Case Scenario Interdepartmental Relations

Table of Contents Introduction The Fortune 500 Company Conflict scenario Solutions to the problems Solution strategies How to avoid the future occurrence of the problem References Introduction Literary, every organization has different departments involved in performance of different activities relating to the organization. These departments are mainly involved in the management, marketing of the company’s product, and production, among others. All these departments must collectively work towards helping in improving the income of the company.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Case Scenario: Interdepartmental Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The organizational culture usually determines how the various departments function to improve the productivity of the company. Moreover, communication and interpersonal relationship between the various members of the departments is therefore a very vital a spect, which determines the success or failure of the company. The Fortune 500 Company The company has been performing considerably well as evidenced by its ranking in the Fortune 500. However, there is a communication breakdown in the company’s various departments. These problems threaten the financial profitability of the company, and they should therefore be averted before they have far-reaching effects on the company. Conflict scenario There is a conflict between the various departments in the organization; for instance, there is a lack of cohesion between various departments involved in the production of products. Each department is trying to outdo the other, and hence show its importance to the company. For example, the sales department looks down upon the manufacturing department and is of the view that the latter department does not understand the needs of the customers of the company. On the other hand, the manufacturing department is of the view that it is not being consulted in the design of the company’s products; the department is of the view that its work is beyond just implementing the ideas that other departments come up with. The finance department on the other hand, puts pressure on the sales department and does not facilitate their working so that they may achieve their set targets. The company also has a problem due to the incompatibility of the goals of the different departments of the organization (Daft, 2009, p. 494). The finance department is mainly concerned with the attainment of the sales targets for the marketing department, whereas the sales department is mainly concerned with the sale of the product, hence making it to have prejudice on the manufacturing department. Problems:Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Competition for recognition between the different departments Lack of teamwork within the departments Laying the blame on other departments Reasons for the problems: Lack of consultation of the relevant departments Lack of teamwork in the company Solutions to the problems Various strategies can assist the company to devise methods for solving the problems. One of the methods is through the enhancement of communication channels of the organization so as to help improve the cohesion between the members of the different departments. The company can also help to improve the teamwork of different departments in the organization by facilitating active participation of various relevant departments, which are involved in the development of the new products for the company. Solution strategies The main problem that the company faces is the conflict between the manufacturing and the marketing department. The problems facing the two departments should first be solved before tackling the differences between the finance and the marketing department. These problems mainly arise due to the lac k of appreciation of the work done by the other departments. The lack of appreciation of the work by the other department is mainly brought about by ignorance of specific department on the work that the other department does. The strategy employed would mainly be to enhance the mutual respect of other departments in the organization. To help in solving the problem, the company should ensure that the departments that are in conflict are in mutual agreement of the strategy, which would be employed to solve the problems they face (Marsen, n.d. p 23). Mutual agreement also helps in creation of a situation where none of the parties perceives itself as the winner and the other as the looser in the conflict. This leads to the creation of a win-win situation for both parties, thus enhancing the productivity of the departments (Rahim, 2001, p. 166). Moreover, mutual agreement will also encourage the active participation of different department in the chosen strategy. The strategy will mainly involve enlightening of members of the departments on the activities undertaken in the other departments. The company should create strategies, which will enable the engineers to have knowledge on marketing, while the marketing department should be given some knowledge of engineering (Tutek and Ay, n.d. p. 549).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Case Scenario: Interdepartmental Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Knowledge of the other departments will help in reduction of the disagreements between the two groups and in effect, help in solving the problems that the department faces. In addition, the company should ensure that it takes measures to ensure that the marketers receive training on the characteristics of the products and the processes involved in manufacturing of the products. The company should also ensure that the engineers receive training on the needs of the customers and their preferences, as well as the various marketing skills involved in making of the products, which the company specializes in. This will help in solving the differences between the two departments, hence enabling them to speak in a common language (Tutek and Ay, n.d. p. 545). Solution of the problems in the manufacturing and marketing departments will help the company to achieve its target sales, as there would be better coordination of activities involving the marketing and the manufacturing department, hence leading to the satisfaction of the finance department. The strategy used in the solution of the problem between the manufacturing and the marketing department can also be employed in the treatment of problem between the finance and the marketing department. However, the ideal time for the employment of the strategy is after tackling the problem, which faces the manufacturing and marketing department. Tackling of all the problems at the same time, would complicate the problems that the company faces, as it would most likely lead to vilification of the marketing department by the manufacturing and finance department. How to avoid the future occurrence of the problem The company can ensure that the conflicts are avoided in future by facilitating better communication between different departments of the organization. The better communication and mutual respect for the work done by different department should be integrated into the organization culture of the company. In addition, instilling the practices into the organization culture will enable the company to remain true to the above values (CommGAP, n.d. p. 4). The company can instill this into the organizational culture through regular and occasional training of the members of different departments on the activities of other departments. This will enable the members of the different departments to work as a unit for the attainment of the basic objectives of the company. References Communication for Governance and Accounta bility Program (CommGAP). Organizational communication. Web.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Daft, R. L. (2009). Organization theory and design. OH: Cengage learning. Web. Marsen, S.  Organizational Communication. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Web. Rahim M. A. (2001). Managing conflict in organizations. CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Web. Tutek, H. and Ay, C.  Resolving conflict between marketing and engineering: A quest for effective integration. Celar Bayar University, faculty of Economics and business administration. Web. This report on Case Scenario: Interdepartmental Relations was written and submitted by user Benson L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Using Tan and Tanto in Spanish Comparisons of Equality

Using 'Tan' and 'Tanto' in Spanish Comparisons of Equality Probably the most common way that Spanish uses to indicate that two people or things are equally a certain way is to use the phrase tan ... como where the ellipsis (three periods) is replaced by an adjective. The phrase is the equivalent of the English phrase as ... as. Examples Diego es tan alto como Pedro. (James is as tall as Peter.)Eres tan inteligente como cualquier hombre. (You are as intelligent as any man.)Cervantes es tan conocido como Shakespeare. (Cervantes is as well known as Shakespeare.)No estoy tan feliz como me gustarà ­a. (I am not as happy as I would like to be.) Such comparisons are known as comparisons of equality. Note how they are both similar to and different than  expressions of inequality, such as Diego es ms alto que Pedro (James is taller than Peter). Comparisons of equality using tan are similar when adverbs are used to indicate the way in which things are done: La cerveza puede afectarle tan rpidamente como el vino. (Beer can affect you as quickly as wine.)Las infopistas transformarn nuestra cultura tan poderosamente como la imprenta de Gutenberg transformà ³ los tiempos medievales. (The information highway will transform our culture as powerfully as Gutenbergs printing press transformed medieval times.) A similar sentence structure is used when a noun is used in the comparison. In such cases, however, a form of tanto, an adjective, is used, and it must agree in number and gender with the noun referred to. (Tan is an adverb.) A few examples: El paà ­s exporta tantos dà ³lares como importa. (The country exports as many dollars as it imports.)La experiencia tiene tanta importancia como el conocimiento de libros. (Experience has as much importance as book knowledge.)Nada tiene tanto à ©xito como à ©l. (Nobody has as much success as he.)No tengo tantas preguntas como antes. (I dont have as many questions as before.) The similar construction of tanto como can also be used to mean as much as. Note that this form of tanto is an invariable adverb; it doesnt change form to agree with words around it: Nadie habà ­a hecho tanto como mi padre. (No one has done as much as my father.)Dormir poco disminuye el rendimiento tanto como el alcohol. (Lack of sleep reduces performance as much as alcohol.)Tienen un lado bueno tanto como uno malo. (They have a good side as much as a bad side.)

Analysis paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysis paper - Movie Review Example There are similarities in Youngdal’s story and what happened between him and Baek-hwa, but there are also differences in how Youngdal and Chung found White Flower, what happened during the journey to the train station, and the ending. As for the visual aspects, the story and the film focused on the environment and how it reflects the diverse forms of attachment and detachment of the three main characters, but the film underlines more the development of friendship and love in its narrative through dialogue and sound. There are similarities in what happened to Youngdal in the story and the film. Both show that he is caught having an affair with a restaurant owner's wife and so he runs away. Youngdal is also suffering from the â€Å"nomad complex† in the text and film. He has a hard time finding that special something that can make him permanently stay in one place. It could be because of lack of economic opportunities though, which the story explores more than the film. I n the story, Youngdal shares with Chung how he separates with Okja, because he lost his job and Okja needs to work in another place. They promised to be together again, but they know that they are young and poor. Love is not enough to fill hungry stomachs. Furthermore, the story illustrates the detachment or sense of loss that workers feel, because of Korea’s rapid industrialization. In an article, Kwon Yong-min says: â€Å"The Road to Sampo sketches Korea in the 1970s well, showing its rapid urbanization and relentless industrialization. It symbolically shows the sense of loss that the â€Å"uprooted† laborers experienced†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Park 90). This sense of loss pervades in all three characters. They may not be wandering aimlessly together, but they share sentiments of uncertainty in their lives. Furthermore, there are differences in how Youngdal and Chung meet Baek-hwa in the story and film. In the film, they meet her at a restaurant in town. In the story, Youngd al and Chung meet her under a pine tree, while she is urinating. It seems that this scene was changed to avoid sexual connotations. Moreover, in the story, Youngdal and Chung did not change their course only to search for Baek-hwa. They are only heading to her direction by chance, because they are trying to catch a train to Gamchun, so that they can take a faster route to Sampo. In the film, they seek out Baek-hwa for the money. The motives are different, but they eventually find Baek-hwa in the story too through coincidence. Furthermore, in the story, Baek-hwa talks a great deal as they walk in the snow. In the film, she and Youngdal converse with each other. Despite not speaking so much in the story, Youngdal and Baek-hwa bonded well, because he had to carry her on his back after Baek-hwa sprained her ankle when she fell in a ditch. The physical actions replace the need for conversation. They do not have to speak to understand that they are similar in many ways, for they are both cold and lonely. In the film, there is much dialogue between Youngdal and Baek-hwa. It seems that they are dating. Dialogue and music play a large role in developing their romantic feelings. Both the film and story employ the environment to describe the characters and their experiences of attachment and detachment. The story often describes the environment in relation to characterization and plot development. For instance, after

Leadership Analysis Paper (Ray Kroc,Mcdonalds Founder) Essay

Leadership Analysis Paper (Ray Kroc,Mcdonalds Founder) - Essay Example He ensured the growth and consistency of production in the company. Notably, McDonalds is the world's largest chain of restaurants based in San Bernardino, California with its first restaurant starting in 1955. The company continued to open other restaurants all over the world where it sells the same brand and quality of the world’s favorite foods, which include Fries and Chicken, Big Mac sandwich, and Nuggets. Today, McDonalds is the world’s leading foodservice retailer. The leadership case of Ray Kroc relates to me since I also worked for McDonalds and I could use his leadership style in my position. Abstract Leadership is one of the dominant aspects in modern life. There are different forms and levels of leadership and thus it is not easy to define leadership. However, leadership involves the ability to establish a long-term policy and influencing others towards the realization of that policy (Bennis, 2009, p.1-8). Leadership requires leadership skills which are eith er taught or acquired and may have formal powers to exercise their mandate. Notably, leadership is very subtle in any organization and the leaders have unique responsibilities over their followers (Bennis, 2009, 147-149). This paper will analyze the leadership practices of Ray Kroc who was the founder of the McDonalds. In doing this, the paper will rely on theories covered in this course. Chapter 1: Introduction Ray Kroc was an American entrepreneur whose name is very dominant in the restaurants industry because he was synonymous in propelling McDonald’s to international success where it is now the world's largest chain of restaurants. Ray Kroc was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on October 5, 1902 (Mattern, 2011). Ray Kroc grew and spent the greater part of his life in Oak Park, Illinois. He dropped out of school at an early age 15 years to become a Red Cross ambulance driver in World War I after lying about his age to become an ambulance driver at 15 (Mattern, 2011). After the World War 1, Kroc tried various career options, which included selling paper cups, plying piano, and being a DJ on a local Oak Park radio station (Mattern, 2011). At 20 years of age, Kroc got married. He started selling cups during the day for Tulip Cup Company in 1922 and plays the piano on the radio at night. He worked as a sales representative for 17 years where he rose to become the Tulip’s Midwest sales manager (Mattern, 2011). In this position, Kroc acquired the exclusive rights to a new milkshake machine that could make five milkshakes at once and promoted it across the United States (Mattern, 2011). He got big orders for the new milkshake machine and because of the savings he got from the sales, Kroc approached the McDonald brothers to start a number of restaurants. As a result, he opened two restaurants in Illinois when he was fifty-two years old (Mattern, 2011). He consequently bought the McDonald’

Baroque period Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Baroque period - Movie Review Example The self-portrait shows Argan who is a character in the play. It portrays his physical appearance and the characterful face of the character. He is an old wealthy man with two wives and three children. He is the head of the household and a proud person who always wants to be involved with rich people. He is always joyful even though he is ill and is married to an ill-minded woman who plans to take his wealth after he dies. The portrait shows the play in progress. The portrait focuses on fashion by showing the great outfits worn by the characters. In this portrait, Angelique and his father show their differences. Argan decides to marry his eldest daughter to a young doctor in order he could have a doctor by his side. On the other hand, his daughter wants to marry another man who she falls in love with and so he refuses his father’s proposal. This results to a conflict between Argan and his daughter but eventually he is convinced and accepts the situation. The painting appears t o be an extension of real space. It makes the viewers feel like their taking part in the scene. The play uses this paint to show how Thomas Diaafoirus, a graduated physician, looks on his father Doctor Diafoirus to negotiate his marriage to Angelique with Argan. Thomas wants to marry Angelique since she is a beautiful woman. He asks his father to accompany him in negotiating the marriage since he knows that his father is a good friend of Argan who is Angelique’s father. Argan also is in the fever of Thomas marrying his daughter.

Strategic Management Process: Airtel

Strategic Management Process: Airtel Industry: Telecom The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, with about 19 million additions a month. The industry has witnessed consistent growth during the last year on the back of rollout of newer circles by operators, successful auction of third-generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, network rollout in semi-rural areas and increased focus on the value added services (VAS) market. there have been several new entrants in the markets lately. This has led to ever lowering tariffs and a decrease in the revenue of existing players. Fresh acquisition of customers is no longer a guarantee to increase in revenue. Consequently, in addition to the lower calling rates, the operators have been forced to provide a host of value added and auxiliary services. To retain its leadership position, Airtel is already leading the way in areas of mobile commerce, banking etc. As the Indian telecom industry enters its third phase, growth in the markets is bound to mirror the growth in the economy. This provides valuable pointers to the next driver of growth the rural India where mobile penetration levels still remain an abysmal 15%. Airtel has been looking to expand and learn in the rural/low income market segment. Airtel has already ventured into providing mobile financial services, mobile money transfers to customers in rural areas, further leveraging its existing base of cellular subscribers. Vision and Mission Vision By 2015, Airtel will be the most loved brand, enriching the lives of millions. Mission We will meet the  mobile  communication  needs of our  customer through   error-free service delivery Innovative Product and Service Cost efficiency Unified messaging solution Objectives/Goals To undertake transformational projects that have a positive impact on society and contribute to the nation building process To diversify into new businesses in agriculture, financial services and retail business with world class partners To lay the foundation for building a conglomerate for future. Environment Analysis Porters Five Forces (Cellular Services) 1. Threat of new entrants MEDIUM TRAI has been following a liberal regulatory regime to encourage greater competition with better quality and affordable prices The government presently allows FDI of 76% in the sector, encouraging foreign players to enter the Indian market. Heavy capex requirements and strict licensing policy hinders entry 2. Bargaining Power of buyers VERY HIGH Lack of product differentiation- There are short term gains that one player may have from innovation/ first mover advantage into a new value added service Extremely low switching costs in moving from 1 service provider to another Multiple service providers- very wide variety of choice for the customers. Competitive landscape implies consistently better offers and deals for customers. 3. Bargaining power of suppliers VERY LOW Airtel outsources most of its operations. Since contracts are allocated to the highest bidder, Airtel only looks at getting the best deal. This mechanism provides Airtel with a high degree of flexibility. For eg. Network outsourcing/maintenance partners: Ericsson(15 circles), Siemens(7 circles), Huawei., IT system partner: IBM, Tower maintenance and other infrastructure: Bharti Infratel and Indus towers. 4. Pressure from substitutes HIGH The communications space is very dynamic with new technology (3G and 4G) and products flooding the market. Mobile services are competing with products such as, Wired-lines ,CDMA, Video telephony, Tata/ Reliance- Walky phones, Internet telephony- Skype, google, fring etc, VSAT phones.Additionally, data services on cellular phones have become an essential product feature. On this front, mobile services face a significant threat from local ISPs, broadband service, leased lines, Blackberry and iPad. 5. Current Rivalry MEDIUM-HIGH Airtel is the current market leader in the mobile service (GSM) sector with 31% market share. Vodafone, BSNL, Idea are its major competitors. Competitive Advantage Airtel has the following competitive advantages: Strategic alliances: Acquisitions and JVs Airtel has been entering into various JVs and acquisitions to increase its footprint as well as global presence. The firm has stake in JT mobiles, Sky Cell etc. With the acquisition of Zain and other players, Airtel has used this strategy effectively to become a global player Outsourcing: Airtel has a clear outsourcing strategy. It outsources all its functions except marketing, sales and finance; this has helped the firm focus on its core competencies. Further due to its market leadership position and volume of its operations, there are multiple bidders; which has ensured high quality service/products for Airtel Supplier Relationships Airtel has strong relationships with its suppliers. It relies on Bharti Infratel for towers, IBM for IT systems etc. It is able to sustain its innovative business model ,by focusing on relationship management with vendors International Presence Airtels global presence and deep pockets are a source of competitive advantage for the firm. Value Chain Analysis The traditional mobile industry value chain basically involved the mobile operator, service provider, device manufacturer and the customer. However the mobile services industry is rapidly evolving with value added services, data services etc. gaining significance. These are a very profitable revenue stream for the service provider. For example in the value added services segment, the network operator keeps about 60% of revenue, the technology/software developer retains about 25%, while the content provider gets about 20% of the revenue from value added services (Source: IMRB Research). With M-Commerce contents becoming increasingly important in the value chain, it is seen that the operator share in the value chain has been declining. Airtel has been tying up with entertainment providers, FMCGs, insurance companies to maintain a share in the value chain. From a strategy perspective, this should be one of the focus areas for Airtel. Business Level Strategy Airtel cellular service follows a cost leadership strategy. The market focus is broad- with the firm catering to 137 million customers as of FY10. Further, since differentiation is very short lived and immediately imitated by competitors; firms attempt to maintain a cost advantage over their competitors. Airtel has maintained its cost leadership by reducing its operational costs and its unique business model- which outsources all major functions except, sales, marketing and finance. Differentiation is also attempted with the help of value added services. While there are several player in the market, including the new entrants, Bharti-Airtel, Rcom and BSNL are the only players to gain a differential advantage on the account of existing infrastructural capability. Differentiation Focused differentiation Cost leadership- AIRTEL CELLULAR Focused Cost Integrated Competitive Scope Narrow Broad Source of competitive advantage Differentiation Cost Corporate Level Strategy Bharti Airtel has been divided into distinct business units, as follows: The Mobile Services division is probably the most valuable division of Bharti Airtel. Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 23-telecom circles of India and is the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers. It provides numerous value added services such as mobile apps, hello tunes, m-commerce, wireless internet etc. The Airtel Telemedia Services division provides high speed broadband internet and related services. It also provides landline service in 93 cities across India. It also launched its DTH services in 2008 and is present in more than 150 cities now. The Enterprise Services division provides a diverse portfolio of services to large Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division is further divided into two unite: Carrier business unit and Corporate business unit. The Corporate Business Unit provides end to end telecom solutions to Indias large corporate. It specializes in providing customized solutions to address the unique requirements of different industry verticals. The Carrier Business Unit provides long distance wholesale voice and data services to carrier customers as well as to other business units of Airtel. It is present in significant capacity in the International arena as well. Differentiation Focused differentiation Cost leadership- AIRTEL CELLULAR Focused Cost Integrated Competitive Scope Narrow Broad Source of competitive advantage Differentiation Cost The Digital TV Services provides customers with a unique TV viewing experience with a wide variety of channels and programmes and with the on-demand content on Airtel Live. The international business group deals with all of Airtels operations outside India and South Asia. Bharti Airtel has comparatively low levels of diversification, and it follows a Dominant Business strategy. The second quarter financials of Airtel show that its mobile services division had a gross revenue of Rs. 8099 crore, which is roughly 82% of its total revenue of Rs. 9846 crore. Thus its mobile services division is its dominant business. The reasons for Airtel to diversify are purely based on value creation. As all its divisions focus mainly on telecommunication and related technologies, the transfer of core competencies becomes much easier and much more useful. Moreover sharing activities and resources, especially technological knowledge, is very helpful and creates a positive synergy for Airtel. It also gives Airtel to increase its market power by engaging in multipoint competition with competitors such as Tata. Further it provides efficient internal capital allocation opportunities to airtel, as the retained earnings from its hugely profitable Mobile services can be put to good use in other divisions. Value creation through diversification Airtel seeks to create value through diversification by moving across businesses that share both operational and corporate relatedness. With this approach, it expects to achieve high resource sharing and consequently, significant cost reduction. It looks at operational relatedness since a number of its businesses operate across similar technologies and thus the platform for a given product can be used directly for extending the service from a completely new product. As an example, the cables for a telephone connection provided by Airtel can be used to provide broadband service to the customer without any significant change in infrastructure. The skills required from the technicians are also not very different and thus economies of scale are quite possible. The same logic can be extended to exploring the corporate relatedness. All the diversified businesses require similar managerial and technical expertise as can be seen in the example provided above. In pursuing this strategy, Airtel will have to be conscious of the fact that it can lead to diseconomies of scope. This can arise primarily from the very factor which Airtel is banking on similarity across its businesses. A wrong move in any one of the businesses can spill over to its other business and cause repercussions even in the short term. This is the very reason that the organization cannot afford to go easy on any of its domains and needs to keep up to speed in all its businesses. International Strategy Today Bharti Airtel operates in 19 countries throughout the world. Apart from being the largest cellular service provider in India, it is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world. It has about 207.8 million subscribers worldwide 152.5 million in India, 50.3 million are in Africa. This has helped Airtel to increase its global market share and revenues significantly. International Business Level Strategy We will view this in further detail using Porters Determinants of National Advantage model: It is worth noticing here that after the Indian subcontinent, Airtels main region of operation is Africa. It is possible that the company found it attractive to enter Africa because due to its economic conditions, countries there would be lacking in necessary factors of production. Domestic companies in Africa would be lacking in technological resources, human resources, and capital necessary in the telecommunications sector. On the other hand, there is no lack of such resources in India. This is one of the major reasons why Airtel chose to expand there. Although the demand for services provided by Airtel is increasing at a rapid pace in India, there is still a lot of competition and the demand is smoothing out slowly. To further increase its revenues and market share Airtel has to expand to other nations as well. Due to the lack of existence of bare minimum infrastructure in Africa and the slow but steady increase in its economic well being, the demand conditions over there should be very high. The related and supporting industries are also very competitive and there are a lot of players in the telecommunication sector, like Vodafone, BSNL and Reliance. International Corporate Level Strategy The business of Airtel has been divided into two units based on geography. Need for cost responsiveness There are three basic international corporate level strategies availaible to any firm: Need for local responsiveness Airtel has always made it a point to focus on the needs of customers and provide solutions to customers according to their requirements. For example, the mobile services that they offer vary even among the different states of India according to customers preferences. Similarly, the kind of services, offers, plans and value addition that they offer in India is very different than what they offer in other nations. For Airtel, need to address local responsiveness has always been of the utmost importance. On the other hand, the need for global integration is not very high. The two business groups, as shown above, are distinct from each other. Due to the lack of proximity of the locations where Airtel operates, and other strategic factors, it is best for Airtel to have low levels of global integration. Keeping the above points in mind, it is clear that Airtel follows a multidomestic strategy. Organizational Structure Bharti Airtel follows an integrated structure responsible for all aspects of its telecom business in India. Significant reorganization took place in October 2006 in line with the vision of making Airtel, the most admired brand in India by 2010. As quoted by their president, it is their endeavor to build an integrated business, leading to higher synergies efficiencies and creating an organization that has a truly national character in every aspect of business operations. The present structure marks the transition of Airtel towards a customer focused organization while building sustainability scalability to seamlessly manage 100 million customers and beyond. The new organization has been designed to enable strong corporate governance whilst ensuring operational freedom, through functional matrix reporting relationships. Actual Structure Bharti Airtel is structured into four strategic business units Mobile services, Broadband Telephone (BT) services, Enterprise services and DTH services. The mobile business provides mobile fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The BT business provides broadband telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. The top level management of Airtel across its four divisions is as shown in the following figure. In the case of Airtel, a matrix organization structure introduces, or at least recognizes, the real life complexity of a business environment. Geography, function, technology, business unit and technology (among others) are the important factors that are recognized in the matrix organizations structure. However, the above mentioned structure also introduces a higher level of internal complexity and some additional people management challenges, so there must be significant advantages that are seen by the organization that outweigh the matrix people management challenges. Matrix organization structures were initially introduced in complex projects such as the airspace industry to cope with complex projects. Since then a number of organizations, often prompted by large strategy consultancies, have adopted or altered the matrix organization structure to help deal with internal and external complexity. In the following figure, a sample matrix organizational structure is shown. In the case of Airtel, the project manager refers to the managers of the different services provided by Airtel across its divisions. It is clear that this allows for sharing of resources across the various projects. At its simplest the matrix organization structure just reflects this external complexity in the internal structure. Airtel is a brand that is aiming for a global presence and realizes that geography is important but so are function, customer grouping, product and technology. Basically, a matrix organization structure is an acknowledgment of the notion that since it is improbable to specify the weightage of importance that can be attributed to these factors, there is a need to allow a structure that is flexible and permits balancing and prioritizing on a daily basis between the various divisions. Thus there is a conscious trade-off for clarity in return for more flexibility. An important issue to consider here is that while the organization structure itself is a good fit for Airtel, a lot of emphasis needs to be laid on the successful coordination of the people and their skill sets within the organization. Advantages As a synopsis, the advantages reaped by Airtel as a result of its organizational structure include: Improved resource accessibility across the old functional and geographic silos. Effective coordination on shared technologies across the organization (extended to a global level) Decentralization of management decisions Improved access to a diverse range of skills and perspectives. increased communication and coordination across the business Flexible as per the needs of global or regional customers Structural Issues Dual reporting structures run a risk of initiating power struggles. Dual lines of authority in the matrix often create power struggles between the vertical and lateral forces as each tries to secure member loyalty and budget rupees. Teams may develop groupitis, the matrix depends on team functioning, there may be an overdependence on group decision-making even where it is unnecessary. This can slow down projects and further be a point of frustration for people managers. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the matrix structure increases administrative overhead, it also ideally suits the progressive development of new ideas into projects. However, when a slump hits, one common tendency is to discard the matrix in favor of more traditional approaches. The matrix can become a scapegoat for inefficiencies. Decision strangulation matrix organizational structures legitimize multiple information flows throughout the organization, creating the danger that too much information will be processed before a decision will be made. Some project managers may feel compelled to check with everyone on every project decision. Corporate Governance Corporate Governance is a set of mechanisms used to manage their relationship among stakeholders and to determine and control the strategic direction and performance of organisations. An organisation is owned by its shareholders but is managed by the ownership (Principal Agent Issues). Many a times the decisions taken by the management may not be in the best interests of the shareholders and thus Agency costs arise. To ensure that such a scenario does not arise it is essential for the firm to have strong corporate governance tools. Bharti  Airtel limited firmly believes in the principles of Corporate Governance and is committed to conduct its business in a manner, which will ensure sustainable, capital-efficient and long-term growth thereby maximising value for its shareholders, customers, employees and society at large. Companys policies are in line with Corporate Governance guidelines prescribed under Listing Agreement/s with Stock Exchanges and the Company ensures that various disclosures requirements are complied in letter and spirit for effective Corporate Governance. As proof of the excellence of Bharti Airtel in the Corporate Governance it has been Rated Level 1 by CRISIL which is the highest Governance and Value Creation rating (GVC). One way to ensure strong corporate governance is by having independent directors on the board of Directors. Their sole purpose is to ensure that the decisions taken by the management are in the best interests of the shareholders. In order to ensure that this corporate governance tool is a sound check, Airtel has ensured the following: The board has 2 executive members and 14 non executive members. 50% of the members of the board are independent directors which is a good sign of corporate governance. The board meets regularly outside the presence of management. The chairman of the board is not the CEO or a former CEO of the firm. Else it may impair the ability and willingness of independent board members to express opinions contrary to those of management. Independent board members have a primary or leading board member in cases where the chairman is not independent. Board members are not closely aligned with a firm supplier, customer, share-option plan or pension advisor. This may lead to a conflict of interest scenario. Another suitable means of aligning the interests of the shareholders with that of the management is by means of changing the structure of executive compensation. Having parameters such as stock options as part of the pay will ensure that management will take decisions that benefit both the stockholders as well as themselves indirectly. This a strategy that is used extensively at Airtel particularly as far as the top management compensation goes. Other Corporate Governance Initiatives taken by Airtel are Shareholders Board of Directors Audit Committee Managing Director HR/ Remuneration Management Operations ESOP Compensation Investor Grievance Corporate Governance Mechanisms at Airtel Audit Committee Six members, two-third of which is independent directors. At least four times a year. (Max time gap 4 months) The Committee Chairman shall attend the Annual General Meeting. To ensure that the financial statements are true and accurate and provide sufficient information. Recommending to the Board, the appointment, re-appointment and, if required, the replacement or removal of the statutory auditor and the fixation of their audit fees. Human Resource (HR)/ Remuneration Committee Six non-executive directors, out of which four members including the chairman are independent directors. Attraction and Retention strategies for employees. Employees Development Strategies. Compensation All Human Resources related issue. ESOP Compensation Committee Constituted in accordance with SEBI Guidelines, 1999. Six members of whom four are independent and all are non-executive Formulate ESOP plans and decide on future grants. Formulate terms and conditions Employee Stock Option Schemes of the Company Investor Grievance Committee Constituted in accordance with Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement. Four members of whom three members including the Chairman, are non-executive directors Ensure speedy disposal of various requests received from shareholders from time to time (within 7-10 days from the date of receipt of complaint). Redressal of shareholders and investor complaints/ grievances. Monthly meeting The above detailed initiatives clearly point towards the importance that Airtel gives to Corporate Governance and this is further reaffirmed by Level 1 rating for GVC by CRISIL again in 2006. Organizational Controls They guide the use of strategy, indicate how to compare actual results with expected results and suggest corrective measures when the difference is unacceptable. It is an important part of the organisational structure and its key to a firms plans to exploit its core competencies. The organisational controls can be broadly classified as Strategic control: It is used to determine the fit between what a firm might possibly do on the basis of opportunities in the environment and what it can do on the basis of its core competencies and competitive advantages. In other words, the process of evaluating strategy, is practiced both after the strategy is formulated and after it is implemented Financial controls: They are used to measure the performance of the firm against set thresholds and analyse the reasons for being unable to meet them if the case by. Such controls generally include measures like Return on Investment (RoI), Return on Assets (RoA). Management control: It focuses on the accomplishment of the objectives of the various sub strategies comprising the master strategy and the accomplishment of the objectives of the intermediate plans. Operational control: It is concerned individual and group performance as compared with the individual and group role prescriptions required by organizational plans. Each of these types of control is not a separate and distinct entity and, in fact, may be indistinguishable from others. Moreover, similar measurement techniques may be used for each type of control. While both Financial and strategic controls are important the extent of importance accorded to each is determined by the firm strategy. Airtel which is following a cost leadership strategy focuses more on financial controls more than strategic ones. However a firm should not get too carried away along just one set of controls as that would hurt the long term sustainability. So if a firm focuses just on strategic controls while giving a cold shoulder to financial ones, it may soon face a scenario wherein it will run out of cash. The organizational control to a very large extent is determined by the Organisation Structure. Recommendations Considering the heavy fragmentation of the Indian mobile market, we propose the following recommendations so as to ensure that Airtel continues to be the market leader in this domain. As the above figure suggests, there has been a heavy influx of new players in this arena of late which has seen the market share of Airtel fall from above 50 % to about 30 % in half a decade. This means that Airtel should look at hereto untapped markets specially in developing countries with low penetration. Thus following the Multi Domestic strategy more aggressively is crucial to continued success Moreover the ARPU (Average Revenue per User) in India is pretty low. Thus more acquisitions like that of Zain telecom (ARPU of $55 vs Bharti ARPU $7) makes sense. There is no point in proliferating the number of subscribers if Airtel cannot charge them at competitive prices Since the competition in India has intensified, most players are engaging a price war which can be deleterious to the companys short term prospects. Herein Airtel should leverage its strong network and brand equity and not engage in a price war and try in move towards an integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy. The urban market penetration is about 95 % and hence the only way of expanding revenues from this stream is by introducing quality VAS (Value Added Services). These give high margin services and are going to be in much greater demand as the smart phone market swells. Entry and quality innovations into this niche domain (presently) would give it a big first movers advantage. Forging strategic alliances with mobile phone manufacturers specially those of high end handsets will be a great way to tap the premium segment. This segment often has very high usage and contributes significantly to the revenue stream. By locking them in with Airtel at the point of purchase itself, Airtel guarantees itself a long customer lifetime value. Also given the economic spurt, many such players have expressed their keen interest to enter the Indian markets.

Active Directory User Groups Implementation :: Active Directory (AD) Implementation

Active Directory User Groups Implementation Synopsis of Proposal Subsequent to the Active Directory (AD) implementation discussion, this proposal addresses possible user accounts and group organizations for Riordan Manufacturing. This document discusses user and group accounts available through AD, and addresses possible implementation plans for the parent domain of riordanmanufacturing.com. These plans could also be implemented in the child domains for the four Riordan facilities, though addressing the actual implementations for those sites falls beyond the scope of this document. Users and Groups AD recognizes several types of accounts. User accounts refer to individual system users. Groups refer to user groupings based on function, need, department, or any number of criteria set by the company and/or the system administrator. User accounts fall into two categories: domain user accounts and local user accounts. Local user accounts define users to local computers with resource access restricted to resources associated with that local computer. Local user accounts cannot access any other resources within the domain. Domain user accounts contain information that defines users to the domain, AD stores this information, and the information is replicated to the domain controller. User groups further set and assign permissions for security and access to domain resources. Local groups represent a collection of local users on a single server or computer, with permissions assigned only to resources associated with that single server or computer. Domain local groups represent a collection of domain user accounts or groups specific to the local domain, with permissions to access resources specific to the local domain. Global groups also contain user accounts or groups from the local domain, but these groups’ permission can define access to all domains within the AD tree. Universal groups can contain users from any domain in the AD tree, with permissions set accordingly. Group Configuration and Nesting Presuming Riordan follows the multiple domain design previously discussed, a good strategy for Riordan would be to incorporate domain local groups, global groups, and universal groups. Universal groups would be reserved for widely-used groups that are fairly static in nature. In order to provide the most flexible user and group configurations, allowing for network growth and reducing the number of permission assignments, the following provides a guideline for groups and group nesting: Â § Global groups – organized based on administrative needs

Biological Theories and Criminal Behavior Essay

Biological theories address deviant behavior as a relationship between biological factors, and social norms in respect to crime. The theories address behavior of an individual based upon his or her biological impact. Schmalleger, (2008) points out a connection to social environments and the impact upon human behavior. The connection has validity because of human thoughts and activities are constantly flowing through the brain providing an impact relating to behavior. Researchers base biological theories on flaws relating to heredity, dysfunction of the brain’s neurotransmitters, injuries, trauma, or abnormalities involving the brain affecting behavior (Raine, 2002). Brain development is a biological theory providing information connecting damage of the frontal lobes located in the brain’s cerebrum to criminal behavior. The brain is similar to a computer sending messages to the body and when the messages cannot be delivered it is because of a dysfunction that has occurre d in the brain. The frontal lobes and the limbic system are two of the major areas of the brain involving behavior. The frontal lobes are responsible for reasoning, problem solving, and emotions (Allen & Harper, 2010). The limbic system contains electrical circuitry controlling emotions and motivation (Allen & Harper, 2010). The amygdala when stimulated produces behavior related to emotions, memory and fear. When the amygdala is functioning properly it produces the proper behavioral reaction or response to the event that is happening (Allen & Harper, 2010) When damage occurs to the frontal lobes the ability to reason or censor thoughts, and actions will become impaired leading to maladaptive behavior, aggression, or anti-social behavior (Allen, & Harper, 2010). A study by Antonio Damasio provided information relating to injuries of the frontal lobes may be responsible for anti- social behavior (Crime Times, 2007). The study revealed that damage to the frontal lobes was evident when monitoring the individuals who were injured when he or she exhibited social skills and behavior (Phillips, 2012). Patients who were able to handle and deal with decisions previously in his or her personal life were no longer able to do so (Phillips, 2012). Intellectually there was no change but when he or she had to make a decision involving emotions and feelings the abnormalities in behavior were exhibited (P hillips, 2012). Phineas Gage is the major example relating to the damage to the frontal lobes and change in  behavior. He worked as a foreman on the railroad engaged in construction work. There was an explosion when the tampering rod he was using ignited the blasting powder and the tampering rod entered his head just below the jaw traveling through the frontal lobe of his brain exiting the top of his head. After the initial recovery he began to exhibit violent, aggressive, and anti-social behavior (Crime Times, 2007). Phineas Gage was a mild mannered individual prior to his accident but after the injury to the frontal lobe he became just the opposite a man exhibiting aggression and anti-social behavior. The inability to make rational decisions, control aggression, and emotions has a possible connection to criminal thoughts and behavior. Ongoing research relating to the connection of crime and brain dysfunction will perhaps provide a more solid explanation in the near future. Neuropsychological factors may interfere with the ability to make important functional and executive decisions on a daily basis (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). Abnormalities in the brain may increase the aggression while preventing the ability to control aggressive behavior (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). The central nervous system provides a route for electrical impulses relating to thought, behavior, and emotions traveling to and from the brain. Synapses are the gaps between the cells of the nervous system and chemicals known as neurotransmitters provide the impulses the means of connecting to the synapses (Allen & Harper, 2010). When electrical impulses are interrupted researchers believe it is the result of low levels of neurotransmitters that interfere with emotions and produce aggressive behavior. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and when the levels drop there is a proven relationship between violence and behavior (Allen & Harper, 2010). The anti-social behavior and chemical imbalances are prevalent in alcoholics. Malnutrition in children also inhibits the growth and development of the brain. Cognitive deficiencies and underdeveloped brains place children and adolescents at risk for anti-social behavior (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). Dysfunctions in the brain relating to growth, chemical imbalance and injuries prevent the ability to address issues, exhibit proper emotions and solving problems inhibit behavior acceptable in society. The brain controls the entire body and mental capacity to make proper, logical, and informed choices when dealing with risk factors influencing criminal behavior. References Allen, C. & Harper, V. (2010). Laboratory Manual for Anatomy and Physiology, Fourth Edition / Edition 4 Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated Hoboken, NJ ISBN-13: 9781118135662 Crime Times, (2007) A lesson from history†¦ Phineas Gage and frontal lobe damage. Retrieved from http://www.crimetimes.org/98d/w98dp5.htm Phillips, J. (2012). The Brain and Crime: What is the relationship here? Retrieved from http://drjezphillips.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/the-brain-and-crime-what-is-the-relationship-here/ Raine, A. (2002). The biological basis of crime. In J.Q Wilson & J. Petrsilia (Eds.) Crime: Public policies for crime control. Oakland: ICS Press.

Fixed Income Securities Market in Pakistan

Fixed Income Securities Market in Pakistan Free Online Research Papers A well functioning bond market is imperative for the development of a nation’s economy and ensuring the financial sector stability. This paper gives an overview of the current structure of Fixed Income Securities Market Pakistan and its functioning. The paper also focuses on the key obstacles which are in Pakistan’s way to make its bond market strong, deep and liquid. Suggestions are also given to remove the impediment from the development of an efficient Fixed Income Securities Market in Pakistan. Introduction An efficient fixed income security market, both government and corporate, is highly gratifying for the swift development of any economy as it leads to the efficient mobilization of resources for long-term investment. Governments can help achieve the allocative efficiency from the Market based Government Debt Securities . The frequent issues of securities of various maturities by the government helps building a yield curve that serves as the benchmark for the issuance of corporate debt securities. Raising funds through bonds saves the company from the cumbersome procedure of issuing equity. Companies know their interest expenditures before hand and this known cost of capital helps them in planning budgeting process. A strong bond market offers an alternative source of financing to companies other than banks. This alternative source of financing was quoted as â€Å"the spare tire† of economy by the former Federal Reserve Chairman Allan Greenspan . Lack of an efficient bond market is often seen as the primary reason behind the Asian Crisis. The banking sector could not stand in front of the Asian Crisis of 1997, FDI started flying back and the financial system had nothing to offer in terms of capital as the inability of the emerging markets of Asia to borrow long term in local currencies had resulted in very weak fixed income securities markets and this â€Å"Spare tire† was not available to the crisis struck countries. This shifted the focus of policy makers towa rds the creation of an efficient bond market. However, many crisis ridden emerging economies still lag behind in terms of the bond markets (Table-1) Table-1 Country Bond Market as % of GDP Country Bond Market as % of GDP India 0.4 Malaysia 38.2 China 0.7 USA 22 Brazil 0.6 Korea 21.1 Russia 1.5 Japan 16.3 Global Financial Stability Report-2005, IMF So, a strong efficient bond market and a strong banking sector offer healthy competition to each other and by complimenting each other ensure financial stability even if one source in under stress. 1. Country Background Pakistan inherited an undersized and undeveloped financial structure after the independence. The financial structure that we have today in Pakistan is the result of many experiments, policy shifts and developments. We can segregate the eras of policy shifts developments into following periods; Till 1971, the primary focus was of the governments was on the development of commercial banks in the private sector and creating Development Institutions backed by government. The 1947-1960 era was marked with private sector development while the focus during the 1960-1971 was on the development of public sector institutions e.g. KPT, SSGCL, SNGP etc. The private sector development almost clogged during the 1971-1990, owing to the nationalization policy of the Z.A Bhutto regime and non-friendly policy towards private businesses by their predecessors. The banking sector came into government’s control during this period. The government, however, followed more liberal and market based reform in the post 1990 era. The fixed income securities market followed the similar shift as shown in the above given developments. The initial phase of the fixed income securities market is from 1947 to 1990. The government, federal as well as provincial, used to borrow on tap instruments and captive funding. Owing to the concessionary loans available from the state bank, the federal government could finance its fiscal deficits from these loans. So, till 1990s, there was no scope for the development of an efficient government securities market that could provide a benchmark yield curve for the development of a private sector bond market The government issued prize bonds in 1960s and some NSS schemes but since they were all on TAP so there could not develop a secondary market for them. In 1960s and 1970s the debentures issued by Pakistani corporations were listed on the stock exchanges with a very limited secondary market. Prior to 1990, the biggest issue of bonds by some corporation was by WAPDA (Table-2). This issue was a failure and the reasons are mentioned below. However, there is strong opinion that the debentures issued by WAPDA failed because the market was very immature for such kind of move. . Issuing Corporation WAPDA Issuance Year 1988 Funds Generated RS 22.5 billion Experience Failure Reason WAPDA was unable to payback on maturity due to insufficient funds No Secondary Market Table-2 Post 1990 Era The post 1990 era was marked with liberal reforms market based reforms by the government in the economy. This is the era in which Pakistan came into the fixed income Securities Market. We can segregate the post 1990 bond market into 1) Government Debt Securities, 2) Corporate Debt Securities. 2. Government Debt Securities The government of Pakistan has run over large fiscal deficits over the two decades. The fiscal deficit stands at $373 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 . This has resulted into the accumulation of large domestic debt of Rs. 2511 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 3.1 PIBs- Pakistan Investment Bonds Government of Pakistan issued long term paper (FIBs) in 1992, with this came into being the long term yield curve so the corporate enteritis to benchmark and issue their own long term securities. The auction of FIBs was stopped in 1998 due to less response by the public on the declining earnings on these instruments. At that time, there was no long term marketable government security that could meet the investment needs of institutional investors. The, government, in order to develop the longer end of its debt market for creating a benchmark yield curve and to enhance the corporate debt market, decided to launch Pakistan Investment Bonds in December 2000. These bonds have the following characteristics Issued in five tenors of 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20-years maturity. Primary Dealer maintains a Subsidiary General Ledger Account (SGLA) with SBP for the settlement purpose Purchased by individuals, institutions and corporate bodies including banks irrespective of their residential status. SBP Ministry of Finance announce the coupon rates and the target amounts after consulting each other Profit is Paid Semiannually The PIBs represent 63% of total permanent debt while 13.23% of the total domestic debt by March 2007. 3.2 MTBs Market Treasury Bills are the short term securities for government borrowing. They have the following Characteristics; Issued in three tenors of 3-month, 6-month and 12-months maturity Zero Coupon bonds sold at a discount to their face values Purchased by individuals, institutions and corporate bodies including banks irrespective of their residential status. Primary Dealer maintains a Subsidiary General Ledger Account (SGLA) with SBP for the settlement purpose The outstanding amount of MTBs as of March 2007 is Rs. 1086.25 billion (43.25% of total Domestic Debt) 3.3 Auction Process for Government Securities State bank of Pakistan acts as an agent for the government to raise the short term long term funds from the market. State Bank sells the MTBs and PIBs to the 10 primary Dealers through price sealed bids auction. The 10 primary dealers are: ABN Amro Bank NV Citibank Habib Bank Limited JS Bank Limited MCB Bank Limited National Bank of Pakistan Pak Oman Investment Co. Prime Commercial Bank Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited United Bank Limited The auction of MTBs is done on a fixed schedule on fortnightly basis while the auction of PIBs is done under Jumbo issuance mechanism under which the previous issues are reopened in order to enhance their liquidity in the secondary market. Domestic Debt Profile of Pakistan-March 2007 Domestic Debt $2511.969Billion Permanent Debt 528.802 Market Loans 3.026 Federal Government Bonds 9.313 Income Tax Bonds 0.022 Government Bonds 0.052 Special Governemnt Bonds for SLIC ( capitalization) 0.585 Bearer National Fund Bonds(BNFB) 0.007 Special National Fund Bonds 0.001 Government Bonds (issued to HBL for settlement of CBR Refund) 9,805 9805 Federal Investment Bonds(Auction) 3.331 Federal Investment Bonds (TAP) 0.001 Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) 332.534 Prize Bonds 170.126 F loating Debt $ 1086.524 billion Treasury Bills(3 Months) 0.013 Market Treasury Bills 556.67 MTBs for Replenishment 529.994 Unfunded Debt $ 896.643 billion Defence Savings Certificates 291041 National Deposit Certificates 0.023 Khas Deposit Certificates 0.28 Special Savings Certificates 143.528 Special Savings Certificates 0.286 Regular Income Certificates 572.23 Bahbood Savings Certificates 181.716 Khas Deposit Accounts 0.321 Savings Accounts 9.224 Special Savings Accounts 55.272 Mahana Amdani Accounts 2.479 Pensioners Benefit Accounts 66.903 Postal Life Insurance 67.122 GP Fund 20.723 Source-Economic Analysis Department, SBP 3. Corporate Debt Market/Statutory Debt Market The bond market in Pakistan saw its first corporate issuance in 1995 by Packages Limited. The trend of issuing TFCs could not pick up the pace till 2000 when government stopped the institutional investors to invest in NSS which proved to be highly beneficial for TFCs. Almost all the public offers were over-subscribed, this was also mainly due to the declining interest rates offered by banks and the National Savings Schemes (NSS). There is a great potential in the Pakistani debt market that is yet to be explored. Currently the corporate debt market is 1.12% of the total GDP. 4.1 TFCs The first TFC was issued in 1995 by the Packages Limited (Table-3). Table-3 Issuing Corporation Packages Limited Funds Raised RS 232 million Issuance Year 1995 Rating (PACRA) A+ Coupon Rate 18.50% The largest TFC was issued by PIA in 2003 (Table-4) Table-4 Issuing Corporation PIA Funds Raised RS 15.4 billion Issuance Year 2003 Reason Purchase of Boeing 777s Table-5 TFCs in Pakistan Type of Security Redeemable Debt Security Legislative Background Companies Ordinance, 1984 Distinctive Feature Sharia Compliance/ Interest Rate was termed as â€Å"Expected Profit Rate† Year of First Issue 1995 Largest Issue RS 15.4 billion Smallest Issue RS 100 million Average Issue RS 660 million Benchmark Rates KIBOR, DSCs Type of Interest Rate Floating The interest rates, however, are falling for TFCs (Table-5). A major reason can be the falling interest rates for KIBOR, NSS, PIB and discount rate (Graph-1). Moreover, the trend has shifted from non-financial institutions issuing TFCs to Banks issuing TFCs to raise their Tier II capital 4.2 Role of Credit Rating Agency There are two credit rating agencies in Pakistan. The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) was established in 1994 prior to the first public issue of Term Finance Certificate in 1995. PACRA is a joint venture between LSE Fitch-IBCA of UK. The second credit rating agency is DCR-VIS which is a joint venture between Duff Phelps Rating Agency Vital Information Services (a local company). The objectives of PACRA are to provide technical assistance for establishing operating procedures, establishing mechanisms for rating, the training of professional personnel Joint handling of rating process in initial stages, a review of public information on the client and its industry, preparation of agenda for discussion with the issuer. For this the agency meets the issuer, and has a rating committee meeting. During this meeting the agency holds a discussion and assignment of rating. The issuer is advised of the rating and the rating and report is made public Graph-1 Source: SBP â€Å"Fostering Bond Market in Pakistan†, Farhan Hameed 4. Impediments to Bond Market Development in Pakistan The economy of Pakistan is booming and there is a lot of potential for growth in the coming years. The governmental policies and the overall economic environment of the region promises a lot in terms of financial development, Pakistan is the fastest growing economy in south Asia and this has attracted many foreign investors. This is evident from the fact that in the fiscal year 2006-2007 the net foreign direct investment in the country was greater then $6billion. There is a vast potential that is yet to be explored in the fixed income securities market of Pakistan. There is widespread agreement among the government and private sector participants that Pakistan needs a viable bond market in order to mobilize private savings efficiently for long term investments. We can mention here some obstacles which are in the way to create a strong efficient bond market in the country. 5.1 Crowding Out by the Government Securities A very big hurdle in the development of an efficient corporate bond market in Pakistan is the fact that the Government Securities and the Corporate Securities both compete for the same pool of resources. The government has the advantage of being the risk free. Government attracts savings from the retail investors through NSS while from the institutional buyers through PIBs and MTBs. Since the government securities are risk free so their rates should be less than the TFCs which have more risk than the government securities but the TFCs are priced very close to the Defense Saving Certificates which are another type of government securities with 10 year maturity and government guarantee. So this very small difference of returns between a riskless investment (DSCs) risky investment (TFCs) make the later less attractive for the investor. So there lacks a level playing field between the government securities and that of corporate sector. 5.2 Lack of Benchmark Yield Curve There does not exist a credible long term yield curve which hinders the development of an efficient corporate bond market in Pakistan. PIBs are the long term papers issued by the government and there are two reasons behind for which they do not form a credible long term yield curve. First the interest rates on the PIBs are not market driven, government teds to keep them low while market expects them to be high. This is why since 2004 there has been only one successful auction of PIBs and other bids were rejected. Secondly, there is hardly any secondary market for the PIBs which undermine its status as the benchmark. Due to recent scraping of PIB’s auctions, its supply has decreased in the market which has resulted into increased prices of the bond so we see that prices have increased just because of a factor of demand and supply that has nothing to do with the actual attractiveness of the security and the state of the nation’s economy. Since government has the influence over the institutional investors so they buy government’s long term paper even at lower rates but even they don’t keep and trade the PIBs till maturity in order to avoid booking the capital losses. Since the PIBs by now means serve as the benchmark for the issuance of the corporate bonds so TFCs are issued by the corporate entities making the floating interest rates, like KIBOR, the benchmark rate. 5.3 Administrative Hurdles The issuance cost of TFC is a big hurdle in the way of development a strong bond market in Pakistan. In addition to the coupon rate of the bond, the costs include the stamp duty as 0.15 % of the face value, listing charges, trustee fee, advertising fee and rating charges. These issuing costs can really affect the development of a bond market. The cost of issuing in Japan was approximately 2.5 % of the face value that hampered the growth of the bond market in the country, as opposed to only 0.7% in USA. On the other hand SECP SBP are following discriminating policies towards the corporate bonds. State Bank of Pakistan does not consider the investment in TFCs eligible for SLR. However, SBP allowed the Sukuk Islamic Bonds issued by WAPDA to be the part of SLR â€Å"Statutory Liquidity requirement â€Å"of the banks. This shows a clear example of ad-hoc policies by the regulators. Such regulations shatter the investor confidence in the bond market. 5.4 Liquidity/ Secondary Market Although TFCs are listed on the stock exchanges but still there is hardly any trading. In the absence of well functioning secondary market investors demand higher premium for liquidity on TFCs which increases the cost of capital for the issuing firm. World over, the bonds are traded over the counter (OTC) and large corporate issues are encouraged. The scale of issues is very small in Pakistan and that means that even small trading can affect the price which is a negative aspect. Above all, the pricing and trading of bonds is highly complex mechanism which requires very sophisticated professionals financial analysts which are hardly available in a developing country like Pakistan. 5.5 Non-diverse Investor Base The major part of the government securities is in the form of MTBs and they are mostly bought by the financial institutions which use them for the REPOs. That’s why the bonds are only purchased by the banks only and are exchanged in between themselves. The diverse investor base is imperative for making the bond market less volatile and reducing the risk. A more diverse set of market players is considered beneficial to help eliminate the uniform direction and provide greater stability to the market. 5.6 Disclosure Requirements/Transparency Pakistani investors are more risk averse and they have always been prone to invest in NSS and gold which offer almost negligible risk. The transparency requirements have to be met by the companies in order to issue debt. Lack of transparency in local private firms makes them less likely to attract the investors by issuing debt, specially the foreign investors who are used to work in very regulated and transparent environment where hardly anything is left to chance. Most of the companies lack the reputation to qualify for a rating that could elicit a satisfactory public response 5. Recommendations The current economic circumstances in Pakistan satisfy many of the prerequisites for the development of an efficient fixed income securities market. A strong corporate debt market can flourish at the point where Pakistan is standing today with stable macroeconomic indicators and excellent banking system. However, still some steps are yet to be taken in order to take Pakistani bond market to its actual potential. Some of those steps are put as recommendations here; 6.1 Building a yield curve for the bond market The government should create a long term yield curve for the bonds this could be achieved through ensuring regular issues of the government bonds of various maturities. However, emphasize should be on building the long term yield curve which is almost non-existent in Pakistan. A benchmark yield curve helps in the pricing of other fixed income instruments. This would not only attract the new investors but will also help in enhancing the confidence of customers on the economic policies and the local itself. In order to ensure the regular supply of PIBs in the market, government should come up with a proper issuance calendar with clearly indicated targets. Government should borrow more from market at market rates rather than from the State Bank. Even if there does not exist a secondary market and government increases the issuance of PIBs at market determined rates, it can help create a benchmark yield curve. The lack of supply of PIBs in the market results into an artificial increase in their prices which should be avoided and the government should ensure the regular issues of PIBs even if it does not require the funds. This is because the fact that the regular issues would stop the increase in the prices of PIBs just because their unavailability and their prices would reflect their actual market worth and the state of the Pakistan’s economy and PIBs would serve as the justified and credible benchmark long term yield curve. The economic managers of the country state that the less issuance of the PIBs in last two years is due to high inflows in NSS. The government should understand that it will have to issue PIBs regularly even if it is running in surpluses. It is the same as the government raised $500 million from Euro bonds when it did not require the funds but issued the bonds just to show the presence in the international market . The similar approach should be adopted in the domestic market. 6.2 Increased Size of the Bond Market A big hurdle in the creation of a secondary market in Pakistan has been the limited size of the issuance. The policymakers should focus on the fact that larger the size of the outstanding bond market, the larger is the turnover and the liquidity. Since the outstanding size of MTBs and PIBs is just $ 23 billion in Pakistan which is quite small. In order to create the size of the market, the government can opt for issuing the bonds for some specific maturity, mainly the long term maturity. The major chunk of the outstanding domestic debt is in the form of MTBs which are short term 6 or 12 months securities. The preference should be given to PIBs with 10 years maturity. This increased focus by government on PIBs would enhance its market size and there would be more turnover and trading in this long term government security that would give it a market based price and interest rate which would further become a justified and credible benchmark for the corporate bonds. 6.3 Stopping Institutional Investors from NSS The government of Pakistan barred the institutional investors to invest in NSS in 2001 but it has allowed the institutions to invest in NSS. This would damage the market for TFCs since the institutions would invest largely in NSS. The government should also lower the interest rates on NSS as they serve as the benchmark for the long term corporate funds and since the current rates are high on them so they make the rates on corporate bonds higher. Since the NSS certificates are usually not held to maturity so actual cost of debt is even lower so this further distorts the rates on corporate bonds. 6.4 TFCs as the part of SRL The SBP should accept the TFCs of blue chip companies as the part of SLR, statutory liquidity requirement. This would not be a big deviation from the current policies as SBP accepts the NIT units as the part of the SLR which is similar in nature to a TFC and NIT certificates are not rated by any rating agency but a company that issues TFCs is a rated company so SBP should reconsider its policy towards TFCs. This would increase the marketability of TFCs and Banks and other Non Banking Financial Institution would be more interested in buying TFCs for Repos purpose. 6.5 Diversifying Investor Base Currently the majority of bondholders are financial institutions i.e. banks. Retail investors and foreign investors have much smaller participation in the bond market. This small investor base gives rise to a one-way market. A sort of cartel has developed and only a few buyers are able to dictate the terms. The government could increase the customer bade by targeting the retail customers. For this purpose, the government can use the channel it uses to sell prize bonds to local investors. Since the government has infrastructure available for selling the prize bonds so there would be less costs related to this new approach. This more diverse set of market players will be beneficial in eliminating the uniform direction and will provide greater stability to the market. 6.6 Investor Awareness The government should announce the calendar for the auctions of the bonds and this should be communicated to the potential investors. The aim of announcing should be that people should know ahead of time and it should be seen as continuity, predictability, and transparency in issuing bonds. The prices and rates should be given immediately in the local newspaper as well as on the website of SECP SBP. 6.7 Availability of Professionals as mentioned above, the mechanism of bond market is highly complex and integrated so pricing and other related activities is very challenging and requires exceptional professional skills which are scarce in Pakistan, even in many institutions. Most of the investors, both retail and institutional, fail to gauge the sentiment of the market and opt for the buy hold strategy. State Bank and SECP should conduct regular investor awareness seminars of international standards. SECP SBP should offer the training programs to professionals to make them equipped with the skills needed to work in bond market. The SBP, SECP, Leading Banks, Brokerage Houses and other financial Institutions should work closely with the top business schools of the country (NIMS, IBA, and LUMS) to equip the students of finance accounting with the skills which are needed by a professional to work in a bond market. 6.8 Risk Management/ Hedging Instruments Hedging instruments are essential to mitigate the risk associated with the bonds and enhance the investor confidence and thus create an efficient and liquid bond market. Government should encourage the institutions to come up with interest rate futures and bond futures and these futures should be allowed to be traded on the stock exchanges in order to provide them liquidity. 6.9 Administrative Reforms The government should ease the issuance procedure of TFCs at SECP and remove the administrative hurdles. So, the companies would be more motivated to issue TFCs. The government should revise the stamp duty on TFCs. SECP should be proactive in its approach. With the passage of development, there would be new kinds of debt securities in the Pakistani market; the SECP should be ready to formulate policies for such securities. 6.10 Stopping the Municipal Bonds The government should only issue bonds at the federal level and no provincial and municipal government’s should be allowed to issue bonds as they don’t have an income of their own and are dependent on the federal and the provincial government for the allocation of the resources. Generally the municipal administrations are in deficit coupled with corruption and mismanagement of resources has lead to the malfunctioning of the municipal government. The issuance of the municipal bonds would only lead to the default and putting the federal bonds credibility at stake. Conclusion Developing a well-functioning, deep and liquid bond market is not an easy task. The scenario in Pakistan is much more conducive today for the development of an efficient strong bond market than a decade ago but still much is left to be done. Relevant institutions, both from government public sector, will have to be very well focused and work collectively for the bond market development in Pakistan. It may take a long time in turning today’s Pakistani bond market into an efficient one that comes at par with those of developed countries but if Pakistan makes the structural adjustments today, the affects would start to become visible in the recent future in the form of benefits sought. If we recall the words of Mr. Allan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Pakistan still does not have that â€Å"spare tire† of that economy that can hedge against any possible financial economic crisis in the future. Today we have to make a well directed and calculated e ffort to provide the country with this â€Å"spare tire† and a strong shield against any possible catastrophe. [1] 2nd SBP Conference, Call for Papers, Fixed Income Market Development in Emerging Market Economics. [2] Barbie Martin, 2001, â€Å"Government Debt as Insurance against Macroeconomic Risk†, Paper Abstract [3] Allon Greenspan, Former Federal Reserve Chairman, Speaking to a delegation of Financial Professionals Economists in Sundaresan University, Columbia, 2005 [4] Arif, M., 2006, â€Å"Developing Bond Market in Pakistan†, Research Paper Presented at SBP conference held at Karachi [5] Associated Press of Pakistan, Budget Statistics [6] Daily Times, Sunday, 20th May 2007 [7] FSCD Circular No. 1 of 2007, SBP [8] Luengnaruemitcha and Ong, 2005, â€Å"An Anatomy of Corporate Bond Markets: Growing Pains and Knowledge Gains†, Research Paper [9] Dr Ashfaq Hasan, Economic Business Review of Daily ‘DAWN’ on March 15, 2004 [10] McCauley Remolona, Their Statement about the minimum size of the Bond Market. [11] Pongpen Ruengvirayudh, â€Å"Fixed Income Market Development in Emerging Market Economies: Thailand† [12] Farhan Hameed, â€Å"Fostering Corporate Bond Market in Pakistan†, 2006, Research Paper presented at SBP conference [13] Ms. Uzma Khalil, â€Å"The Development of Debt Securities Market- Country Experience of Pakistan†, 2004, Research paper written for World Bank Seminar on Strengthening Bond Market in Pakistan. [14] Shabbir H. Kazmi, â€Å"A Growing Market for TFCs†, 2000. Research Papers on Fixed Income Securities Market in PakistanAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaTwilight of the UAWMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductDefinition of Export QuotasInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfOpen Architechture a white paperHip-Hop is Art

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buy custom Lung Cancer essay Lung cancer, like all other cancers, arises when there is an abnormality in body cells. When one suffers from cancer, new cells are produced even when they not required by the body, leading to formation of a large mass of cells known as tumor. Cancer tumors can either be malignant or benign. The term cancer is used to refer to tumors that are malignant. Benign tumors are easy to remove and cannot spread to different parts of the body. On the other hand, malignant tumors grow very aggressively, can enter into both lymphatic and circulatory systems and they invade other tissues within the body. The process of this spread is known as metastasis and the areas where these tumors develop are known as metastases. Once lung cancer forms, it tends to metastasize very early. This makes it a life-threatening form of cancer and one that is very difficult to treat. Although lng cancer can spread to any part of the body, the areas that are most commonly affected my metastases include liver, adrenal glands, brain and bone tissue. Lung cancers can attack any part of the lung. However, 95 % of all lung cancers are commonly thought to affect epithelial cells. Epithelial cells are found in the lining of bronchi and bronchioles (Ihde, 1997). This is the main reason why lung cancers are often referred to as bronchogenic carcinomas or bronchogenic cancers. Sometimes lung cancers may affect the pleura and rarely the supporting tissues of the lung such as blood vessels. Lung cancer is the greatest cause of death due to cancer all over the world. In December 2008, the American Cancer Societys estimated that 219,440 new lung cancer cases were going to be diagnosed and that 159,390 lung cancer-related deaths were going to occur in 2009. The U.S Nationnal Cancer Institute approximates that one in every 14 Americans will suffer from lung cancer at one point in their lifetime. Lung cancer mostly affects elderly people; about 70% of all people diagnosed with the disease are above 65 years old while less than 3% of all cancer cases are reported among people who are below 45 years of age (Jemal, 2005). Doll Hill (1956), report that lung cancer was not very common before the 1930s. However, in the decades that followed, the disease became more prevalent as more people started smoking tobacco. In many developing countries, incidents of lung cancer have begun to reduce as a result of public education programs on the dangers of smoking. Nevertheless, lung cancer remains the most commonly occurring type of cancer the world over. In the U.S, this type of cancer has even surpassed breast cancer among women as the main cause of cancer-related deaths. Buy custom Lung Cancer essay

Financial check up report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial check up report - Essay Example This shows how well I can manage my expenses in order to meet my income. My total expenses are lower than my income. This means that I am able to save part of my income. Lessons from this statement is that one should manage his expenses in such a way that it allows him to have savings for every income. The financial ratios show ones ability to repay any debts that he may incur. My basic liquidity ratio is 4.5666, which is higher than the recommended 3.0. This means that my liquid assets are able to repay any of the debts that I may have. This shows that one should always be in a financial situation that is able to support him in cases of debts. This is to say, the liquid assets of a person should always be able to settle debts without posing threats to the financial situation of a person. My revolving savings shows that my spending for my fixed budget was financed from my savings. However, the amount set aside for my fixed budget was not fully spent since there was arrears amounted to my savings. This teaches me that one should always set aside a given amount to cover for regular expenses such as insurance. The annual saving for retirement needs should always meet the budget expectations. My retirement saving plan, according to the statement, meets my budget expectations. In the statement, the amount needed for saving expenses is much higher than the amount needed to realize the retirement goal. This means that, my saving plan will meet my retirement goal. Lessons learned from this is that one should always be prepared to realize his goals. The total expenses in life are much higher than the total income replacement. This is where life insurance becomes essential. Getting into an insurance plan, according to the statement, means that I would be able to take care of my expenses in life at a lower value. The insurance needed is much lower than my total expenses, thus, my expenses will be

Summaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summaries - Essay Example There is no safety net that ensures the society is not held hostage by a few individuals, and thus is not a fair system for those who are not able to make ends meet. This system satisfies the wishes and objectives of a few in the society who are able to manipulate their way up the social ladder. Feminists believe that the dismantling of the capitalist’s way of thinking will play a decisive role in liberating the underprivileged from oppression (Christian, 2011). Communism, on the other hand, is a revolutionary movement that creates a freer market, and classless, moneyless and stateless society. It is based upon common ownership of the means of production as principles that aim at establishing a social order. This brings together the social, political and economic ideologies. It is centered on the belief in the power of the people and pooling of resources and labor thereby encouraging collective ownership (Christian, 2011). It is a way of avoiding the exploitations that become prevalent through feudal systems. It brings the rights of the poor to the fore with each individual having a chance to exercise their rights. In this system the will of the people becomes the law. It equates all people while ensuring that everyone benefits from communal resources. Feminists see this as their liberation from the oppressive past as the communists built the foundation of the 1950’s and 1960’s liberation movements (Christian, 2011). Qn2: Karl Marx, communism & alienated labor Karl Marx believed in the need for the end of exploitation that was perpetuated by only a few individuals through the oppression of the rest in the society. He designed the communist way of thinking as a way of fighting the evils of capitalism and as a way of ending the status quo conflict (Christian, 2011). He believed communism was one best way of bringing people together and putting them in a position that would make it highly unlikely for humans to exploit fellow beings. Those wit h the private means of production would lose it to the community making it possible for the community to take over. Equity would prevail after oppression is done away with, which, in turn, would provide abundant opportunities with few limitations or barriers for people to achieve their goals. Each would give according to their abilities and receive according to their needs (Christian, 2011). The alienation of labor brought about by the class system would cease to exist as everyone would have a chance to provide for the communal needs. Workers will not be held captive by their bosses as they would become autonomous and self-realized human beings. Alienation made the workers express their social aspect through a production system that was unfairly owned and this meant that their goals would be directed by the highly privatized production system, and communism sought to break this ideology. Qn 3: Nietzsche and the Eternal Return The concept of the eternal return is based on speculation that the universe has been recurring and will continue to do so in a similar form. This process goes on for an infinite number of times within an infinite space. If time and space are infinite, then the world has had experiences that will be repeated over and over in an infinite proposition. Nietzsche posits that what has happened in the past will come to play again in the future. Thus, the cycle of the future emanates from the past cycles and this is a process that recurs more often