Benefit of Technology Transfer to Developing Countries

Benefit of Technology Transfer to Developing Countries WHY IS THE TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION OF MULTINATIONALS POTENTIALLY SO IMPORTANT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? WHAT FACTORS WILL DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE TRANSFERED TECHNOLOGY ACTUALLY PROVIDES NET BENEFITS FOR THE HOST DEVELOPING COUNTRY? Todays world is divided no longer by ideology but by technology 15% of the earths population, provides nearly all of the worlds technology innovationshalf of the worlds population, is able to adopt these technologies in production and consumption. The remaining part, covering around a third of the worlds population, is technologically disconnected, neither innovating at home nor adopting foreign technologies. Sachs (2000) According to the new Growth theory of the 1990s, Innovation is the prime source of technological advancementwhich in turn drives economic growth. One of the prime motives of host developing countries for widely accepting and encouraging various channels of FDI is to absorb the technological spillover from the foreign country firms. The Hard Technologies (industrial processes, equipment and plant) or Soft Technologies (technical know-how, management ideas, marketing skills etc) (Dunning and Lundan 2008) contributed by Multi-national Enterprises (MNEs) are considered the main source of economic development and growth. When a multinational firm vertically integrates with the developing country firms, host firms they are forced to abide by the MNEs strict guidance and standards to ensure quality goods or services in the form of raw materials or upstream services. The foreign firms would guide and assist, both managerially and technically which would lead to improvement both in quality and quantity of service by the local affiliates. Also domestic rival firms enhance their offerings to keep in pace with the foreign affiliated firms in the market thus enhancing the host country firms productivity. The biggest US based retailer, Wal-Marts entry and rapid expansion in China has helped the logistics industry in Chinese market to climb higher level Zhu (2010). For developing countries to carve their niche in the global economy, they need to be technologically advanced. There is a possibility of importing new technology from foreign developed market, but this will cause a setback as the procedure would be expensive. Also countries will find themselves alienated from the advancement of technologies if they cant develop export markets Sachs (2008). This can be minimised to a considerable extent by MNEs trickle down effect wherein transfer of technological skills from developed countries to developing countries occurs through FDI. The transfer of Panasonics microwave manufacturing base from United States to China has led to the presence of 2800 Chinese enterprises to provide components for it, which has not only contributed new technology, but also advanced operations management techniques to Chinese market (Sinani and Meyer 2004). The risk factor due to uncertainty of new technologys results and heavy investment thwarts the developing countries from introducing any new technology from scratch. The argument in support of MNEs is that technology  is the quintessential component of economic development and demands a lot of investment in research and development (RD). Developing countries, however, lack both in skills and funds essential for RD, which has led to the deficient level of RD in  developing  economies. The host countries innovation can be stimulated because of the presence of MNEs, which would command resources necessary for RD. Hence host firms can save on cost by using the technologies which are already implemented and used by MNEs using Demonstration (by MNEs) and Imitation (by host firms) (Das 1987; Wang Blomstrom 1992, cited in Crespo and Fontoura 2007). However the patent regulation and challenge of absorbing the technological skills in the short term collaborative contracts makes the process very challenging for the firms in the emerging markets. The human resources mobility from MNEs to local firms also act as a channel of technology transfer and extension since the systematic training provided to these high-skilled employees is dissipated to domestic firms in the form of innovative managerial ability thus enhancing the domestic enterprises which would otherwise be impossible (Crespo and Fontoura 2007). Table 1: Summary of Spillover Channels of FDI (Blomstorm and Kokko (1998); Gorg and Greenaway (2001); Gorg and Strobl (2002)) The technology transfer usually occurs in a market which is imperfectly competitive and possesses no particular market structure. Since different developing countries would have different market structure, it becomes very complicated to have a generalized theory and model to find the determinant factors of technological spillover benefits to local firms (Mondal and Pant 2010). The results of empirical study by various researchers act as an alternative to analyse the net benefits of technology spillover for the host developing countries. The firms Total Factor Productivity (Factors like the level of RD, foreign presence, the firm size) can be used as a proxy to gauge technology transfer (Haddad and Harrison 1992, cited in Crespo and Fontoura 2007).According to Seck (2011) A 10% increase in a developing countrys foreign RD capital stock leads to more than a 2% percent increase in its total factor productivity. The economic development level (measured by per capita GDP) impacts strongly on RD activity (Cheung and Lin 2003). The growth in host countrys RD activities reduces the technological gap and increases the absorptive capacity of the host firm thereby benefitting the host developing country. According to Schmid (2010), A one percent increase in the Research and development (RD) expenditure is associated with a five percent increase in the likelihood of a technology transfer. He also states that the technology transfer is positively correlated to the trade flows and RD expenditure of a developing country. RD resulting in new processes and products either amplifies firms revenues or saves firms costs and is considered as the vital proxy for endogenous growth and technological advancement, Zhu (2010). In 2004, 23.7 % of industrial RD within China was performed by affiliates as compared to 21.7% in 2004 (UNCTAD 2005, cited in Dunning and Lundan 2008, p.359) which exemplifies increasing trend and possibly positive effect on host developing countries. Here the main challenge lies in finding the exact proportion of beneficial RD activities. If the relative costs of technology adoption are large to the economic value of the underlying technology (to the host country firms), there will be little adoption relatively and FDI spillover realized will also be relatively limited (Blomstrà ¶m. et.al 1999). Thus cost of technology adoption plays a major role for the technology transfer to be beneficial to the host country firms. The factors contributing to the distribution of technological capacity (which includes Higher educational institutions, Scientists and Engineers, RD laboratories and other physical and human assets) which are aided by foreign affiliates reflects the net beneficial effect on host countries due to export or FDI (Dunning and Lundan 2008). Alongside the direct effects of technological capacity of host countries, the indirect consequences can be measured through knowledge, technology and RD spillovers to host economys local firms which can be measured in terms of the raise in productivity of local firms as a result of the MNEs presence or entry into host economy. However realising the exact proportion of productivity increase solely due to MNEs contribution is a big challenge for many other factors would have aided the process. A study by Xu (2000), cited in Dunning and Lundan (2008), suggests that the spending on royalties and licence fees approximately indicates the impact of productivity enhancement caused due to technology transfer of FDI in the host countries. The absorptive capacity of the developing countries varies and accordingly the positive or negative effects based on it. The study by Feinberg and Majumdar (2001), cited in Dunning and Lundan (2008) reveals that the pharmaceutical affiliates in India experienced no spillover to local firms through locally conducted RD whereas the foreign affiliates had benefited. On the contrary, a study conducted by (Mondal and Pant 2010) shows the presence of foreign affiliates and high absorptive capacity for developing countries to impact positively on technology spillover which is elevated by a highly competitive environment. The policies of host governments towards FDI such as technology policy and Intellectual Property Protection are also plausible determinants which impacts the magnitude of the efficiency spillovers captured by host country firms. For example government policies which would encourage the RD performance like effective IP protection would alleviate the chances of FDI and intensify the technological capability of local firms which in turn would aid to exploit appropriate foreign technology (Blomstrà ¶m et al. 1999). On the other hand patents filed by developed countries would result in limited transfer of technological capabilities due to the protection of technology from imitation for 20 years. China became the largest recipient of FDI among the developing countries during 1990s due to the market for technology policy and enforcement of patent law in line with TRIPs (Trade-Related Intellectual Properties) (Cheung and Lin, 2003). Due to contradicting research data and the dependence of technology transfer benefits on the kind of industry and the level of alliance between foreign and emerging market country firms, it becomes very complicated to generalise the factors contributing to the net benefits of the developing countries. CONCLUSION According to (Dunning and Lundan 2008) The ability to create, acquire, learn, use and effectively deploy technological capacity is one of the key ingredients of economic success in virtually all societies. The exact realisation of net benefit of technology transfer to developing countries is measured using TFP as a proxy and can be enhanced by strengthening their local economy and capabilities to attract FDI inflow with the aid of strict and stringent government regulations.

Telecom Industry

Telecom Industry Management information system Introduction MIS (Management Information System) is a process which provides the necessary information for managing an organization in an effective manner. The information generated by MIS is considered to be the most important equipment of careful and the decisions made in business. For an organization, MIS must have the guidelines, practices, procedures, standards, and policies. All these have to be followed throughout the development, maintenance, and usage of the institution. Multiple levels by the management are used and viewed by the MIS. Owner is the user of the system who uses the present customer and the constituent requirements and has the enough budgets for funding the new projects. By building the ownership it not only promotes the institutions pride but also helps in ensuring the accountability. Not necessarily the reduction of the expenses is done by MIS. By developing the systems meaningfully, using them properly reduces the possibility of making erroneous decisions due to inaccura tely. The resources can be wasted by the decisions made erroneously. This might result adversely on the capital. TELECOM INDUSTRY- A Case Study Aircel is a JV of Gogo Communications located in Malaysia and Apollo Hospitals of India. 74% stake belongs to Maxis and the other 26% belongs to Apollo hospitals. Aircel is Indias 5th largest provider of GSM mobiles service. .Its subscribers too are many they account for about 27.7 million as on the 31st of Oct 2009. By 2010 it is thinking of expanding its services throughout India. It has also sought permission for to provide for Long distance calls for both national and international users. The telecom dept has granted permission. ABS (Aircel business solutions) is a part of Aircel and it is an ISO 9000 certified organisation. Its products include enterprise solutions like Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Managed Video Services on wireless platform including WiMAX (www.aircel.com) Q1) Provide information across various departments Stability in the Payroll and financial departments For companies to be successful, it is critical to manage data efficiently. Data was made available and accesses able to everyone. This included. * Payroll * Financial information * Customer tracking systems. Implementation of MIS indeed played a very crucial role at Aircel. Absence of proper MIS system would mean lack of proper accessibility of data at the nick time, this further leads to confusion and lack of proper sustenance of available resources. In order to plan the budgets and operations and for making projections, data has to be retrieved continuously by the managers and the corporate executives. Leaders can accurately make decisions and access large data by storing the data in a single place and manage it. As the managers and the employees got accustomed to the new learning curve for the first year has to be expected. Training is needed for the executives for reading the results and learning to start with the usage of the resources they had not used in past. Implementation in the HR function and its overall benefits Aircel selected SAP ERP which is a Payroll and HR software. It helped Aircel to get rid of unwanted /duplicate information across many locations. Also it saved the HR personnel from making manual entries of data. Benefits of MIS in field of HR: By Implementing the MIS through SAP ERP, HR functions are 33% quicker than standard approach Improvement in all field such as 60% of cost reduction in development, 50% cost and time saved for spending in lower project and 70% fewer in post go-live corrections. Risk Mitigation and resolving issues on time services. Ongoing support from SAP is fully active for the user to access go-live it. Reduce Manual work and saves time. Decreased the Payroll Processing Cycle time from 15 days to 5 days. Monitoring the payroll and Generating Tax Declaration for employee is easier. 8. Simple and Easy way of handling application of employee leaves entitlement. Effective implementation of MIS should be done by analysing and considering MIS needs at tactical level and strategic levels. Tactical Level of MIS can be used in processing annual report and annual budget. In this case, the support of long term Strategic level of MIS also required to initiates the business plan. This implies that to get benefit of effective MIS, organization should consider the levels of MIS that are to be used in organization and that should be analyzed before implementing. Merger and Acquisition of company with other company, Developing Company introducing new products and services are the best common example for developing and implementing MIS. Q2) Facilitate decision making at the three tiers of management MIS deals with process of collecting the information, processing, storing the information and transmitting relevant to the support the management operation. This shows the process and success of decision-making. Administrative process of organization highly depends on the decision making. Decision making is done with the available information and functions in the organization. Proper result cannot be found because of lack of information that leads unlikely to yield the optimal or desired result. The back bone for the systems of decision making This system is growth along with the development in Management Information System. MIS also supports decision making in both structured problem environment and unstructured problem environment at every strata of organization. MIS constitutes many things such as people, computers, procedures, databases, interactive query facilities and so on. Methods of Decision Making An MIS system must be developed in such a manner that it aids in accomplishing organisational objectives listed here under. * Communication channels and mediums should be more effective amongst employees * Send across critical data more efficiently and effectively * A comprehensive and constructive system should be made available for collecting, analysing and using the data. * A process of digitization has to be implemented which minimise the cost of labour oriented activities * Be able to strategise the organisations decision making process. There are lot of MIS tools available which includes software, databases, hardware and specially designed support applications. The input given to any one of the mentioned Management Information System is transformed into useful and related information that help to give results as reports or statements, try to make future predictions based on the derived information. Knowledge Base in the MIS can also be used as answer to queries which helps to take a particular action/decision on â€Å"what if† scenario. Thus information given by Management Information Systems is accurate and unique which helps to give decision making. The primary aim of MIS is to make sure that information is appropriately channelized to the right people at workplace. That is called as Internal Decision Makers and External Decision Makers. And they are considered as good decision maker for running the organization. And this process is completed on time, reliable with good quality information to the decision makers. It is essential to understand that managers are answerable for * The outcomes of the actual reports * The effect of the reports that are direct on certain behaviour * Making a team which is long lasting and equally effective which can accomplish targets effectively and on time. * Equipping their respective teams with good managerial and leadership support. In the conventional management arrangement hirarchy for the flow of information is inthe following fashion Top Middle lower In a digitised environment the scenario is different it aids in effective communication simultaneously across the various levels. Presently managers are use and trust computerised systems. * They are Systems * Which process transactions * Which support the process of decision making * Which aid and store data regarding operations * Expert system a. Transaction Processing System Transaction Processing System is a collection of information, used to process the data at the time of transaction in database system. It is used to monitor the transaction program such as predefined program for the output. For example, Electronic Payment is made to withdraw money from one account and added the same to the other or none at all, likewise transaction made in shopping, car rental, poker, ticket reservation are also the examples of Transaction Processing System. If the transaction is failed or partially completed, it must be rolled back (undo the recent changes) by this Transaction Processing System. Other transaction monitoring functions like deadlock (two or more process competing for each other to release the resources in circular chain). b. Operation Information System Operation Information Systems is a group of system provides significant information for the day-to-day operation in the organization. The advantage of OIS is, it supports the real time delivery of information to the other application such as task allotted, start time and end time, time taken to complete the allotted tasks. This automated system will enable a manager to make a conclusive estimate on a project given or task handled. He will also be able to monitor an employees performance. Similarly an employee too will be able to highlight his performance at the time of annual appraisal or at the time of interim check. c. Decision Support System It is set of manual or computer based tools to support technological and managerial decision-making activities. Decision Support System is interactive software based helpful to make decision by formulate the alternatives, analysis the business models and impact of it, identify and solve the problem by selecting the appropriate option for implementation. This application aids many functions by collecting information like Analysis of cash flow Forecasting at various levels and other relate information Information on the performance of a product Allocation of resources Sales comparison etc Aircel has to streamline all its information such as its financial information, data regarding its assets, legacy and other kinds of data. If this is in place, the DSS will be able to assist in a sound decision making process. d. Expert System Expert System is Artificial Intelligence (AI) software which uses the knowledge base of human expertise for problem solving. Expert System is based on quality of data and rules obtained and assigned from the human expert. Most common methods used to simulate the performance of Expert System are: * Creating Knowledge Base uses information representation to acquire the (Subject Matter Expert) knowledge of the SME * Knowledge Engineering The information should be gathered via a rigorous questioning process. For Aircel, once everything is in place the Expert system will assist in addressing unresolved issues. The above mentioned systems are largely used in handling the data in an organization. MIS can be preserved and further developed either manually or via automated systems or by using both methodologies combination of both. It also performs other activities such as monitoring the information, distribution the information to the management, employees and customers. Effective implementation of MIS results in Meeting the Business Goals and Objectives, Supports the delivery of the product and services. Easy to access and use at level of organization. Significant use of the strategy used for handling risk to assist the management in performing reviews.. Q3 Serve as efficient means for managing business process Business Process A business process or a methodology of business is the gathering concerned, channelized activities to finally contour either a service or a product. Also it can be said as a group of activities clearly spread across time and people with a start and an end. Here the materials to be used and what would be the resultant outputs are clearly defined. The very start of a process of business is usual the wants of customer and it ends at a point of customer satisfaction. In order to complete such a process organisations rely on sources of information which may be external or internal. It may be noted that business processes are created to add value to a customer. The result of an excellent business process is enhanced effectiveness (to the customer and the way of doing business) with a reduction operating costs monitor Till date the various MIS systems have were not able satisfy the requirements of an individual making decision entirely. These are in terms of * Decision making under stress/pressure * Tracking competition * Taking into consideration organisational information that has a different view point. â€Å"In order to be able to react quickly to changes that take place on the market, organisations need management information systems that would make it possible to carry out different cause and effect analyses of organisations themselves and their environments† (Power, 2001). â€Å"According to (Kalakota, Robinson Business Intelligence (BI) systems provide a proposal that faces needs of contemporary organisations. Main tasks that are to be faced by the BI systems include intelligent exploration, integration, aggregation and a multidimensional analysis of data originating from various information resources. Systems of a BI standard combine data from internal information systems of an organisation and they integrate data coming from the particular environment e.g. statistics, financial and investment portals and miscellaneous databases. Such systems are meant to provide adequate and reliable up-to-date information on different aspects of enterprise activities.† (Kalakota, Robinson, 1999; Liautaud, Hammond, 2002; Moss, Alert, 2003) The primary results of the research say that the BI systems have a major role in showing and infusing both enhancements in production and transparency in cascading knowledge. Also they make sure that business * Monitor the profitability * Scrutinize expenditures * Gauge the environments and atmosphere of corporates * Investigate upon irregularities and instances of fraud. The upcoming years have had many discussions regarding problems in BI .These include the approaches of OLAP. Though problems are discussed in detail talks regarding the actual proper implementation of BI are yet to materialize. There are no proper guidelines or information regarding proper implementation of BI. Organisations are in the process of finding out efficient methods of creating and handling BI themselves. All in an environment of rampant change,growth and increase in the competitiveness amongst business. Businesses in general are treading the path of disaggregation. How its implementation is effective Implementation of Business Intelligence is effective and it is analyzed from different perspectives. Decision Makers of the organization mainly associate with Business Intelligence for implementing organizational specific methodology and philosophy. Here, BI systems are thought to be the solution, essential for recording information into data by analyzing including reporting with the consolidated data. Information is transferred into knowledge by Data Drilling and finally knowledge transferred to Decision to improve competitiveness. (Refer Fig.2) ‘It is said that the Value of BI for business is predominantly expressed in the fact that such systems cast some light on information that may serve as the basis for carrying out fundamental changes in a particular enterprise, i.e. establishing new cooperation, acquiring new customers, creating new markets, offering products to customers (Chaudhary, 2004; Olszak, Ziemba, 2004; Reinschmidt, Francoise, 2002). Source: own elaboration. The four critical facets of Risk management are: 1. Operational procedures 2. Management and Employees 3. Practices or strategies 4. Feedback mechanisms and devices Using Management Information System, information management are available for both planning and decision making with respect to the technology. Technology also enhances the scope for incorrect and inaccurate information being reported out which as a result cause wrong decision making due to lack to data, unclear/missing data. Since data is extracted from many financial system and transaction system, there should be apt control processes or functions have to be setup to make sure the data is accurate and appropriate. Control must ensure that systems on small computer like microcomputers which have well defined processing controls are as good as traditionally larger mainframe computers. It has become mandatory to set up an individual framework with effective fundamental principles like identifying risk, establishing controls and providing a review of MIS that is good and mentoring systems across the organization. OCC gives full support to putting these concepts from penning them to enhancing the usefulness communication throughout the organization. OCC recommended the organization to follow the fundamental principles such as appropriate Internal Controls, Operating Procedures and Safeguards and Audit Coverage. Aircel has chosen an MIS system that will provide the best results for its organisation. While conferring upon an MIS Aircel has done a cost analysis. According to it an MIS should bring a good return on the investment made and additional costs should not be incurred for implementation of such a system. For the success of an MIS there should be * Deft planning * Good foresting * Timely reporting and evaluation. If the entire above are adhered to then an organisation will be able to make proper decisions. If information is stacked appropriately then the flow of information will be easier and efficient which will enable an organisation to make effective value add decisions. Over all benefits of MIS implementation at Aircel According to Gary ‘BI differs from MIS (i.e. DSS, EIS, and ES) in first of all, their wider thematic range, multivariate Analysis, semi-structured data originating from different sources and multidimensional data Presentation (Gray, 2003). Olszak and Ziemba say that ‘BI may support decision make on all levels of management regardless of the level of their structuralisation (Olszak, Ziemba, 2003). On the Strategic Level, Setting the Objectives precisely and following the established objectives is easy in BI. Using BI, it is easy to perform different comparative reports such as Comprehensive results, the viability of certain offers, successfulness of the various distribution startegis and channels alongside implementation of and predicting the results for the future based on assumptions made. Conclusion Implementation MIS in organization is very essential. This can be found by the following benefits. To improve the quality of an administrative process in an organization can be identified by their proven practices. MIS is User-friendly window based system performing Time management, Resource Management by generating tickler/alert, online appointment Scheduling, Clear, better and faster record access which includes real time updation. MIS is easy to access through internet and Availability and reliability of Access and Crisis line information to service provider. Information analysis, Data Gathering, Report and Performance Monitoring. Usage of MIS application results in greater accountability such as improve the measurement at Client, program and system levels. MIS have built-in quality and compliance controls to give quality. MIS can able to replace multiple applications such as old software, billing system, having inefficient client data and software which are considers as very old, non-user friendly, inapt to the organization. Handling single application is easier than maintaining much old application. References * Maniac , Management information system: The centre of management decision making, available at http://www.helium.com/items/242575-management-information-system-the-center-of-management-decision-making, accessed on March 20th 2010. * Anon (2005), COREinternational Inc, available at http://www.coreinternational.com/threeTierManagement.htm, accessed on March 15th 2010. * Stair, Reynolds, Principles of Management Information Systems: A managerial Approach, 7th edition * P. Kishore Kumar, 2006, Information Decision Making, available at http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC307/fc307.html * Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin Lane (2006). Marketing Management (12 ed.). Pearson Education. * OBrien, J (1999). Management Information Systems Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. * Comptrollers Handbook 3 Management Information Systems * James Reason (1990). Human Error. Ashgate. ISBN 1840141042. * Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky (2000). Choice, Values, Frames. The Cambridge University * Charles H. Kepner, Benjamin B. Tregoe (1965). The Rational Manager: A Systematic Approach to Problem Solving and Decision-Making. McGraw-Hill, June 1965 * Blackhart, G. C., Kline, J. P. (2005). Individual differences in anterior EEG asymmetry between high and low defensive individuals during a rumination/distraction task. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 427-437. * Drake, R. A. (1993). Processing persuasive arguments: 2. Discounting of truth and relevance as a function of agreement and manipulated activation asymmetry. Journal of Research in Personality, 27, 184-196. * Chua, E. F., Rand-Giovannetti, E., Schacter, D. L., Albert, M., Sperling, R. A. (2004). Dissociating confidence and accuracy: Functional magnetic resonance imaging shows origins of the subjective memory experience. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16, 1131-1142. * Isabel Briggs Myers|Myers, I. (1962) Introduction to Type: A description of the theory and applications of the Myers-Briggs type indicator, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto Ca., 1962.

How Music Has Influenced Me :: College Admissions Essays

Throughout my life, music has always been a major influence. It has the power to change my mood when I'm feeling down, but the thing I find most intriguing about music is that it doesn't always end up improving your mood: like all forms of art, it imitates life, which is not always portrayed in a positive light. The musicians that I admire most have the versatility to induce several different emotional responses in the same piece. This quality is present in most of the wide variety of music I listen to, from Russian composer Dmiti Shostakovich, to Chicago jazz band Tortoise, to California pop/rock sextet Mr. Bungle. Music is far more than the sum of its parts. It can be thought of in a highly mathematical sense, which leaves one in awe of the seemingly endless combinations of rhythm, tone and intervals that a good musician can produce. Admiring music in this way is a lot like admiring an intricate snowflake, or shapes in the clouds; it's beautiful, but at the same time very scientific, based on patterns. All of the aforementioned qualities of music have one thing in common: they can be defined with numeric, specific values. However, the greatest aspect of music lies elsewhere, and cannot be specifically defined with words. It is the reaction that each individual has when they are confronted with their favorite (or least favorite) kind of music. There aren't many words to describe the emotional reaction I get when I hear certain songs, even those that don't have the "complicatedness" of some of the more skillful artists.

Tzar Nicholas II - Downfall of Russia :: Russian Russia History

Tzar Nicholas II - Downfall of Russia It was Tzar Nicholas 2 political naivete and extreme obstinance that led to the downfall of the Russia Certain aspects of Tsar Nicholas 2's behaviour definitely contributed to bringing about the fall of the Russian Empire, however most of these qualities were not weaknesses in character as such, they were qualities we would associate with poor leadership. When we say 'weakness in character' we mean being easily influenced/controlled by others. Nicholas himself was a firm believer in autocracy; he was virtually unmovable in this belief. And this obstinant belief clearly illustrates he stuck to his beliefs, although in his early years as tsar his uncles had huge influence. That said, the fall of the Russian Empire was not all a result of Nicholas' character and poor leadership qualities, we must also see that the huge socio-economic changes happening as well as the outbreak WW1 hugely influenced the coming about of and the timing of the revolution. These changes would be hard for any government to manage. Nicholas 2's firm and obstinant belief of his commitment to autocracy can be clearly seen in a letter of reply he sent to a liberal zemstvo head before his coronation. "I shall maintain the principal of autocracy just as firmly and unflinchingly as it was preserved by my unforgettable dead father (Alexandra 3)"(Nicholas & Alexandra, Robert K. Massie). His ultra-conservative political outlook was influenced greatly when a child Tsar Nicholas was educated by the reactionary tutor Konstantin Pobenonstev, enemy of all reform. If there were any doubts about Nicholas' belief in autocracy they would have been put to rest. Pobenonstev was once called "The Highest Priest of Social Stagnation". He once declared, "Among the falsest of political principles is the principle of sovereignty of the people". In his early manhood Nicholas lived the life of an idle socialite uninterested in the affairs of state, he found government meetings 'boring' and uninteresting. As he had never taken a liking to political affairs he was underprepared to take the throne, this fact along -with his stubborn belief in autocracy- also goes a long way to explain his political naivete in many of the difficult situations he faced. Was this unwillingness to face the political realities due to him being blinded be his obstinate belief in autocracy or was it just that he was politically naà ¯ve? Throughout his rule as discontent rose Nicholas still believed that he still had the support of all his people save for a couple of 'undesirables'.

The Environmental Impact of Off-Shore Oil Exploration and Production Es

Introduction The extraction of oil onshore has been ongoing for several decades. Offshore oil extraction is a process that began decades after onshore exploration had begun. For many years, scientists and the oil companies were certain that the exploration and production of petroleum from deep-water formations would not incur any sort of environmental damages. Several decades later, scientists learned new information from monitoring programs and research studies that offshore drilling did cause effects on the health of benthic organisms and other marine fauna in the proximity of offshore platform rigs. This paper studies the consequences of offshore platform rigs on marine organisms and wildlife from the perspectives of what causes environmental degradation offshore, the issues pertaining to marine life, and the detriment incurred by oil exploration and production (E & P). This paper begins with a brief explanation of how the oil industry works and how a well is chosen, drilled, and put into production. Subsequently, I present the four major externalities from offshore oil E & P: (1) drilling muds and cuttings, (2) waters, (3) chronic oil spills, and (4) possible socio-economic disturbances. The final section of this research study presents concluding remarks. Quick overview of oil Exploration and production Oil companies performing exploration and production services belong in the ‘upstream’ area of the business. Upstream oil companies such as Exxon, Shell, and BP, among others, lease the services from ‘service companies’ to perform the actual drilling of the well. Pride International, Halliburton, Baker and BJ are a few major service companies. Pride International performs drilling worldwide, both onshore and offsho... ...Milligan/Milligan_e.html National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Report : Offshore oil and gas Available at url http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/oceanreport/oilandgas.html Southward, J. A. An Ecologists View of the Implications of the Observed Physiological and Biochemical Effects of Petroleum Compounds on Marine Organisms and Ecosystems Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 297, No. 1087. (Jun. 1982) Pages 241-254. Travers, B. W. and Luney, R. P. Drilling tankers, and oil spills on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Science, New Series, Vol. 194, No. 4267. (Nov. 19, 1976), 791-796. UNEP IE and The E & P Forum (Oil Industry International Exploration and Production Forum) Joint Publication Environmental Management in oil and gas exploration and production E&P Forum/UNEP IE 1997.

IKEA Customer Loyalty Essay

Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer, getting them to buy, buy often, buy in higher quantities and bring you even more customers. In short, you build customer loyalty by treating people how they want to be treated. There are many ways by which IKEA builds customer loyalty. The goal of the loyalty program is to reward IKEA’s best customers with discounts and special offers throughout the store. The online business of Ikea was developed as a way of generating greater loyalty among the customer base, as it is this that ultimately delivers greater sales and profitability. This was the view of Adri Kraa, head of Ikea Shop Online, expressed at the Retail Bulletin Summit 2009 when he suggested that only five percent more retention through loyal customers could deliver as much as 60 percent more profits. Through a desire to give customers greater â€Å"empowerment† and convenience the decision was taken to launch the Ikea online store. IKEA’s kiosk-based loyalty program IKEA FAMILY has attracted more than 1.6 million members since its launch a few months ago. IKEA FAMILY offers special offers and benefits to customers, as well as program-branded merchandise and promotional events. The Kiosks, which are built, serviced and monitored by Kiosk Information Systems, allow new members to enroll and receive a membership card on the spot. The kiosks also encourage existing members to scan their cards for a chance to win a monthly $100 FAMILY Sweepstakes, as well as view exclusive current IKEA FAMILY discounts and offers. Mobile is playing an increasingly important role for IKEA as it continues to build momentum for its loyalty program. Mobile is a key part of the strategy, with employees using in-store tablets to sign-up new customers and IKEA sending out SMS alerts to keep consumers updated on new products.

The “High Court Ruling Only Tweaks Sarbanes-Oxley Act” Article

ARTICLE SYNOPSISThe â€Å"High Court Ruling Only Tweaks Sarbanes-Oxley Act† article is about the Supreme Court ruling in Free Enterprise Fund vs. PCAOB indicating that Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) will remain â€Å"fully operative as a law† with the exception to remove members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Prior to the SOX Act, the removal of member was said to violate the appointments clause of the Constitution. In addition to discussing the ruling, the following will explain how the Sarbanes-Oxley act affects ethical decisions in today’s business and the criminal penalties that it provides.ETHICAL DECISIONThe process of making decisions consists of ethical attribute that include integrity, transparency, and accountability. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has the effect of ensuring investor confidence through the existence of regulatory provisions effective in enhancing ethical standards. In the case of Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB shows the extent to which the issue of separation of powers is upheld. The main argument in the case was the excess power granted to the board as it was appointed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) other than the president.This means that the board had regulatory non-restricted power by the executive. According to the ruling, PCAOB has the power to continue overseeing public company audits with the intention of protecting investors interest (Jaeger, 2010). This is a major development as it relates to ensuring that proper measures supports the scope of executives ensuring that proper decisions are effective in protecting the interests of investors. The court’s ruling indicated that PCAOB board members will be removed from office by SEC at will other than for good cause (Jaeger, 2010).However, other programs of PCAOB remain unaffected by the decision of the court. It is important to note that the enactment of the SOX Act is a major development that has ensured integrity in decision-making proce ss essential in protecting the integrity of investors. As a result of maintaining proper books of accounts and ensuring proper internal controls are in place, the SOX Act ensures ethical decisions are made enhancing the integrity and transparency. Ultimately, the impact of the SOX Act is to protect the interest of investors through prevention of accounting frauds.CRIMINAL PENALTIES The SOXAct provides for various criminal penalties under certain sections. Section 802 of the SOX Act provides criminal penalties for influencing the United States agency investigation, which is also known as proper administration. The criminal penalty punishes any person who knowingly falsifies information or document with the intention of obstructing a particular investigation. An individual can be put in jail if found guilty of this criminal offense for a period not exceeding 20 years.Another criminal penalty under the SOX Act is retaliation against whistleblowers (Jaeger, 2010). This relates to any pe rson who takes harmful action against another person with the intention to retaliate. A fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years can be placed if a person is found guilty for this criminal offense. Section 906 of the SOX Act provides for criminal penalties for CEO or CFO financial statement certification. According to this section, any corporate officer who fails to certify financial reports is liable for a jail term not exceeding 20 years.