company devoted to hire best employee base and also nurses them effectively, getting satisfied customer is obvious. Company should be concerned about hiring the best people to maintain the harmonious culture of the company as well who can work their best to attain company goals and objectives. If the company has an objective to ensure market growth then the company has to hire and promote those employees further who can able to attract customers attention effectively because if customers are satisfied with the performance of the company, they could play a vital role to ensure further growth for the company. . Retention management VS Communication When comparing Retention management with Communication we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between Retention management and Communication. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between Retention management and Communication. Decision Rule: We all know th at Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 5. 42 Significant Value = . 023a (5. 42) ; Significant Value (. 023a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of retention management and communication. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 086 which is almost equal to 0. 09. That means there is a low relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: From the analysis it has been found that though the findings (relationship vs retention management and communication) are significant, but it is not strongly significant. From the value of R square we came to know that there is a low relationship exists between these two predictors. Most of the time proper communication process among the employee do not ensures the employee retention. There are some other predictors related with this issue which are also required for ensuring retention management process. ? 7. Retention management VS Flexibility in job structure. When comparing Retention management with Flexibility in job structure we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between Retention management and Flexibility in job structure. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between Retention management and Flexibility in job structure. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 1. 663 Significant Value = . 202a (1. 663) ; Significant Value (. 202a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of retention management and Flexibility in job structure. And it is supported by the fact that R square value is 0. 028 which is almost equal to 0. 03. That means there is a strong relationship between these two predictors. Relationship with Literature review: It is not a denying issue that if a company follow flexible job structure for its employee base it can able to retain its current employee base compare to the other company which does not follow the flexible job structure method. Flexible job structure enables employee to get more experience and allows using those experience to handle any stress situation which could come. Moreover flexible job structure allows more accountability towards the job because flexibility allows the employee to view the company as a whole and motivated to ensure best performance for the company. 8. Retention management VS Internal Philosophy. When comparing Retention management with internal philosophy we analyzed the data in the following way: We set the null hypothesis Ho = There is no relation between Retention management and internal philosophy. And the alternative hypothesis H1= There is strong relation between Retention management and internal philosophy. Decision Rule: We all know that Reject null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Accept null hypothesis if ; Significant Value Therefore, we found that. = 32. 234 Significant Value = . 000a (32. 234) ; Significant Value (. 00a) So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, all the explanatory variables are significant predictors of retention management and internal philosophy. And it is supported by the fact th