Management Planning and Ethics

First American Guard Services Company provides unique security services to all our clients. To maximize on our services, the company operates round the clock to ensure all the customers’ requirements are met.   Our core values are innovations, competence and reliability.   The company strives to offer quality services, professional development and high ethical standards.   Our team is highly committed to understand customers’ expectations and solve all safety problems.   The services offered not only will they accommodate all the clients’ needs but also exceed their expectations. (Francesco, 2006) Organizational Structure First American Guard Services is made up of qualified and professional team.   The company is under the Chief executive officer, the Vice president of company operations and Vice president of marketing and Finance.   The Chief Executive Officer manages the whole company and holds the final word.   The VP is in charge of departmental operations and the second VP is in charge of marketing and finance. The planning Function of the Management To ensure the smooth flow of all the activities within the company, the company has decided to embark on management planning and ethics plans to harmonize all the plans laid out.   The management will streamline legal issues, ethics and corporate social responsibility and how it impacts the management and business planning.   All the issues will enhance proper communication, accountability and clarify the vision of all the plans.   The corporate social responsibility will broaden the perspectives of communications at the corporate level within the management so that sound policies can be made. The management consists of the CEO, and the two VPs (Francesco, 2006) Legal issues are vital if any organization must perform well.   The legal issues affect the management since they are responsible for laying out rules and regulations that staff members are expected to adhere to.   First American Guard Company’s management will evaluate all the processes to improve the performance of the management.   The Chief executive will lead the team by initiating workshops and seminars whereby they will be exposed to management courses.   The courses will enhance ethical standards and adhere to the law. (Francesco, 2006) Legal issues, ethical factors as well as corporate social responsible are interrelated since they affect performance of the management and ultimately output of the organization. (Francesco, 2006) Legally, there are rules stipulated by the law that businesses must follow.   The rules determine the types of decisions and plans made at the management level.   Some of the legal issues will determine the quality of services offered by First American, to ensure they meet the standards set by the law.   Despite all the innovations, that the management hopes to come up with, they must be within the law.   On the other hand, ethics are designed by the company, that is, code of ethics indicating the conduct and organizations expectations of all the employees.   The ethical infrastructure will support the effective implementation of ethical responsibility and corporate strategies.   (Francesco, 2006) The ethical training will be directed to the first American Guard service team, so that the members can make use of moral reasoning tools so that questions related to ethics and corporate activities are properly addressed.   The image of the management relies on the code of ethics.   Ethical standards set by the company are usually the crucial tools which enable the management carry out corporate, social and ethical responsibilities.   The function in essence is beyond legal requirements. (Francesco, 2006) The corporate social responsibility will however consider the international standard as well as the best practices. (Francesco, 2006) Conclusion According to many writers, the social responsibility of any business must have ethical responsibilities.   First American Guard Services Company has social responsibilities which will further be subdivided into ethical, legal and economic.   In addition, the ethical responsibilities of the company are parallel to the legal issues. (Francesco, 2006) The management function will therefore revolve around harmonizing all the issues concerned, to ensure all the business plans, implementation adhere to the management function.   This is because, all legal, social and ethical guidelines, determine the policies that the management will formulate and who the implementers will be. (Francesco, 2006) It is important to note that, most social responsibilities are not clear and are more or less an assortment of legal and moral responsibilities, vested interests and some moral ideals.   This package however, inhibits the managements to consider other ethical responsibilities of the company.   This means that if the company trades on ideals, corporate social responsibility myth diverts the attention from the duties of the management. (Francesco, 2006) References Francesco, P. (2006) Developing Corporate Social Responsibility, Edward Elgar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publishing.            

Assessing Contamination Of The Great Lakes Environmental Sciences Essay

Worlds are changing the Earth ‘s environment in dramatic and progressively permeant ways ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . The ever-increasing human population, along with an explosive addition in ingestion, exacerbates the impact on aquatic and tellurian ecosystems as a consequence of land usage from agribusiness and human colony, natural resource usage, transit and diversion, waste from domestic, municipal and industrial development ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . There is now abundant grounds that ecosystems at regional and planetary degrees have become extremely stressed and dysfunctional ( Rapport, Costanza and McMichael 1998 ) . For illustration, the widespread dispersion of man-made chemicals may be changing carnal endocrine and immune systems that are needed for normal growing, development and disease opposition ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . Additionally, decrease in biodiversity could extinguish anchor species, create discontinuities in ecosystem food and energy tracts, and enhance e xposures to important losingss of ecosystem services following anthropogenetic perturbations ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . The services provided by ecosystems are highly of import to human public assistance ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . These stressed, degraded and disrupted ecosystems have and could go on to ensue in dramatic ecological, wellness, economic and societal impacts ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . The Great Lakes constitute the largest organic structure of surface fresh water on Earth and is one of the most valuable natural resources ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . The Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario are freshwater inland seas of huge importance for H2O ingestion, diversion, piscaries, power, transit, and many other utilizations ( EPA, National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress 2009 ) . The Great Lakes are besides a major industrial and agricultural part of North America ( EPA, Where Would We Be Without the Great Lakes? 2010 ) . A statement sing the position of the Great Lakes found in the â€Å" National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress in 2009 † says: â€Å" Of the eight provinces surrounding the Great Lakes, six reported on the status of their Great Lakes shoreline stat mis. About 1,070 of 5,521 entire Great Lakes shoreline stat mis were assessed in 2004, and of these, 93 % were reported as impaired. The prima causes of damage included PCBs, toxic organics, pesticides, and dioxins † Since the 1970 ‘s, supervising informations have shown the presence of waterborne toxic chemicals in the biology of the Great Lakes through the procedures of bioaccumulation and bioconcentration ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . The effect of these developments is the beginning for public and scientific concern over how and to what extent the wellness of wildlife and worlds in the Great Lakes basin may be affected by exposure to environmental contaminations ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . Chemical pollution is a job on a planetary graduated table that occurs about everywhere people live ( Keller 2011 ) . Whether a dismissed chemical is harmful to the aquatic environment depends on a figure of factors, including the type of chemical, its concentration, the timing of its release, conditions conditions, and the organisms life in the country ( NOAA 2008 ) . By the mid 1980 ‘s, over 800 distinguishable chemical substances from these beginnings had been identified in the Great Lakes basin ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . Of these substances, the most relentless and toxic substances are polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs ) , dioxins, and furans ; the organochlorine pesticides dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethylene ( DDT ) , toxaphene, mirex, dieldrin, and hexachlorobenzene ( HCB ) , heavy metals methylmercury and alkylated lead ; and benzo [ a ] pyrene, a member of a category of substances known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs ) ( International Joint Commission 1987 ) . Datas on chemical concentrations indicate the major burdens of relentless toxic chemicals to the Great Lakes occurred between the 1950s and the 1970s, with peak concentrations happening in the mid 1970s ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . Peoples began to detect sick effects in fish, birds, and mammals, including marks of generative failure, biochemical alterations, inborn deformities, and population diminutions ( World Resource Institute 1998-99 ) . Scientists from NOAA ‘s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory explain the consumption of pollutants as follows: foremost, when organic contaminations reach Great Lakes Waterss, they do non readily fade out or organize chemical bonds with H2O molecules, alternatively, they stick ( adsorb ) to ticket organic-rich atoms, microscopic in size, nowadays in the H2O. Next, some atoms settle to the underside going portion of lake deposits, while other atoms remain suspended ; the aquatic animate beings actively feed on both digesti ng bacteriums and other microscopic nutrient beginnings carried on them. Finally, during digestion, animate beings absorb harmful contaminations as the atoms pass through their digestive piece of land. NOAA ‘s research workers conclude that: â€Å" contaminant exposure is more terrible for benthal ( bottom-dwelling ) animate beings populating in deposits at the lake underside, in add-on to a diet of contaminant-laden nutrient, contaminations can be absorbed across the animate being ‘s tegument, or through their gills as they extract dissolved O from H2O. † With continued exposure over the class of an animate being ‘s life, contaminant concentrations accumulate within the organic structure, if the animate being is eaten by a marauder, its organic structure load of contaminations is transferred, get downing the procedure of biomagnifications of contaminations up the nutrient concatenation. Humans who consume Great Lakes fish are besides at hazard ( NOAA 2005 ) . Biomagnifications of heavy metals is a concern in the Great Lakes, motivating the International Joint Commission to help the United States and Canada to implement the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972 ( International Joint Commission 1987 ) . Heavy metals such as lead, quicksilver, Zn, and Cd, are deposited with natural deposits in the undersides of Waterss where they dissolve. ( Keller 2011 ) . Most heavy metals were straight discharged into the Great Lakes from coal fired power workss, and municipal and medical waste incineration installations ( International Joint Commission 1987 ) . Heavy metal residue which becomes airborne is redeposited from the ambiance through rainfall ( Keller 2011 ) . Of greatest concern is the extremely toxic organic compound, methylmercury, which forms in rivers and lakes when micro-organisms metabolize metallic quicksilver. This toxic signifier of quicksilver so accumulates in fish and when ingested causes quicksilver poisoning in worlds ( World Resource Institute 1998-99 ) . Non point beginning pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt which carries pollutants such as fertilisers, weedkillers and pesticides from agricultural and residential countries ; oil, lubricating oil and toxic chemicals from urban overflow ; deposit from building sites, forest lands and gnawing stream Bankss ; salt from irrigation patterns and acerb mine drainage from abandoned mines ; bacteriums and foods from farm animal, pet wastes, and defective infected systems and deposits them into lakes and rivers ( EPA, What is Non-Point Source Pollution 1994 ) . Acid mine drainage is the consequence of sulphides ( discarded from mining operations ) which oxidize in the presence of H2O and micro-organisms to organize sulphuric acid ( H2SO4 ) ( Colmer and Hinkle 1947 ) . This acerb H2O is highly toxic to workss and animate beings in aquatic ecosystems and can potentially mobilise other harmful chemicals ( Keller 2011 ) . Arsenic is besides a extremel y toxic natural metal which besides has industrial and commercial utilizations in pesticides, weedkillers, antifungals, algaecides, wood preservatives, coal-tar, and pigment ( EPA, Where Would We Be Without the Great Lakes? 2010 ) . Most arsenic originates from atmospheric emanations from smelters, coal-burning power workss, and arsenical weedkiller sprays ; from H2O contaminated by mine shadowings, smelter wastes, and natural mineralization ; and particularly from the ingestion of Marine biology ( Eisler 1988 ) . In Eisler ‘s study to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, most research workers agree on the undermentioned points: ( 1 ) arsenous anhydride may be absorbed by consumption, inspiration, or through pervasion of the tegument or mucose membranes ; ( 2 ) cells accumulate arsenic by utilizing an active conveyance system usually used in phosphate conveyance ; ( 3 ) arsenicals are readily absorbed after consumption, most being quickly excreted in the piss during the first few yearss, or at most a hebdomad ; effects seen after long-run exposure are most likely the consequence of uninterrupted day-to-day exposure, instead than that of bioaccumulation ( Eisler 1988 ) . Nitrogen and P used in agribusiness to fertilise Fieldss creates a procedure known as â€Å" eutrophication † , where run-off of these inordinate foods enter waterways, increasing works life ( typically algae blooms ) which cover the Waterss surface barricading sunshine to workss below while devouring O as they decompose ; ensuing in the decease of fish and aquatic animate beings ( Keller 2011 ) . Biological pollution has become the greatest concern for the Great Lakes. Waterborne human diseases such as cholera, typhoid infections, hepatitis, and dysentery, are the consequence of hapless H2O sanitation. Indeed, several billion people are exposed to and about 2 million people will decease from these diseases each twelvemonth in developing states ( Keller 2011 ) . Cholera, which infects imbibing H2O, can be found in aquatic systems where it remains hibernating in phytoplankton and zooplankton ( Rapport, Costanza and McMichael 1998 ) . Natural jeopardies such as temblors, inundations and hurricanes can do exacerbate eruptions of these waterborne diseases ( Keller 2011 ) . Other environmental conditions that cause algal blooms, such as eutrophication from nitrate and phosphate overflow, and the proliferation of the zooplankton can besides increase the spread of cholera into human populations ( Rapport, Costanza and McMichael 1998 ) . Another important beginning of biological taint occurs when a installation discharges pollution straight into waterways at a peculiar â€Å" point † along its shore through a pipe or channel and hence considered â€Å" point beginning of pollution † ( Salzman and Thompson 2010 ) . This includes sewage intervention workss and industrial installations such as oil refineries, mush and paper Millss, chemical, electronics and car makers ( NOAA 2008 ) . Additionally, there are installations that do non dispatch their wastes straight into a waterway but alternatively empty their wastes into the local sewerage system ( Salzman and Thompson 2010 ) . These sewage intervention workss treat human wastes and direct the treated wastewater to a watercourse or river ( NOAA 2008 ) . During periods of heavy rainfall, sewer systems can be overwhelmed, ensuing in the release of natural sewerage from combined sewer systems designed to roll up both storm H2O and healthful effluent ( EPA, Great Lakes Strategy 2002 ) . Separate healthful sewer systems can besides see untreated discharges related to wet conditions events. These can be caused by inordinate influx and infiltration, unequal care, and deficient moisture conditions conveyance capacity ( EPA, Great Lakes Strategy 2002 ) . Sanitary Sewer Overflows ( SSOs ) and untreated Combined Sewer Overflows ( CSOs ) can incorporate pathogens that lead to beach closings and human wellness concerns, every bit good as O demanding substances that can take to low dissolved O degrees ( EPA, Great Lakes Strategy 2002 ) . During these events, the biochemical oxygen-demanding waste overpowers the Waterss natural cleansing map ( Keller 2011 ) . Possibly the greatest concern of the twenty-first century is the debut and spread of invasive species which threaten the Great Lakes ( International Joint Commission 2002 ) . The primary beginning of aquatic invasive species comes from ships ‘ ballast H2O which they use to assist stabilise them at sea ( Potter n.d. ) . The debut of a individual species can do a sudden and dramatic displacement in the full ecosystem ‘s construction ( EPA, Great Lakes Strategy 2002 ) . New species can significantly alter the interactions between bing species ( and between those species and their inanimate environment ) , making ecosystems that are unstable and unpredictable ( International Joint Commission 2002 ) . The Asiatic Carp consume immense sums of the same nutrient eaten by native fishes, sharply out-competing and finally displacing them wholly ( Potter n.d. ) . Even the tiniest microscopic being found in ballast H2O can take clasp and do a important perturbation in the Great Lakes ( Potter n.d. ) . In each of these instances, harm occurred because native species and ecosystems were non capable of defying infection, infestation, predation or competition from the foreigner species ( International Joint Commission 2002 ) . Water is the most valuable resource we have, indispensable for life on Earth, and we have earnestly diminished the ability of these ecosystems for which we rely on. The human population growing has mostly contributed to the debasement and loss of H2O resources and ecosystems ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . Viewed as technological admirations, there was really small apprehension of the impact of man-made compounds and pesticides on the environment or human wellness ( Salzman and Thompson 2010 ) . Scientific grounds has helped exemplify some of the human and ecological costs of environmental debasement ( Vasseur, et Al. 2002 ) . Today, certain species of fish in the Great Lakes still have contaminations at high concentrations ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . Impacts of exposure to the same contaminations show an increased hazard of neurological and generative disfunction, birth defects, and malignant neoplastic disease ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . In 1969, the flickers that set the contamin ated Cuyahoga River on fire besides enkindled utmost public consciousness and concern for the environment ( Salzman and Thompson 2010 ) . Subsequently, in 1972, the Clean Water Act[ 1 ]was passed, modulating discharges of pollutants into Waterss and established H2O quality criterions ( EPA, History of the Clean Water Act 2010 ) . Though the Clean Water Act[ 2 ]and subsequent Amendments in 1977[ 3 ]would ensue in dramatic decrease of chemical contaminations, such as DDT and PCBs, farther decreases of pollutants will be much more hard to decide ( Tremblay and Gilman 1995 ) . Protecting natural resources and the ecosystems they support will go on to be a planetary concern for future coevalss.

Song of Myself

In Walt Whitman’s poem Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, the poet explores themes of the idea of the self, the recognition of self in relation to other people and the poet’s connection nature and the universe. For example, Whitman’s use of tangible objects such as the houses and the rooms symbolize the society. Another example is his use the perfume which embodies the self of one being; lastly, he use the atmosphere to describe the entire self. For Whitman, the self is regarded as mystical and remains constant throughout life. The self includes thoughts, experiences, conscious and subconscious states, and the individual’s spirituality. The theory of self is important in Whitman’s work because it is where his intellect and art is reflected. Walt Whitman sees the self as an individual and also as nature or the entire universe. The poet wants to preserve his own self while fusing with the entire universe. This means that the poet recognizes his need to associate with others and to commune with God. His reference to sex is a metaphor for spiritual experience. The poet’s pleasure stems both from the physical and the spiritual. Whitman demonstrates his individualistic style in â€Å"Song of Myself†. I consider it as one of the greatest poems I’ve read. His experiment with words is just breath taking. As one reads through his verses, one is lost in trance through his vivid imagery. The poem opens with the celebration of the self. The poet rejoices with the experience of communing with the universe as described in Section I lines 1-9: â€Å"I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.  I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death†. In section 2 of the poem, Walt Whitman asserts his independence from society and at the same time declaring his connection with nature. â€Å"Houses and rooms are full of   perfume†, as stated in line 1 of section 2; the perfume is a representation of the individual selves and the atmosphere denotes the universe. The poet is enticed to be with the other selves but he wants to keep his freedom and independence. The poet delights in experiencing all of his five senses. His use of his sight, his hearing, his taste, his smell and his touch gives him an intoxicating pleasure.  Sections 3 and 4 of the poem, the poet reproaches the â€Å"talkers†, the â€Å"trippers† and the â€Å"askers† for discussing things that is of shallow importance. Whitman describes his spiritual communion with God in section 5 of the poem by stating, â€Å"And I know that the promise of God is the promise of my own, And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ In section 6 of the poem, a child asks the poet â€Å"What is the grass?† The poet stops and thinks and finally explains that the â€Å"grass† is a metaphor for life and death. The grass grows and eventually dries up and dies. In section 7 of the poem, the poet describes his universal nature. The universal self discovers that he is surrounded by everything good and he is a part of them. In sections 8-16, the poet depicts everything he encounters, genders, all young and old alike, people from different places. He is drawn to them and he considers himself as one of them. The poet acknowledges his similarity with mankind as illustrated by section 17. The poet addresses the entire humanity from section 18-19.   In sections 20-25, Whitman expresses his divine experience by the fusion of the physical reality and universal reality. The poet listens to everything around him as depicted in Section 26. The poet is amazed by the sense of touch and what joy it brings to him as it is described in section 27-30 where he asks â€Å"Is this then a touch? Quivering me to a new identity†. The poet believes that all small things are essential. He cites that â€Å"a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars†, as portrayed in sections 31-33. The poet makes reference to every person in existence and the ones who died; he also gives an account of his experiences in the history of America (Section 34-36). He further explains in sections 37-38 that through his connection to all things dead and living, he feels empowered by the experience. Sections 39-41 states that the poet is transformed to a hero that he would save people from falling he would stop â€Å"the descending man from and raise him with resistless will†¦/By God you shall not go down! hang your whole weight upon me†. In section 41, the poet accepts religion as universal. He believes that all men are divine. Whitman sees the inequality, injustice and corruption in society as described by section 42. The poet embraces all religion as explained in section 43. The idea of death and eternity is expressed in sections 44-49. He explains that everything will eventually unite with God in the end. Whitman feels that there is something greater than death and yet he could not explain it as cited on section 50 of the poem. Finally, in sections 51-52, the poet bids farewell â€Å"The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them, /And proceed to fill my next fold of the future†¦Missing me one place search another, /I stop somewhere waiting for you.† Walt Whitman believed that the poet has a role of exposing the truth by using his poems. The use of metaphors not only enhances the reader’s imagination but also becomes an eye opener. It makes a person stop and think. It creates a sort of awakening of the senses that may not be seen, heard or felt before. Works Cited Whitman, Walt. â€Å"Song of Myself†. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Books, 1998.

The aftermath of the global financial crisis 2007-2009 Essay

The aftermath of the global financial crisis 2007-2009 - Essay Example Consequently, liquidity became common; this facilitated the concept of innovative finance (D’Arista and Griffith-Jones, 2008), putting more funds into risky investments. Sub-prime loans were easily available before the emergence of financial crisis. Udell (2009) explains that the sub-prime loans were easily available in America. Basically, this type of loan is given to those people who do not have positive credit worthiness. And, banks and other financial institutions do not provide loans and other short-term credit facilities to those people or institutions who have negative credit worthiness or who are unable to repay loan. In the United States of America, before the beginning of financial crisis, many were unable to receive loans due to these factors and they resort to sub-prime loans. Initially, there were a few people and small institutions were giving sub-prime loans. With the passage of time, from local to multi-national banks and other financial institutions started gi ving sub-prime loans. Since higher interest rates were charged on the sub-prime loans, many banks and financial institutions saw it as an opportunity to earn more profit. The attacks of 9/11 were economically dangerous as well. The magnitude of attacks was sufficiently negatively on the economy of America. The entire American economy was damaged; the Fed came under pressure to economically manage the situation and devise such economic short-term policies to minimise the impacts of 9/11 on the American economy. With this aim in mind, Greenspan of Fed decided to reduce the interest rate to the level of 1 percent. The reduction of interest rates further allowed ordinary Americans to avail the benefit of interest rate reduction. This reduction further directly increased the risk of default and bankruptcy. Savings of developing countries further aggravated the availability of excessive liquidity. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many developing countries poured their funds into the dif ferent American banks and other financial institutions. As a result, banks and financial institutions faced the problem of excessive liquidity. Normally banks face shortage of liquidity, and to fulfil their daily requirements, banks try different means to obtain funds. But, before the financial crisis, most of the banks and financial institutions were filled with the excessive liquidity. Now, banks were required to invest the excessive liquidity for the purpose of earning returns. The inflow of excessive liquidity was so huge that many banks totally compromised on the risks associated with different types of investments. Banks and other financial institutions were desperate to utilise the availability of excessive liquidity at the cost of safe and secure returns. Banks and other financial institutions did not give an appropriate consideration before going to invest; even they overlooked the possibility of default, which could shake their commercial existence. Banks and other financi al institutions started lending to those individuals and institutions that were lacking to fulfil the requirements of creditworthiness. Consequently, these factors contributed to the inception of global financial crisis, which did not remain within the boundary of the United States of America, but spread to other countries. Many shortcomings did exist in the risk management policies of banks. Too little understanding of exposure to

Marketing Dynamics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing Dynamics - Essay Example This essay is developed in order to understand marketing dynamics of the green marketing and consumers. There are various consumer concerns which are impacting the decision making process and buying behaviour of consumers. Organisations need to understand these patterns in order to identify threats and opportunities and develop strategies according to that. There are various macro environmental factors which influence green consumer. These factors can be related to the infrastructure of the company, use and wastage of resources of the company, final product, recycle ness of the product and the work environment it has been providing to its employees. The case study in the paper analyses the Hewlett Packard efforts for the environmental and green marketing has created value for Hewlett Packard, industry and society as a whole. The efforts of Hewlett Packard company have been taken well by the stakeholder communities. It has been able to create a sustainable brand value through this. It took initiatives and efforts to gain attention of competitors and policy makers for the environmental friendly concerns. It is summed up that all its efforts have been focused toward its final consumer. The researcher also states that the focus of consumers has been toward the environmental and eco-sensitive factors as well along with the product and value a company offers for the price consumer is paying. The number of customers and consumer are increasing who are more aware and concerned about the environment.

Business Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Culture - Essay Example Organizational change or change management has become a very important aspect in the modern day management practice. Change is desirable when everything else has failed to ensure the continuous survival of the business. However change in itself might not be desirable when the degree of resistance to change become stronger because when resistance gathers momentum that in itself is an indicator of the existence of other solutions. If organizational change were focused on improving critical success factors related to financial management, Human Resource Management (HRM), employee relations, supply chain management, quality management, marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR), then the organization would have to face considerable resistance. In the first instance when change involves people it is all the more difficult to manage the process of change smoothly because employees depending on their attitude to change would not remain silent. Thus as much as the active management of the change process involves attitudinal changes, there are predefined objectives that would require far reaching changes at each level before a final changes brought aboutAlbert Breton (Author) †º Visit Amazons Albert Breton Page . Organizational change also requires a far greater commitment on the part of management to initiate change. However once it is initiated the degree of participation by other employees alone would determine the success or the failure of the program. Thus organizational change theories have evolved overtime with particular emphasis on the change management process of employees in general. Lewin’s theory of organizational change is based on a three tier change management process in which a system of continuous replacement is adopted. Thus it is known as unfreeze-change-refreeze model. For example in the first stage the existing organizational setup is unfrozen or dismantled. In the second stage changes are

Over-education in the graduate labour market Essay

Over-education in the graduate labour market - Essay Example Observing the actions taken by the regulatory bodies and the Government of UK, it can be observed that, over-education is a long term phenomenon and is hampering the work enthusiasm of the graduates. The situation of the labour market of UK is still suffering from the after effects of the global financial meltdown. Although, the corporate sector is growing all over the world, the job market has changed in terms of demand and recruitments processes. Moreover, the educational systems are also changing and focusing on designing courses that are suited more professionally, rather than the traditional learning style (Walker and Zhu, 2005). One of the major issues in the contemporary job market scenario is over-education of the candidates and the jobs being offered. This is reducing the potential limits of the students and is also hampering their future prospects. This study is based on evaluating the influence of the graduate workers in the UK. Majority of the scholars such as Walker and Zhu (2005) and Buchel, de Grip and Mertens (2003) have pointed out that, the primary factor behind the increase of over-education is the limited numbers of suitable candidates available in the job market. However, Dolton and Vignoles (2000) observed that the changes in the operational style of the corporate segment have also caused a rise in the number of over-educated employees. Most of the large scale business houses have segregated their work process into small and specific parts. This has limited the amount of skill required for employment and also reduced the scope of growth. Hence, the educational qualifications of the employees are often, more than their existing job profile. On the other hand, the limited number of jobs in the industry is also forcing the graduate candidates to work at lower level employment criteria adding to the factor of over-education among the graduates. Budria and Moro-Egido (2009) opined that, the overall in crease in the cost of living has

Data Communication and Networking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Data Communication and Networking - Assignment Example Using this method, a computer can bypass some access controls or servers or even imitate other computers on a certain network, thus a simple way to hack into the system. A man-in-the-middle attack through DHCP, also known as DHCP spoofing occurs when an attack is initiated, and the attacker tries to make DHCP requests responses by trying to enlist as the default server. In such a case, traffic is intercepted before it is forwarded to the user gateway. BEAST: This is a hacking tool developed in Delphi that infects Windows operating systems. BEAST operates in reverse engineering mode and gets the required codes. It utilizes some ports and can terminate the operations of an antivirus or even a firewall, to gain entry into a victim. RSA is an asymmetric public key algorithm whilst DES uses cipher that is old symmetric. RSA uses two keys, a public one and a private one whilst DES uses one key that is shared. DES can handle large chunks of data, a mechanism that is slow in RSA. Both are secret keys. PGP is standardized software that utilizes the former algorithms and others for operation. PGP is thus not an algorithm per se but has to use the other algorithms but perform the same encryption function (Keith,

Book review for Eat A Bowl of Tea by Louis Chu Essay

Book review for Eat A Bowl of Tea by Louis Chu - Essay Example Louis Chu â€Å"†¦was born in Toishan, China, in October 1, 1915. Immigrated to the United States†¦.a master’s degree from New York University†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4).One of the important characters in the story was Ben Loy the son of a â€Å"bachelor† father. After WWII, he was sent to mainland China to get married to his bride Mei Oi and after the marriage he returned to America but lost his sexual powers mysteriously and turned impotent. That was an arranged marriage by the parents of the bride and the bridegroom. Ah Song, a gambler and thug, made use of this opportunity of the sexual disability of Ben Loy and seduced Mei Oi. The story depicts the lifestyles of the people in China Town and the socio-cultural issues with the Chinese Americans of the time and their struggle for assimilation with the mainstream American society. It can be categorized as the social/cultural history of the Chinese Americans. The process of building up of a multicultural and multiethn ic Nation like America is complicated and is beset with many transformational problems. In between race and nation many ancillary issues like historical facts, gender and sexuality exert their presence and pressure strongly. This is validated by Louis Chu in this novel. On the other hand, the issues raked up in â€Å"Comfort Woman† by Okja Keller are more or less identical. Through the struggle of Ben Loy trying to strike the balance between China and America, the author depicts the issues with the Chinese American Society and their efforts to come out of the cocoon of the age-old Chinese traditions. Structural racism of the American system confronts him as he tries to better his economic and social prospectus within the limited opportunities and scarce resources. The scope is narrow and one is not allowed to transcend the limits set forth by the elders of the community. He is not allowed to be innovative and experiment with new business projects and to take independent decis ions. At the personal level he has sexual problems, may be as a consequence of pressure of handling the business that he does under compulsive circumstances and not with pleasure. The problems of Mei Oi were different. The sudden transplantation to the modern country, from a country that still practiced the middle-age traditions and values was like an electrical shock to her and she was finding it tough to come to terms with her new surroundings. She was not provided appropriate guidance and moral support from other female members of the Chinatown. Her husband’s impotency and the resultant depression took her to the portals of adultery for sexual fulfillment. Destiny played its part and things began to shape better when the couple moved to San Francisco, the American city to which the immigrants from China arrived first to make a fresh start in their life. They were able to integrate with the society better here and with that assimilation they began to make efforts for the fr uctification of their dreams. The pursuit of diversity became possible and the current issues took precedence in their lives and they began to enjoy the life of transformation and new joys sprouted forth in their lives. Destiny stuck the benevolent note this time and Jeffery Chan in his introduction to the book writes â€Å"Ben Loy regains his potency by eating a bowl of tea a regimen prescribed by an herbalist†

THE APPLICATION OF THEORETICAL MODELS RELATING TO TEAM BUILDING AND Essay

THE APPLICATION OF THEORETICAL MODELS RELATING TO TEAM BUILDING AND MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS TO THE PROCESS OF EVENT MANAGEMENT - Essay Example In the study, effectiveness measures include team performance by multiple evaluations of key stakeholders. Team effectiveness is found to be a result of the interactions among design, process, and contextual support factors. It was suggested that as teams work under interdependent conditions, the positive relationship between team job motivation and team autonomy was reduced (Janz et al. 2006). It is also stressed that teams that have developmental maturity have a more positive demonstration of the relationship between job motivation and team process behaviors such as sharing and innovating, than those that do not. There is a positive relationship between process behaviours and effectiveness, a more positive relationship is recorded in the presence of certain contextual factors such as high-quality goals and efficient information transmission. The presence of other contextual factors, such as feedback and time pressure allows process behaviours and effectiveness for a less positive r esult (Janz et al. 2006). In order for an organisation to achieve maximum returns on investment, teams and leaders need to achieve peak performances - team process skills, leadership, and management development, mind mapping techniques, stress management, and personal and team coaching. Teamwork is important in carrying out a task and spells the difference between group efficiency and lack of it. Teamwork is enhanced in team building activities as it pertains to people working together cooperatively as a tam in pursuit for accomplishing the same goals/objectives. A team building-based approach is fundamental to many organisations, which is proved by reliance upon project teams in driving change and innovation. A so-called 'teamship skills' that are on par with employees' and workers' functional and technical skill sets is what is required of people in order to work in a team dimension. Upon achieving the fundamental outcomes of team building, the team's journey will be accelerated by the second phase of team development toward peak performance. A team development program provided by the organisation will give way for teamship skills and operational framework in order for teams and individuals achieve their full potential (Bowdin et al. 2001). The first step in achieving teamwork and high performance team building is by building strong interpersonal relationships and alignment to team goals, which must be undertaken in the initial building of the team. Trust and rapport can be easily established by a shared experience that involves working together on tasks that are unfamiliar and require a high degree of interdependence. Improved and measurable team building outcomes are sought by modern organisations, in which a team-based approach is fundamental. A clear example of this is the reliance upon project teams in order to drive change and innovation. There is now a necessity for people to possess teamship skills, which are aligned to their functional and technical skills sets. There is also a growing trend of using project teams to drive organisational improvement, which is one consideration in the fast-paced dimension of business. An employee

Volunteer Work Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Volunteer Work Experience - Essay Example When I was a young teenager, my mother would let me conduct simple bookkeeping, perform inventory counts, and supervise the workers while she was away. Working alongside my mother made me realize that my vision of becoming a competent entrepreneur was attainable. My mother’s theory that economics and accounting were the governing languages of business was not only reflected in her business decisions, but also evident in her daily conducts. It was as if her every motion and speech had been calculated for the highest accuracy and efficiency. Her ability to handle tough situations with poise coupled with an undeniable attention to details made her an exceptional businessperson. She was able to keep the family above waters even when my father's ventures failed. Whether mom was trying to maintain her little textile shop or tending to her catering business, she always managed to keep an optimistic outlook despite countless missed opportunities and unfruitful investments. Every week, she would gather donations and organize trips to local orphanages. Her intelligence and selfless altruism strengthened my aspirations to soar as a successful businesswoman and break free from society’s patriarchal expectations. My achievements function as a medium from which I could give back to the community. In the summer of 2010, I felt extremely defeated when my hopes of scoring an internship with the auditing firm Ernst & Young Jakarta was crushed. However, my disappointment left me searching for other opportunities that would allow me to accomplish something in the business world. When my 17-year-old boyfriend came up with a spontaneous idea to build a small Internet business in the underdeveloped area of West Jakarta, I impulsively agreed to be his bookkeeper.

Describe and explain the value of industrial location models Essay Example for Free

Describe and explain the value of industrial location models Essay What is an industrial location model? [5] 1) A model is a mathematical representation that is used to show why patterns have occurred, or to predict how things will occur in the future. A location model shows why certain things have located in certain spaces and aims to show where they will locate in the future. An industrial location model therefore aims to show why industry has located in the area it has, and where it will locate in the future. The term industry includes primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors. All sides of industry can be incorporated in these models, this includes tertiary and primary as well as secondary employment, although most models are designed with manufacturing specifically in mind. There are many types of industrial location model. Weber designed a model that showed where secondary manufacturing industry would locate based on the weight of raw materials used and the weight of the final product. Smith (1971) built an alternative to Webers model, which is more updated and takes into account new types of transport and industries other than secondary. There are also models such as the behavioural matrix which attempt to show what type of companies are more likely to choose the optimum location for their business. Describe and explain the value of industrial location models [20] 2) A model of industrial location put forward by Alfred Weber in 1909 assumes that industrialists choose a least-cost location for the development of new industry. The theory is based on a number of assumptions. Weber assumes that there is a flat relief, uniform transport, culture, climate, labour costs, political and economic system, and that markets are of fixed size and location. It is also assumed that transport costs are proportional to the weight of the goods and the distance covered by the goods, and that perfect competition exists. One of the main assumptions is that raw materials are either ubiquitous or localised. Ubiquitous raw materials are found everywhere and are evenly distributed, and therefore would affect industrial location e.g. water and clay. Localised raw materials are not evenly distributed. Weber suggested that raw materials and markets would attract the location of an industry due to transport costs. Industries with a high material index would be pulled towards the raw material. Industries with a low material index would be pulled towards the market. The material index is calculated by dividing the total weight of raw materials by the total weight of the finished product. A material index of much greater than 1 indicates that there is a loss of weight during the manufacturing process; for example butter making. The factory should therefore locate near to the raw material. A material index of less than 1, where weight is gained during manufacturing, would locate near to the market. An index of less than 1 could be achieved by an industry using largely ubiquitous materials, like water, as in the brewing industry. Once a least-cost location has been established through the material index, Weber considers the effect of labour costs in deflecting industry away from the least cost location. Isodapanes are constructed to determine the area within which an industry can locate without losing money. The critical isodapane is the greatest distance an industry can locate from the least-cost location without losing money. If a source of cheap labour lies within an isodapane below the critical isodapane, it would be more profitable to choose the site with low labour costs rather than the least transport costs location. Weber also takes into account agglomeration of industries, the model suggests that some factories locate within critical isodapanes of other factories, to share resources labour and transport costs. Webers model doesnt relate well to modern conditions. This is because it doesnt take into account many recent developments such as reduced costs of transport and government intervention. Weber assumes a lot of things that in reality wouldnt be found e.g. perfect knowledge of the market, and physical geography is ignored. Weber also ignores changes in costs and sources of raw materials over time. Overall Webers model is largely applicable to heavy industries only. In 1971 David Smith provided an alternative to Webers model of industrial location. Smith suggested that as profits could be made anywhere where the total income is greater than total costs, then although there is a point of maximum profit, there would be a larger area where production is possible and profit is still made. Smith suggested that industries rarely located at the least-cost location, but more often at a sub optimum and practical location. He suggested that this was due to imperfect knowledge about production and market demand, imperfect decision makers, who can be influenced by other factors, or may not act rationally, or a government policy, which may tempt industry to locate in areas of high unemployment or development areas. Smiths model takes into account all types of transport although a circular margin of profitability is rarely produced in real life. Where Webers model can only be used for secondary manufacturing Smiths model can easily be modified to include all types of industry. However Smiths model is based entirely on money and other factors such as employees needs are not taken into account. The UK iron and steel production is a good example of industrial location compared to Weber and Smiths models. Before the 1600s, iron making was found near to outcrops of ore, where there were plenty of trees, e.g. Forest of Dean, because transport was poor and they were unable to move raw materials large distances. This fits Webers model because iron making would have a material index of greater than one, due to iron ore being much greater in weight than the iron produced as the finished product. However Webers model says that a resource such as trees will be ubiquitous, which is not the case here. After 1700 coke began to be used to smelt iron more efficiently. The new furnaces were located near coalmines, where coal would have been the heaviest raw material to transport e.g. Sheffield and South Wales. This fits Webers model. Today the coalmines have run out, but the industry hasnt relocated because good transport systems mean that ores and coal can be transported in from abroad. This complies with Smiths model because profit has been made in a sub optimum location. Other reasons for the iron and steel industry remaining in the same areas are large amounts of labour and agglomeration, which are covered in Webers model.

ERP Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets

ERP Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Research Topic The investment dilemma hits when individuals earn more than their consumption needs. Considering the fast rising inflation globally, saving the surplus earnings for future consumption is not sufficient anymore. Hence, making an investment such that the surplus earnings grow or even multiply over time is almost imperative. Such an investment can be made in many ways for instance commodities, stocks, bonds, pension funds, real estate etc. This study is concerned with individuals investment in stocks. When an individual invests, he/she expects a certain rate of return in the future from the investment which should ideally compensate future consumption needs, future increase in inflation and uncertainty of return if any. Therefore, investments with higher returns are preferred. A number of studies find evidence of stocks giving higher return than government bonds, although the relative uncertainty of return from stocks being much higher than from bonds (Dimson et al, 2002; Ibbotson Senquefield, 1976). Consequently, the more uncertain the future return gets, the riskier it is to invest. Hence, when an individual invests in stocks, he/she expects added compensation for added risk which leads to the concept of Equity Risk Premium (ERP). ERP is the surplus return from stocks/equities over the return from nearly risk-free (here on mentioned as risk-free) asset such as government bonds.It is the premium that individuals demand for bearing the additional risk in equity investments (Reill y Brown, 1999). ERP is calculated using equation-1. Stock returns can be the returns from a benchmark index (market returns) such as FTSE 100 and the returns from risk-free asset (risk-free returns) can be those from UK gilts. (Reilly Brown, 1999) ERP is an important consideration from an investors point of view for building and analysing a domestic equity portfolio or an entire equity market especially for an investor looking to diversify globally (here on mentioned as global investor). Therefore, it is a widely researched topic, however yet the existing literature is inadequate, considering there are numerous debates and puzzles pertaining to various aspects of ERP. Hence, looking at its significance in theoretical practical finance, ERP is chosen as the central topic to be researched in this study. 1.2 Research Background Individuals (retail investors) use ERP to forecast the expected growth of their equity portfolios over long-term and for portfolio allocation decisions. Corporations (here on mentioned as organisations) need ERP as an input to determine the cost of equity i.e. the annual expected rate of return from investment in stocks and for capital budgeting decisions. Overall, ERP is a significant factor in most risk-return models of corporate finance and investment management. Hence, estimating future ERP and identifying possible reasons for the results found, is an important financial and economic research topic for academia and practitioners alike. Although historical data is most popularly used to estimate future ERP, there exist financial, economic asset pricing models developed over the years which predict an implied ERP based on companies, macroeconomic equity market data. Evidence from the relevant literature suggests that every ERP estimation method has a distinct set of assumptions a nd underlying ideas therefore exuding both merits and demerits when compared to another estimation method. Rapid economic growth of emerging countries has been apparent especially because of industrialisation. Consequently the performance of emerging equity markets has been remarkable in the past decade. The big 4 i.e. Brazil, Russia, India China (BRIC) alone, accounted for more than 50% of the world GDP in 2006 (RICS, 2008). Due to saturation in developed countries and growing avenues for investment in those emerging, the ERP of emerging markets has risen due to growing investor confidence. Although perceived social, economic political risks are equally high, financial systems have strengthened and macro-economic conditions have improved drastically for most emerging countries. Barry et al (1997) argues that investing in emerging markets is more than just profitable, considering the risk-return trade-off. Hence, gauging the future of emerging equity markets has become a vital research topic for economists, finance professionals and global investors alike. In a discussion of emerging markets, India cannot be left out. Post liberalisation (i.e. post 1991) India is definitely the secondmost preferred emerging economy by global investors after China. Although Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows have been average compared to other emerging countries, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) flows increased almost 10 times, from United States Dollar (USD) 739million in 2002 to a record USD 7.59billion in 2003. CALPERS, the worlds biggest pension fund with a base of USD 165billion has recently included India in their list of countries for investment (BSE India, 2008). The noteworthy rise to the position of the sixth largest emerging equity market with a total market capitalisation of USD 818billion and 8% p.a. average economic growth (CIA Fact-book, 2008) over past decade accentuates the importance of Indias ERP estimation and analysis. 1.3 Research Gap, Objective Questions Most of the research on ERP has focussed on developed markets clearly because of their sound history and stable fundamentals. Within limited research conducted on ERP in emerging markets, Salomons Grootveld (2003) demonstrate the evident differences in ERPs of developed and emerging markets and claim that global business cycle influences these differences. Claessens (1995) argues through his empirical research that investment in emerging markets can be fruitful in long-term considering that high ERP compensates for high risk. Although these and similar related researches vaguely guide investors wanting to explore emerging markets, there lacks a clear evidence of the possible risks attached and whether those risks can be tackled to earn complete benefit of the high ERP. Bernartzi Thaler (1995) and Campbell Cochrane (1999) claim that the reason for increase in investors interest in U.S. markets was the high ERP it offered. Hence if the same rule is applied to emerging markets then i nvestments should be made without any prior estimation of possible risks, especially considering the success of U.S. markets. However it is not the case, as investors are still sceptical about getting confirmed high returns from emerging markets. Therefore, the precise reasons for the difference in ERPs of developed and emerging markets have not been clearly identified as yet, hence constituting the first research gap. There exists considerable evidence on how political, social and especially macroeconomic factors affect the equity market returns of developed countries, especially U.S. (Chen et al, 1986). Considering the limited work done on ERP of emerging markets on the whole, negligible contribution has been made to analysing ERP in India with respect to its growing economy, Mehra (2006) being the most notable, hence constituting the second research gap. Considering the importance of ERP it is interesting to note that in-spite of there being many ways to calculate ERP; there exists no consensus on the best approach. Financial market analysis is performed based on historical data and the ERP measured from past performance of equity markets is most commonly used as an estimate of future ERP. For instance Ibbotson Sinquefield (1976) exemplified first accurate calculations of annual rate of return on equity investments in U.S. and ERP. Since then, Siegel (1992) Dimson et al (2002) are two of the most notable researches on ERP estimations using the historical method. However, there exist models developed for instance by Fama French (2002) and Arnott Bernstein (2002) that determine future ERP entirely based on forward-looking information through estimation of future investors markets expectations. This variation of approaches to ERP estimation has only widened the range of results and complicated the unresolved debate, hence constitut ing the third research gap. The 3 research gaps identified above lead to the overall Research Objective of this study, which is: Comparative analysis of ERP in the leading developed emerging markets; determine the macroeconomic influence on ERP and examine the ERP estimation methods; all from a global investors point of view. It is not realistically possible to fill the research gaps entirely through this study considering time, knowledge and relevant experience constraints. However, this study aims to fulfil the above objective through the accomplishment of satisfying solutions to the following 3 Research Questions: After estimating future ex-post ERP in the chosen sample index of developed and emerging markets, what is the impact of risk responsible for the differences found through the comparison of their risk-return trade-off? What effect do the country specific macroeconomic factors have on the ERP in India, if any? After estimating future ex-ante ERP in India using a supply-side method and comparing it with the estimated ex-post ERP, what is the most suitable method for global investors, if at all, and why? Research Contribution As this study is predominantly aimed at analysing the ERP of leading emerging markets and particularly India, it is hoped that this study contributes to simplify the decision making of global investors regarding their equity investments in emerging markets India. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study provides guidance to the global investors regarding the macroeconomic situation in India and its influence on the ERP, for sound portfolio management. Moreover, it is hoped that this study adds a small brick to the large edifice of ERP analysis/measurement/estimation on the whole. Finally, if this study motivates the eminent researchers and consequently triggers some ground breaking academic scholarship regarding the ERP of emerging markets, then the worthiness of this study will be truly identified. 1.4 Research Structure The following is the chronology and brief content of the chapters in this study here on: Chapter 2: Literature Review: This chapter aims to explain the historical development of ERP through empirical researches and relevant theoretical background. Furthermore, it examines important research literature on ERP estimation methods and emerging equity markets. Chapter 3: Overview of Research Methodology: This chapter aims to briefly explain the chosen research methodology for this study and justify its appropriateness. It also describes the chosen data collection method and clarifies how the data will be collected used for achieving the research objective. Chapter 4: Data Analysis, Findings Interpretative Analysis: This chapter aims to identify the collected data, explain the data analysis technique/model/method in detail, analyse the data that is collected by using the chosen methods models; and finally, interpret, examine evaluate the results/findings from the analysis to identify justifiable solutions to the research questions. The chapter is divided into 3 parts, each part pertaining to each research question and the procedure is conducted separately for each. Chapter 5: Discussion Conclusion: This chapter aims to summarise the results from chapter 4, recapitulate the entire paper and testifies the level of fulfilment of the research objective. Also, it plausibly links the past literature results from this study to check the level of accomplishment in filling the research gap and to identify the need for future study. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Introduction ERP is a vital numerical figure in practical modern finance as it is considered by financial analysts, business managers and economists for the purpose of decision-making; perhaps best testified by Welch (2000, p.501) wherein he calls ERP the single most important number in financial economics. Consequently, it is and has been one of the most fascinating topics for academic scholarship leading to vast amount of literature. This Chapter discusses the various significant perspectives about ERP generated from the literature. The literature reviewed in this chapter is primarily related to the research questions that this paper aims to answer; having said that, other theoretical developments and empirical researches in the field of portfolio management and corporate finance that are significantly relevant to the research topic, are also discussed. Broadly speaking, the content matter in this chapter is organised in chronological order beginning from the earliest. Here on this chapter is divided into 5 sections. The historical advancements in productive assessment of the relationship between equity risk and return resulting from empirical researches which lead to the conceptualisation of ERP is discussed in section-2. The next section-3 highlights the important theoretical developments which laid the foundation for the large edifice of researches on investment management. Section-4 focuses on the models/methods that were formulated based on the theories, with an aim to calculate expected returns and measure estimate ERP. It also looks at the important contemporary researches in the field of ERP with a brief backdrop of macroeconomic factors. The following section-5 highlights the important literature with respect to the ERP Puzzle. It discusses the significant attempts by researchers to solve the puzzle. The next section-6 follows which briefly looks at the important literature on emerging equity markets overall. Finally, section-7 summarises the entire discussion. 2.2 Historical Conceptualisation of ERP The apt risk-return trade-off sought by investors worldwide augmented the importance of ERP evaluation and forecasting. Consequently, vast theoretical empirical research under various objectives has been conducted till date since the early 20thcentury on measuring, estimating and analysing ERP, most of which has concentrated on the developed markets, especially U.S. Furthermore, eminent financial economists have been engaged in empirical analysis of past investment results to gauge future investment strategies. In the late 19th and early 20thcenturies, most economists did not endorse the importance of risk in evaluating and justifying excess returns. The conception of the fact that incremental profit on equity investments is a result of the higher risk attached, was a gradual process. For instance, Clark (1892), professor at university of Columbia, claims that investments in some organisations give higher returns than risk-free rate some other organisations because those organisations have an advantage of monopoly in the market. Furthermore, modernisation and development in technology lead to comparatively higher competitive advantage which in turn gives excess returns. However, renowned author of the book Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, Knight (1921), does not endorse Clarks view but instead criticises him for inadequately exploring the association of risk and return in the models used in his economic research. Knight analyses the importance of risk in equity investments through past performance of U.S. markets and aimed at relating it to the concept of profit in the basic economic theory. He argues that any kind of risk deserves a premium (i.e. excess returns), even if the risk is unquantifiable (which he later termed as uncertainty), although, he could not suggest any solid and foolproof way of measuring the premium that he justified. As a cumulative result, the debate on equity risk and the attached premium flared up which necessitated ground breaking empirical researches based on historical data of past performance. Hence, many scholars developed stock price indices in early 20thcentury in order to measure long-term investment performance and estimate future returns; For instance, Mitchell (1910, 1916), Persons (1916, 1919), Cole Frickey (1928) in the U.S. and Smith Horne (1934) and Bowley et al (1931) in the U.K. However, Hautcoeur et al (2005) in their analyses of early stock market indices; argue that the main motive in development of these indices was forgotten in no time and instead they were used to gauge the influence of macroeconomic cycles on equity markets and as an easier way to estimate macroeconomic fluctuations. The popular index of 30 stocks developed by Charles Dow was never aimed at estimating future long-term returns but instead to measure daily returns on the market. Consequently, the relevance of the returns from risk-free assets like government bonds to comparatively risky equity returns was tested. The difference in their rate magnitude of returns solidified the so far debated idea of returns being a compensation of the risk attached to the investments made. Smith (1924) advocates through empirical research and later through his book that; equities give higher returns than bonds because they carry higher risk. He collected historical data on stock prices, dividends and corporate bonds from the stock exchanges at Boston and New York spanning 1866-1923. Furthermore, he divided this period into 4 sub-periods to recognise the economic development. After creating separate portfolios for each asset class (10 securities in each portfolio), he measured cash income and capital gains from both. Equity investments give higher appreciation and returns than bonds in the long-term in-spite of economic changes in the sub-periods, was his conclusion. Further in his book, he suggested a mechanical way of calculating ERP by paying out the equivalent amount of bond returns from the total equity returns and re-investing the remaining in the same equity portfolio. In this way, the relative growth rate of the equity portfolio is the ERP over the bond portfolio. Smiths estimation and method of ERP calculation attracted many retail investors towards the equity markets in 1920s. Later, Smiths attempt to assess equity investment returns over bonds; was improvised by Cowles (1938). He collected historical data on most of the stocks of NYSE instead of only 10 for the period 1872-1937 and notably created the first nearly-accurate index of total returns from common stock investments. Furthermore, he suggested of re-investing the dividend yields into the equity portfolio to save from measuring cash returns and value appreciation separately, the way Smith did. However, he made no concluding remarks such as equity investments can be more profitable than bonds, unlike Smith. By then, although the idea of an ERP was making financial economic sense, a solid way of estimating future ERP could not be developed yet; the two main reasons being the unavailability of adequate historical equity market data and the ignorance about the possibility of a forward looking method. However later, John Williams (1938) wrote the first book that defined; modelled and estimated forward looking ERP. Although he estimated future ERP in U.S. using Dividend Discount Model (DDM), he argued that ERP estimates based on Historical Method are equally precise. He believed that the most suitable way to calculate the riskiness of a security is by appending a premium to the risk. Later, he also became the first researcher to numerically estimate a forward looking ERP for U.S. By then, the concept of ERP had been clearly understood and its importance had been recognised. Nearing late 1940s economists and researchers had realised the importance of risk and conceptualised ERP as an essential ingredient to calculate future returns on equity investments. Moreover, enough historical data of U.S. equity markets was also available for past performance analyses and empirical researches. Even so, there was no method/measure that could quantify future risk and returns for any given portfolio of investments, as most experts and investors believed in calculating risk-return trade-off individually for equities and other securities. However, that did not serve the purpose of optimal risk-return trade-off as far as entire portfolio of investments was concerned, until 1952 when crucial theoretical developments began. 2.3 Theoretical Developments This section summarises the important theoretical developments which built models to quantify future risk and returns of equities and related vital researches in portfolio investment management and corporate finance, with a backdrop of their implications on ERP. The 4 most important theories/models reviewed in this section are Portfolio Theory, Capital Market Theory, Capital Asset Pricing Model and Arbitrage Pricing Theory. 2.3.1 Markowitzs Portfolio Theory Harry Markowitz (1952) introduced the Portfolio Theory or now what is called the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). It provides a formalised method to diversify the portfolio of all investments (not just equity) with an aim to achieve highest possible returns for lowest possible risk. MPT records expected returns, volatility or risk (standard deviation) for each investment and correlation of one investment to another to create the best combination. Therefore, risk is minimised while maintaining the expected returns, if investments are diversified based on the risk of each individual investment. However, Markowitz (1952) assumed that investors are naturally risk averse, i.e. they tend to choose the investment with highest returns for a given level of risk and refrain from investing if risk is higher than acceptable/favourable levels. Hence, by applying MPT, investors can choose less risky and highly risky investments at the same time in such a way that cumulative expected returns are unharmed and optimised. The risk appetite, although, of each investor differs from the other. Therefore, based on the above assumption, Markowitz (1952) believed that depending on the risk appetite, every investor aims at attaining highest possible returns for the level of risk that he/she is ready to bear. In other words, aims to build an Efficient Portfolio. Consequently, all the portfolios, ranging from high-risk to low-risk, which give optimal returns lie on the Efficient Frontier, as termed by Markowitz. Although Markowitzs MPT is still followed by many experts and investors, it also faces criticism on its unreal assumptions. MPTs assumption of volatility with figures of standard deviation or variance of an investment as its risk measurement may not always be true, especially for equities. It speaks about only a single period when actually volatility changes over time. Therefore, even if a portfolio is efficient today, it may be not be the same tomorrow. For instance, in an economic crisis or equity market crash, there is a high possibility of correlation of two assets in an efficient portfolio increasing than average. Malkiel Xu (1997) empirically prove that volatility of stocks increases with an increase in institutional ownership in the organisations. Similarly Campbell (2000) shows results of increased volatility with reduction in number of conglomerates as organisations started to narrow their focus. Lofthouse (2001) criticises MPT on the fact that it bases its calculation of expected returns, volatility and correlation on past historical figures which is inadequate especially when the aim is to build the most efficient portfolio possible. Furthermore, Bernstein (2002) notes that; MPT assumes that there is a possibility that some investments absolutely do not correlate with any of the other investments which is untrue, as each investment at some point in time correlates with one or the other investment in the portfolio. Hence, although MPT model enables investors to optimally gauge the future risk to gain highest possible returns, it is based on idealistic, theoretically decorative and practically unreal assumptions. 2.3.2 Capital Market Theory After MPT was developed, many researchers worked on the most important missing link in MPT, the inclusion of risk-free asset with zero volatility, zero correlation with risky assets and certain future returns. Tobin (1958) was the first to extend Markowitzs Portfolio Theory by introducing risk-free asset to the Efficient Portfolio. Later, Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) contributed to his idea as they independently worked on similar theories. The final development is known as Capital Market Theory (CMT). It is important to note that CMT shares 3 assumptions with those made by Markowitz (1952) for MPT, as follows: Investors are always risk averse Investors decisions are solely based on expected returns and their volatility There exist no transaction costs and taxes However following are the new assumptions that CMT makes as extracted from Lofthouse (2001): All the investors have the exact same time-horizon for their investments Borrowing and lending at the risk-free rate is not restricted All the investors have the exact same expectations for correlation, risk and returns CMT states that the volatility for Efficient Portfolios that include risk-free asset; is actually the linear equivalent of volatility (risk) for the portfolios before risk-free asset inclusion. Hence these combined Efficient Portfolios lie on the straight line graph of risk and return, joining the risky and risk-free assets. This way, the optimal combined portfolio i.e. point-M in Figure.2.2, is identified at the tangency point formed by the ray starting from point-F in Figure.2.2 i.e. expected return of risk-free asset and the Efficient Frontier. It is optimal because it gives the highest possible returns for any level of risk. Therefore, it is known as Market Portfolio as it has all risky assets and the ray is known as Capital Market Line (CML). CMT advocates that all the investors should aim to build their portfolios on CML depending on their risk appetite. They could invest in risk-free asset by lending or borrow at risk-free rate to invest in Market Portfolio. Either way their p ortfolios will earn more returns than other portfolios (blue spots in Figure.2.2) on or off the Efficient Frontier, for any given risk (Brealey et al, 2007). Therefore, under the CMT the expected returns of the equity portfolio are calculated by determining the slope of CML which is the change in return for a given change in risk and intercept which is return of risk-free asset (See Equation-2). The risk is measured by the standard deviation (Lofthouse, 2001). The development of CMT was ground-breaking in the field of investment management. It clarified the effect of including risk-free asset in an equity portfolio. It formed the first equation made of ERP, risk and returns, all together. In Equation-2, change in return is market return less the risk-free return which is actually the ERP. However, this estimation of ERP is an empirical deduction (calculated from slope of CML), as early development of CMT by Tobin (1958) was just an extension of MPT. Until it was theoretically formalised by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) independently, which then led to the gradual development of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Hence, the CAPM is usually referenced as SLMs CAPM for Sharpes, Lintners and Mossins equal and vital contributions. 2.3.3 Capital Asset Pricing Model The CAPM is undoubtedly the most widely known model to calculate expected returns. It is a sophisticated improvisation of CMT, which in-turn is an extension of MPT and therefore builds on the relationship/trade-off between risk and returns. It is primarily based on the universal classification of risk into 2 broad categories namely: Systematic: Risk that affects almost all assets equally Unsystematic or Specific: Risk that affects only individual asset or asset class (Sharpe, 1964) The CAPM is developed through the conception of Security Market Line (SML) (See Figure.2.3) which is a ray similar to CML originating from the return of risk-free asset. However, the big difference being that SML represents the linear relationship between risk and return from individual assets and/or inefficient portfolios in respect to market portfolio, unlike CML which only represents efficient portfolios. The risk that is measured is only systematic as it is un-diversifiable and hence rewarded, unlike unsystematic risk. The standardised measure of this systematic risk is called Beta which is covariance of an asset or portfolio with market portfolio divided by variance of market portfolio. Market portfolio has Beta equal to 1. Asset with Beta higher than 1, is riskier than market portfolio and hence higher return is expected. Assets with Beta lower than 1, are less risky with lower return. The expected returns are calculated by adding return on risk-free asset to the product of ERP and systematic market risk borne by the stock (See Equation-3) (Sharpe, 1964), (Lofthouse, 2001). However, the value of Beta for individual stocks of portfolios is not known. It needs to be estimated and is hence subject to errors. Understanding the mechanics and application of the CAPM is imperative to the study of ERP, as the slope of SML i.e. linear relationship between risk (Beta) and return, equals the difference between market returns and risk-free returns which is ERP. The application of the CAPM is extremely vital in the context of ERP measurement methods as it uses ERP as an input to calculate the expected returns on a stock. The empirical studies and relevant literature related to the CAPM and its applicability in ERP estimation methods are discussed in section 2.4.3. 2.3.4 Arbitrage Pricing Theory As seen before, MPT and CMT both assess only the cumulative risk of individual assets and market risk respectively, while calculating expected future returns. Ross (1976) proposed the Arbitrage pricing Theory (APT) based on the perception that the risk of assets and their future returns vary in accordance with the risks affecting the overall economic situation. Ross believed that unsystematic risks can be curbed/nullified through diversification as suggested by MPT CAPM and hence will not affect expected returns. But systematic risks having influence on all assets cannot be diversified and hence can cause fluctuation in the expected returns. Although he did not suggest any particular factors that can trigger the systematic risk, empirical results of Burmeister et al (1997) implied the following 5 factors: Inflation Business cycle Investor confidence Time horizon Market timing APT states that; the sensitivity of assets to the unanticipated instability in the above factors varies due to which one of them can get mispriced therefore creating an arbitrage opportunity. Consequently, by selling the highly-priced asset to buy the low-priced asset, the investor can ensure profit and nearly-perfect pricing of both assets. This arbitrage can be termed as the Risk Premium for that particular factor. However, this profit is expected and not guaranteed unlike usual arbitrage gains. Like MPT and CMT, APT also has some underlying assumptions as follows: No transaction costs Short selling i.e. selling assets that are not owned, is allowed Enough assets to diversify unsystematic risks (Ross, 1976) APT has faced many criticisms on its applicability in calcul

The Concept of the Digital Marketing

The Concept of the Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the very innovative and novel concept in the 21st century. Through this form of media products and services are promoted with the use of database-driven online distribution channels to reach consumers in an appropriate, significant, individual, and lucrative manner. The term digital marketing has not any specific definition or meaning but it can be well explained with the examples such as emails, online advertisements, pay per clicks, wireless text messages, instant messages, RSS, blogging, fax, video streams, podcasting, broadcast, etc. All these examples are included in the definition of digital marketing. Apart from its inclusive list, there are few traditional forms of marketing which are not included in the term of digital marketing. They are TV, radio, print and billboard as they are not the instant or quick forms of marketing. It means with these forms of marketing the advertiser could not get the immediate response from the end consumers. The traditional forms of marketing could not give the accurate number of responders. Perhaps, there is a little improvement has achieved with the devices such as TiVo which records the statistics like website but, still the desirable result has not gained. Nevertheless, this became possible with the introduction of digital marketing. Digital marketing has become so powerful network of advertising, that with the introduction of Double click strategy of Google for internet, the world has become very close linking to each and every place conveniently. With the help of digital marketing, campaigns for promoting any product through internet has become very cost-effective and convenient. With the feature digital technology, in digital marketing, the advertiser easily comes to know how many times and how long the campaign has been showed on internet, also it comes to know how many people have seen this campaign, how many responses have received, and how many purchases have been made though online mode. With this fast-end technology, marketing of any particular products becomes easier, the consumers convenience become possible and the organization makes huge profits, too. The improved versions of these digital marketing are broadband internet, Wi-Fi network, and mobile phone access. The usage of these techniques has drastically increased, worldwide. The web usage has increased 10% all over the world, from January 09 to January 10, as per the recent report. The attitude of management has changed. From traditional form of advertising, they have shifted to the digital marketing. Billions of dollars have been spent by organizations on digital marketing for promotion of their ad campaigns. They are taking huge benefits out of digital marketing and earning high revenues. Critical analysis of audit findings, using relevant diagrams and appropriate models to support analysis From the audit it is found that AECOM has considered for brand repositioning for its short term marketing project through digital marketing with Yahoo! Answers. But, AECOM has not considered any particular brand repositioning strategy for that. AECOM needs to consider the proper brand repositioning strategy for successful results in digital marketing. The strategy for AECOM can be New Logo and Tagline. AECOM is into financial and management services over the last 20 years but, during that period AECOM has not considered for brand repositioning. Now, if it has decided for it, then the best strategy for AECOM is new logo and tagline. AECOM should come up with new taglines such as Finest Service Provider, or Services Delivered. Anywhere. Anytime., or Leaders in Service Delivery. Along with its tagline, AECOM also can change its logo. By adopting any of the tagline, the scenario of consumers may change and consumers feel free to contact AECOM at any point of time. The tagline itself shou ld look so attractive that more and more consumers can be fascinated towards AECOMs services. Apart from this, AECOM has considered Yahoo Answers for its digital marketing promo. But, in the market there are various digital marketing services providers are available such as Google, Hotmail, Face book, You Tube, etc. The cost of services of all these service providers should also be considered, the quality of their services should be checked, the further discounts in finalizing the particular services should be checked and only after that the decision should be taken whether the particular service provider is economic in cost or not. AECOM should have to consider Face book for undertaking digital marketing project for brand repositioning. Over 400 millions of users the website has over socialized. AECOM could be able to take benefit out of it in fascinating more consumers towards its brand. The below diagram shows that the use of Face book has increased to that extent, if any company selects this digital marketing media for promo then definitely it will remain beneficial from the view point of growth, development, revenue, publicity, and of course profits. Facebook The use of social media for digital marketing is more compared to other websites which can be proved with the following diagram. If AECOM could have undertaken the brand repositioning through social media digital marketing, then the chances of its promo would be higher compared to Yahoo! Answers. AECOM is specifically into financial and management services to valued consumers. For further growth and development purposes, AECOM should consider the policy of diversification into new business segments such as AECOM should enter the new business of aviation industries or automobile industry for manufacturing of luxurious cars. A business case, with justification, including a cost benefit analysis, for the short term marketing project and show how the marketing project will support the delivery of the organizations marketing strategy Even though, AECOM is on number one position in providing financial services and management services to consumers, to survive in a huge market competition, brand repositioning of AECOM through innovation and technology via digital marketing is must. To maintain the market share and its position in the market, AECOM needs to consider brand repositioning. But, along with brand repositioning, the fear of high costs and high risks are increased with launching of new brand. As per Biel, brand positioning is building or (rebuilding) an image for a brand. Brand repositioning is nothing but managing the existing brand in better and advanced ways. Repositioning helps in introducing new opportunities and market changes. While going with the brand repositioning, there are certain risks factors which need to be considered. While brand repositioning, there is a high risk of losing trustworthiness and consistency of consumers. Because, it may become possible that many consumers are not aware of brand repositioning strategy of a company. During the period, if any consumer contacts through website, and the logo, tagline, advertisement, etc. changes, then consumers fall in the twisted atmosphere whether to contact or not. As per few analysts, the successful brand repositioning is impossible because during the repositioning period, most of the loyal consumers shift to other brands. The basic aim of brand repositioning is safeguarding and improving brand equity to un derstand the better vibrant of it. Repositioning of brand is modification of something which already exists in the market and the minds of consumers. Brand repositioning represents uniqueness in the companys existing products and services. Repositioning strategy exist in three stages known as introductory stage, elaboration stage, and fortification stage. The stages can be explained in the below diagram: Diagram 1: Stages in brand strategy development Selecting Appropriate Marketing mix Establishing the Brand proposition Rolling out the Strategy Introductory Stage Elaboration Stage Fortification Stage Modifying the Proposition Repositioning Updating the personality Repositioning helps in moving the organization to a newer and more attractive position than before. The objective of this movement depends from organization to organization. It differs particularly for the sake of understanding what the company wants to achieve. In case of AECOM, the company wants to become innovative in terms of technology and designing to the extent possible compared to its competitors. The brand positioning helps company in taking to the higher position than before. This can be explained with below diagram: Diagram 2: The principle of repositioning New Position Price Previous Position Experienced quality As the organization shifts to new position after brand repositioning, the company tries to meet the new demands of consumers, newer and stronger arguments of consumers by convincing them to stay as loyal. To achieve the benefits out of brand repositioning such as better value, relevant status in the market, great image, updated personality, etc. AECOM needs to undertake a four-phased brand repositioning approach which is as follows; Phase 1: Determining the current status of the brand Phase 2: What does the Brand stand for today? Phase 3: Developing the brand positioning platforms Phase 4: Refining the brand positioning and management presentation. Now, combining this repositioning strategy with digital marketing approach, the more accurate results will be delivered for AECOM. For this purpose, the Yahoo! Answers should reach beyond its pure online territory and initiate this conversation. For digital marketing of AECOMs brand repositioning campaign on Yahoo!, AECOM should conduct the following activities: Stage 1: On-ground video shoot of consumers At this stage, AECOM should visit major 3 countries UAE, USA, and UK. The campaign should be conducted for three days in each of the countries at well-known places asking questions to consumers about AECOMs brand repositioning event. While conducting this event, 5 questions to be asked to all respondents provided by the AECOM. All the answers to the above questions should be captured on the video and must post to the Yahoo! Answer. The response to the event will show that, whether AECOM has got tremendous response than expected or not and the target is achieved properly or not. Stage 2: Posting all the responses on Yahoo! The second stage in digital marketing for AECOM brand repositioning campaign is posting the responses on Yahoo! Answers. Accordingly, the top 50 answers from the list should be uploaded on Yahoo! Answers with AECOM brand. On each page total 10 answers to be displayed with AECOM promotional video. This can make it possible that users or consumers may watch the video responses posted on the website or answer the questions themselves which can foster more responses in the future. Stage 3: Promoting all the responses on Yahoo! All the questions selected should be posted on Yahoo! Answers for more promotion and advertising to create awareness amongst consumers about AECOMs brand repositioning strategy. For this promotion through digital media networking AECOM may get huge response. The strategy can be used here by AECOM and Yahoo!, is for every response to an answer the promo will be added more for 12 minutes which is the highest time given by Yahoo! Other than these responses, the other creative promos can also be added by AECOM on Yahoo! These creative promos include The promo of AECOMs featured services on Yahoo! Homepage The promo of AECOMs video answers on Yahoo! Homepage These promos are covered not only on Yahoo! Homepage but also on Messengers, E-mails, Answers and Groups. Stage 4: Invite maximum users to give their views and ask questions related to the AECOMs brand repositioning. The final stage in successful digital marketing campaign of AECOMs brand repositioning with Yahoo!, is invitation to maximum users to give their views about AECOMs financial and management services to others or those who are not aware about AECOM. Also, this stage includes the questions about AECOMs brand repositioning. The trusted consumers those have queries why AECOM is carrying brand repositioning, they can post the related questions on Yahoo!, and they may get the reasonable answers to their questions by responsible management team of AECOM through Yahoo! Answers. Accordingly, the promo of AECOMs brand repositioning can be conducted successfully via Yahoo! Answers with the expected unbelievable result. Cost-benefit analysis for the short term marketing project The cost-benefit analysis for AECOMs brand repositioning campaign in the context of digital marketing through Yahoo! Answers is highly depends upon the expected benefits out of it over its cost. Cost-benefit analysis (COBA) is a technique where the assessment of monetary social costs and benefits of any specified capital project is conducted over a given period of time. In case of this short term marketing project of AECOMs brand repositioning, if the benefits out of digital marketing are expected to be huge then the project is beneficial for AECOM and vice versa. For this purpose, the basic principles of COBA are required to understand which are as follows: Appraisal of a project For conducting cost-benefit analysis for any project, its evaluation is must. COBA is an economic technique for project appraisal. Incorporates externalities into the equation This characteristic of COBA invites for the social as well as private economic costs and benefits of the projects. It also measures the social welfare of the investment. Value of Time Time is very important factor while undertaking COBA analysis. The economy of time is considered in the future of the project. Uses of COBA : COBA is traditionally being used only for big public sector projects such as water, dams, railways, bridges, by-passers, new motorways, tunnels, power-stations, flood relief schemes, etc. But, now the scenario has changed and COBA has been applied to small projects, to public health programs, in reduction of long-term unemployment, to understand the cost or benefits in new business deals, etc. The main aim of conducting COBA is whether the project leads to an increase in social benefits in future or not. If the answer is Yes then the result of COBA is positive and vice versa. Main steps in calculating COBA Approach: Step1 (a): Calculation of social costs and benefits: In this step, the social costs and benefits include all the direct and indirect costs, expenditures, profits, and gains. It involves all the significant costs. Step1 (b): Sensitivity analysis of events occurring: In this step it is to be marked that how much is the profit and cost involved in particular transaction and what is the outcome of it? If it will occur what is the scale of uncertainty about the actual values of the costs and benefits? Step 2: Discounting the future value of benefits: The next step involved in COBA is discounting of future benefits. Since the benefits are enjoyed in present, the future value of it is discounted over a period of time. Step 3: Comparing the costs and benefits: This step helps to understand the net returns on investment. Step 4: Comparing net rate of returns: Under this step, the returns from different projects are collected and accordingly the best out of it is selected. The COBA decides about ranking to the projects on the basis of its highest expected net returns in social welfare. As per these characteristics, uses, and steps of COBA, the AECOMs brand repositioning in the context of digital marketing through Yahoo! Answers represents that the cost involved for digital marketing may be high but the expected returns is definitely more than its cost. In this project, the major cost involved is only for digital marketing, the returns are in variety of forms such as high returns and profits to AECOM, huge publicity which creates awareness about AECOM brand in the mind of diverse consumers, people come to know about the existence of AECOM and its wide-ranging services in all the possible sectors through its expert employees. Also, the time involved in digital marketing is less compared to traditional form of marketing. So, from all the view points, one point is very clear that the benefits involved in this project are expected to be very high compared to its cost. So, the results of cost-benefit analysis are positive. Based upon recommendations, an outline of project plan to effectively implement proposals with a risk management program The recommendation to AECOM in its brand repositioning of short term marketing project through digital marketing, where AECOM has considered Yahoo! Answers as strategic tool for digital marketing should be replaced by social media networking which is also a digital marketing tool. In social media marketing, AECOM can either go with Face book or can create companys own blog for publicity and advertising of its brand repositioning. The revised outline project plan for AECOM for implementing proposal of digital marketing successfully in its brand repositioning inclusive of risk management program is as follows: Objective: The objective of AECOM is successful brand repositioning for a short term marketing project through digital marketing. Vision: The vision of AECOM is to become pioneer in the delivery of financial and management services in the entire world. To attain the leadership position in the entire human resource industry also has to be the vision of AECOM. Strategic management: To achieve above objectives AECOM must utilize the complete structured approach to undertake strategic management. Nike must undertake the brand repositioning strategy of New Logo and Tagline in the context of digital marketing through social media networking of Face book or companys blogs. Digital marketing through Face book AECOM has decided the promo and publicity of its brand repositioning strategy of New Logo and Tagline through Yahoo! Answers which is very expensive compared to other social media networking websites such as Twitter, Linked in, and Face book. Maximum are the people using these social networking websites and if AECOM refers one of these websites for its promo then the outcome will be greater compared to Yahoo! Answers. Around 400 million users are using the Face book networking. The companies using social networking website for business purpose and their market share for twitter is 41%, Linked in is also 41% but for Face book it is 44% which is highest compared to others. Digital marketing through Companys blog Other than the use of Face book, company can create its own blobs and can post the questionnaire for promo and publicity purpose on AECOMs blog only. The interested consumers can get information about AECOMs activities from its blog and also if any queries can be posted directly to the blog of AECOM. The companies using own blogs for digital marketing purpose is very high with its market share 46% higher than Face book, too. Since, company has its own blog, the cost of hiring any digital marketing media also reduces. But, the limitation to this strategy is company cannot attract new consumers who are not aware of AECOM and its brand repositioning. Risk Management Program AECOMs brand repositioning marketing project through digital marketing has the risk of system failure and not meeting the business need. In such a situation, AECOM is required to design a risk management program. The risk management program for AECOM in case of system failure is recovery, back up, and disaster recovery procedures. In case of risk of not meeting business need involved then AECOM should ensure about the representatives and resources involved for good participation and collaboration from all concerned areas of business. Implementation AECOM can implement its plan of digital marketing through social media networking instead of Yahoo! Answers. By implementing this plan, AECOM can reduce its high cost and as a result, the COBA will also give the higher returns compared to digital marketing with Yahoo! AECOMs brand repositioning through digital marketing via social media networking will lead to gain higher profits and AECOM will be in a position to attract maximum consumers through social media. This option will ensure to attain AECOMs objective of market leadership in human resource industry. Conclusion It is concluded that the best strategic option for AECOM is social media networking for digital marketing and amongst it, Face book is better than companys blog because Face book may offer AECOM maximum consumers to get availed of AECOMs excellent services. Recommend, with justification, appropriate methods of effectively monitoring and measuring progress throughout the project, to ensure that it is completed on time, within budget and to specification Now days the share of marketing through digital media has increased compared to traditional media of marketing. As a result, the demand for tools for measurement of growing selection of online marketing channels has increased. Garners maturity model for Web Analytics has provided the tool for measurement of web site analytics but it has not included the social media networking and other digital marketing media. This gap has been filled by the Webtrends Digital marketing Optimization Team by providing an appropriate method for measuring the progress throughout the digital marketing project. The Digital Marketing Maturity Model (DM3) has provided the framework for measurement of any digital media marketing project. DM3 is the best model for measurement of progress of any digital marketing project. The DM3 beta measures the progress through six core areas. They are the six pillars of digital media measurement. They are as follows; 1. Measurement Strategy The first core area in measurement progress is measurement strategy. A formal measurement strategy should be placed by organization and should make sure about aligning the overall objectives of organization. This assists in meeting all the digital marketing activities to the companys bottom line and the manifestation of digital measurement becomes possible. 2. Analytics Resources and Domain Expertise The success of digital marketing analytics program become possible because of analytics resources and domain expertise. The employees of organization make it possible through their dedication towards measurement and analysis, the resources at their disposal, their capability to troubleshoot issues, and response to requests throughout the organization. 3. Data Integration and Visualization Through data integration and visualization, the effective measurement of digital marketing becomes possible. For successful measurement, organizations required to integrate the multiple sources of data to gain a more complete picture of their consumers and business. Data integration is the core chain of values between the systems. It enables organizations to generate an absolute image of their marketing efforts. Data visualization helps in arrangement and release of digital marketing facts in meeting the requirements of various groups throughout an organization. 4. Data Analysis and Insight Data Analysis skills are very important in twisting the web-based data into perceptive or organizations wants to optimize their websites and compel elegant marketing and business verdicts. Nevertheless, diverse data entail special types of analysis skills. 5. Adoption and Governance The value of digital marketing data is minimal unless the rules of digital marketing are in place to ensure its consistency and quality over time and if it helps in getting the right people at the right time throughout an organization. The training to people according to their roles is necessary for those who want know how to utilize the data. The assistance from government for managing various types of aspects in context to digital marketing programs becomes possible inclusive of change management, security, and data consistency programs. 6. Ongoing Optimization Organizations placed the data measurement processes consistently over a period of time which are ensured by ongoing optimization. The optimization opportunities are recognized and diverse iterations of sites are tested by using digital marketing data. Prior to implementation, grown-up organization extents all digital marketing channels from web sites to paid research and also includes A/B testing of multiple marketing updates. Critical assessment of the main techniques for evaluating the success or failure of the marketing project on its completion The main techniques in evaluation of success or failure of the marketing project on its completion are Critical Path Analysis (CPA) and PERT Charts. These both techniques are very powerful tools to schedule and manage the complex projects. Both the techniques were developed in 1950s and till now they are used successfully. Lets discuss these techniques in details. Critical Path Analysis (CPA) This technique helps to plan all the tasks which require to be completed as a part of project. CPA acts as a basis for beginning of program, and of resource planning. CPA helps in observing the achievement of project objectives. CPA also helps to keep a track whether any corrective action requires to be taken to get a project back on course. The benefit of using CPA within the planning process is to get assistance in developing and testing the plan to ensure whether it is vigorous or not. CPA takes care of tasks for timely completion of project. CPA also takes care which task to be delayed if at all resource requires to be modified to catch the missed tasks. CPA also helps in identification of minimum length of time for completion of project. The major drawback of CPA is, the management of tasks with time in relation to the project plans is not that easy and obvious like that with Gantt Charts. As a result the difficulty in understanding increases. The effective CPA makes the differences between the success and failure on composite projects. CPA is very useful technique for assessing the importance of problems faced during the implementation period. PERT Charts (Program Evaluation and Review Techniques) PERT is a deviation on CPA which takes a somewhat more cynical outlook of time approximations made for each project stage. To make use of PERT charts, the shortest possible time is required to estimate for each activity and also the most likely length of time is also required. Appendix Appendix A: Introduction of organization History and Background The founders of AECOM are Richard G. Newman and few employees of Ashland Inc. and about 20 years ago on 6th April, 1990; they established AECOM with the merger of five Ashland enterprises. In 2007, around 30 companies joined AECOM and it became public limited company on the New York Stock Exchange. AECOM is listed in a fortune 500 company currently ranking # 352 and provides the services of architecture, building engineering, design and planning, economics, program management, and transportation in all over the world having approximately 46000 expert employees in more than 100 countries. The revenues of AECOM are flowing in billions of dollars with $6.3 billion at the year ended 30th June, 2010. But, in 2009, AECOM introduced a new brand repositioning with the context of digital marketing. The employees of AECOM are so talented and skilled that their excellence and originality has come from the affluent history of some of the worlds premium engineering, environmental, planning, and design companies. The vision of the AECOM to make a world better place by providing services through excellent employees in the areas of transportation, energy, and water systems by developing environment properly and by creating new buildings and communities. AECOM is well-known for its professional service providing facility all over the world. AECOM has taken over many mergers and acquisitions with some of the greatest companies such as Tishman Construction, INOCSA Ingenieria, and Ellerbe Becket. The excellent expertise brought together from these companies to serve more clients in a better way. AECOM wanted to tell the truth to its clients that AECOM is the number one design firm by Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine, a McGraw-Hill Publication and with brand repositioning in the context to digital marketing; it will establish its brand in such a way to become a market leader. Consumer Base of AECOM AECOM has consumers all over the world. Majorly, the consumers are in the America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. AECOM is specialized in providing the expert financial and management services to its consumers. AECOM has maintained a record in retaining the industrys most talented professionals for the ease of its consumers. Apart from these, AECOM has won various excellence awards during such a small tenure of 20 years. In 2009 itself, AECOM has won the awards like best large project, best small project, best technical innovation, best win, and so on. Not only excellence awards, AECOM has achieved CEO awards, too. This proves that AECOM is a huge enterprise with a vast consumer base of it. AECOMs position in the market AECOM stands on number one position all over the world in the services of designing among top 500 companies. It is the number one designing firm all over the world. AECOM is on top position in all the services such as pure designing, transportation, mass transit and mail, general building, government and commercial offices, and education. Only in green designs, it stands on 4th position as per ENR magazine. Range of products and services AECOM provides services in the streams of architecture, building engineering, design and planning, economics, energy, environment, government, program management, transportation, and water. In the field of architecture, AECOM provides services of interior designing, master planning plus urban designing, and renovation. In building engineering, AECOM builds the commercial and educational buildings, data centers, government, healthcare, and pharmaceutical buildings. AECOM conducts designing and planning for landscape architecture, environmental plus ecological planning, master planning plus urban designing, and strategies. In the stream of economics, AECOM facilitates services for capital planning, economic planning plus real estate, entertainment plus leisure, hotels and resorts. AECOM facilitates energy efficiency and carbon management, energy for hydropower and dams, thermal, geothermal and nuclear. AECOM also takes care of environment by providing services of air quality, environme nt health and safety management, waste services, water and natural resources, and so on. AECOM helps to government in all over the world by providing necessary services in the development and infrastructure of particular country and same alike many more services. In the field of program management, AECOM provides services of knowledge transfer, training, risk management, and web-based program management systems. AECOM takes care of