Research Topics: Rationale Of The Study

Effect of Laws, Regulations and Security Procedures on the Economic Performance of Saudi’s Portsn

Introduction             Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Arabian Peninsula comprising eighty percent of the geographic area. Bodies of water bound the country on the east and west and by neighboring countries to the north and south. Since the discovery of oil in the early 1930s, propelling the country as one of the significant suppliers of oil in the international market, the development of ports in the country’s waterfronts were instrumental in the trade of oil. The establishment of ports made it possible for Saudi Arabia to build industries required in trading oil particularly the shipping industry.             Since Saudi Arabia is the leading exporter of petroleum products, it played a significant role in establishing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). As of 2003, Saudi Arabia reported control of twenty-four percent of the known world petroleum reserves or 260.1 billion barrels and its oil export capacity increases with the discovery of new oil fields. Petroleum industry accounts for around seventy-five percent of aggregate revenue, forty percent of gross domestic product and ninety percent of earnings derived from exports. The importance of the petroleum industry to Saudi Arabia necessitated the development of fully functional and efficient ports. At present, Saudi Arabia has established eight ports to cater to its massive trading activities.             Saudi Arabia became a member of the World Trade Organization in December 2005. Preparatory to free trade, the country commenced the privatization of different industries in the late 1990s including its ports. Although ownership of ports still remain with the government, the private sector is given investment options in different areas to upgrade port facilities and services to compete with other ports in the region and comply with international standards. In 1997, the Ports Authority offered the ports, six commercial and two industrial ports, to the private sector through public bidding and prior to its membership in the WTO all ports were already operated and managed by the private sector.             Competitiveness of Saudi’s ports in the world market requires compliance with international standards. Standards are provided by the agreements or contracts that the ports have entered into through membership in the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other regional economic cooperation and the laws, regulations and port control or security procedures applicable in the international, regional and domestic sphere. These legal factors influence the economic performance of the different ports in Saudi Arabia.             The paper will discuss the different international and national laws as well as the different port control regulations applicable to Saudi’s ports and determine the manner and extent that the various laws and regulations influence the economic performance of the different ports.     Background of the Study             It is recognized that law plays a significant role in the economic performance of states. This is because the legal environment constitutes a factor that affects the operations of businesses. Several approaches measure the extent and quality of influence that laws have on economic development. One approach is to consider laws based on the books. This means that the key indicators of a law are determined and the presence of these indicators are observed in a given economy. The presence or absence of any or some of these indicators then explains the influence that the law has on economic performance. This also requires looking into the purpose of laws and determining whether the purpose has been fulfilled by the presence or absence of the legal elements in the economy.  In relation to port control, the elements and purpose of provisions of admiralty or maritime that relate to port operations are determined. After which an assessment will be made on the existence of these elements in the port industry in Saudi Arabia. Issues surrounding the implementation of the law are also considered. The impact of the legal provisions on the economic performance of the ports is determined by the manner that these laws support economic development in the port industry.             Another approach is to consider the extent that laws are effectively enforced. This is because the presence of laws does not necessarily translate to law enforcement.  This is done by obtaining data measuring the effectiveness of the rule of law and the judiciary, the presence or absence of corruption, low levels of contract repudiation, and efficiency of government expropriation.  In relation to port operations, applying this approach involves the consideration of the manner that key players in effectively implementing laws perform their functions so that the objectives of the law in supporting port operations are obtained. Information on the different measures of effectiveness should be obtained in order to assess the effect that these factors have on the economic performance of ports. In the case of corruption, the presence of a high level of corruption hampers the effective implementation of laws providing barriers to the achievement of economic development in the ports.             The study on the relationship of legality and economic development, used legality variables, which are rule of law, effectiveness of judiciary, non-existence of corruption, low risk of contract negation and low risk in state expropriation as measures of legality. The study also considered fluctuations in the gross national product in measuring the influence of legality variables on economic development in forty-nine states. The study showed that there is a strong association between legality and economic development. A linear regression coefficient showed that for every one percent increase in legality, there is a corresponding four and three quarters increase in gross national product. In substance, this means that in a state where the rule of law applies, there is an independent judicial system, there is no corruption, the government complies with binding agreements and utilizes revenue decisively; there is likely to be a higher GNP growth compared to other states.             The relationship between the implementation of laws and economic performance is cyclical. On one hand, a strong association between law and economic performance implies that wealthy states have the resources to afford better legal institutions. On the other hand, efficient legal institutions are prerequisites to long-term economic development. In actual economic conditions, economic resources and legal institutions are co-determinants and both elements should be present for law to influence economic performance.             In the course of history, law has always served to protect and regulate economic activities in consideration of private and public interests.  Industrialization was spurred by the development of law and law enforcements mechanisms that protects private business endeavors. This is because law and legal mechanisms provided a secure atmosphere conducive to the growth and expansion of businesses. Law and legal institutions are keys to sustained economic growth. The relationship implies that a state should allot resources to the development of laws and legal institutions in order to support economic activities. The development of laws and legal institutions imply recognition and compliance of international law.             Port operations and port related business ventures such as shipping involves complex activities on an international scale, which means that there is a need for laws that protects and regulated the various legal relations between the parties. Port operations involves the engagement in a plethora of contracts between the shipper and the shipping company, the loading and unloading of cargo with port services, the storage of goods in the port facilities, the insurance for the cargo being transported and other related contracts. As ports are flooded with the continuous entry and exit of goods as well as people from different states, there is an increasing demand to provide international standards for the safety and security of ports. The rationale for international standards is that deficiencies in port operations affect the business of a state’s trading partners. Unsafe ports discourage other states to trade with a country because of a high risk of loosing its cargo.             International law is a body of laws applicable and binding upon all states. International law “is a normative system”. It provides a system of performing conduct regarded as obligatory by the each member of the group and non-compliance involves a certain degree of punishment. Normative systems provide a mechanism for groups to realize order to achieve common good. International law is an “operational system for securing values that we all desire—security, freedom, the provision of sufficient material goods”. In the case of port operations, international law is the mechanism for meeting the common goals of states in relation to trade.                International law covering ports include shipping laws and laws of the sea and the conventions on port operations enforced by the United Nations, International Maritime Organization, World Trade Organization and other international bodies. Domestic law also governs port operations of a state. The aspects to be considered in studying the influence of domestic law on the economic performance of ports include domestic maritime laws, the existence of law enforcement institutions and the regulatory bodies. Statement of the Problem             In order to determine the effect of laws, regulations and security procedures on economic development of Saudi’s ports, the researcher should gather data guided through the following questions: 1.      How did the port operations in Saudi Arabia develop? 2.      What are the characteristics of the present operations of Saudi ports? 3.      What is the competitive position of Saudi Arabia’s ports in international trade? 4.      What international laws affect port operations in Saudi Arabia? 5.      What international bodies implement these international laws? 6.      What international agreements or conventions entered into by the government of Saudi Arabia are relevant to its ports? 7.      What bilateral and multilateral agreements have Saudi Arabia entered into that affects its ports? 8.      What domestic laws affect Saudi’s ports? 9.      What port state control regulations are in place in Saudi Arabia? 10. What is the purpose of recognizing these international laws? 11.  What objectives are met by entering into conventions, multilateral and   bilateral agreements? 12.  What is the rationale for the port state control system in place? 13.  What mechanisms are present to ensure the enforcement of these laws? 14.  What are Saudi Arabia’s short and long-term economic goals for its ports? 15.  Does the enforcement of international and domestic laws and regulations coincide with the economic goals of Saudi Arabia for its ports? 16. What are the different areas of port operations covered by law? 17. What issues or problems occur in the implementation of law on the different areas of port operations? 18. What are the conclusions and recommendations that can be derived from the experience of Saudi Arabia? Objectives of the Study             The general objective of the study is to determine the influence that law has on the economic performance of ports in Saudi Arabia. Specific objectives include the determination of the international and domestic laws and regulations affecting the economic performance of the ports, the determination of legal variables used to measure the influence of laws on economic performance of ports, and the determination of the economic measures to show the extent of influence that the legal variables have on the economic measures. Significance of the Study             The study is beneficial to the improvement of the port operations of Saudi Arabia because it provides an assessment of the role of law in the achievement of the economic goals of the state for its ports. The conclusions will show the nature and extent of influence that the different laws have on the economic performance of the ports and the recommendations provide suggestions on how Saudi Arabia can utilize the protection and regulation of different laws to optimize the realization of its economic goals in its ports. Methodology             The study will gather data through primary and secondary sources. Gathering primary data involves interviews of people with expertise, such as officials of the Saudi Port Authority, experts on the domestic and international laws governing port operation. The interview will be semi-structured to allow the researcher to obtain explanations or elaborations of answers to the interview questions to gain sufficient data on the different problem areas.  Collecting secondary data involves the research of books, journals, commentaries, papers and other studies on the performance of Saudi Arabian ports, international and domestic laws governing port operations and the influence of these laws on the economic performance of ports. Secondary data include raw data and published summaries, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data. Secondary data fall into three main subgroups, which are documentary data, interview-based data, and those compiled from different sources. Documentary secondary data refer to studies that use primary data collection methods with the information used on their own or combined with other secondary data. Interview-based secondary data are those data collected by questionnaires that have already been analyzed. Such data are available as compiled data tables or as a computer-readable matrix of raw data.             Data gathered will be presented through sub-topics to facilitate the organized flow of information. Data will be analyzed through a comparative law study method by comparing the similarities and differences in influence of the relevant laws, regulations, and security procedures affecting the economic performance of Saudi’s ports. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Effect of Laws, Regulations and Security Procedures on the Economic Performance of Saudi’s Portsn

Introduction Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Arabian Peninsula comprising eighty percent of the geographic ar...

Special Educational Needs

The four core components are Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results and Discussion.  There are two primary objectives with this assignment.  The first objective is to provide a comprehensive overview of the Introduction and Literature Review sections of the educational research journal article that you have selected.  The second objective of this paper is to discuss the processes which a researcher uses to develop and complete the introduction and literature review sections of an educational research paper. What is the focus/topic of the article you have selected?  SEN – Special Educational Needs in the SpLD (Special Learning Disability) referred as dyslexia as my choice.  The focus is within the association of self-esteem and dyslexia.  The article is “Teacher and pupil ratings of self-esteem in developmental dyslexia.”  Why does the author feel that it is important to study this topic area?  An acknowledged perception of us (you as an individual) is highly influential to how well we perform in our life (in general) and school.  As an undergraduate, the author had worked with dyslexia students.  He observed the effects of learning difficulties and the worthiness felt, which became the deciding factor to further investigation within SpLD.   How does the author communicate the need to study this topic in the introduction section?  The emotional, personal and social development of children calls for an extended direction in educational research.  This is the result of increased research concerns to effects in learning difficulties.  Researchers have noticed that self-esteem and self-concept are attached to factors in motivation, peer relations and academic achievement.  In having a learning difficulty, a negative concept of ones self is the adverse affects. The experimental study was performed by Neil Humphrey.  He is a lecturer at Bolton Institute.  This literature review is based on the research of his PhD thesis, as his subjects are the relationships between dyslexia and self-esteem in pupils.  Data was contributed by pupil self-reporting and teacher rating scales. What is the primary research question or hypothesis of this research project?  What causes the hindrance in learning abilities of SpLD children?  The exact nature of deficits in self-development experienced by such children, are largely contingent on the type of difficulty experienced by the child and their educational placement (Humphrey, P.29).   Studies were performed in quantitative experimentation for statistical results using three children groups.  The study involved a control group, a SpLD group and a Dyslexia group, ageing from eight to fifth teen. What are the benchmark studies which are referenced in the body of this paper?  Results confirmed the research findings are contingent with modern conceptualizations of self-development.  Research confirming dyslexia children additionally have problems in academic achievement, peer acceptance and social relationships, which are the aspects crucial in the formation of the self concept.  Research for the thesis included children of dyslexia, attributed types, personal constructs, inventories and questionnaires relating to self-esteem and self-concept investigating teacher ratings and pupil ratings of self-esteem using two empirical measures.   The Likert scale (exam) was introduced for teachers to answer by responding to frequency behaviour on a four-point scale: ‘Never (1)’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Most of the time’ and ‘Always (4).’  The behaviour represented the average rating for this group exam on a scale of 1-4 for the ‘mean frequencies.’  The statistical one-way exam ANOVA (analysis of variance) was performed investigating differences between the groups and comparing the scores with more than two groups.  A table was provided for this teacher exam. Other tables provided were for descriptive statistics of semantic differential scale, and the pupil rating to self-esteem as well. Pupil ratings of self-esteem were given and measured with three groups of children: dyslexia pupils in mainstream schools (N=23); (SpLd) dyslexia pupils (N=34) and the control group without any learning difficulties (N=26), plus each group was measured by pupil ratings of self-esteem.  This measurement ask if ‘I am’ from a seven point scale measuring by the two adjectives from Popular -.-.-.-.-.-. – Unpopular.  This was compared to ‘I would like to be’ scores exam from the groups and focused on academic self-esteem.  The score of 10.86 was the mean age of dyslexic-mainstream.  The scores from the SpLD group were 11.11 and the control group scores were 10.82. Why is it important for the author to review these benchmark studies in the context of this paper?  To give reference and confirm findings of those responsible for documented researched results, as well as update data with latest findings.  The semantic differential resulted in a ‘stand-alone’ self-esteem measurement.  Investigating the discrepancy of your self (self-concept) and your ideal self.  The ANOVA confirmed earlier findings in other research to the same areas.  Noticed differences were the dyslexic-mainstream group and the control group and the SpLD group.  Findings were true for self-esteem in reading and writing ability.  SpLD had lower levels of self-esteem than the control group on only one scale (self-esteem related to ability in English).  In significance to the item of the popularity scale, the support of feelings of exclusion, bullying and teasing applied to dyslexic-mainstream group with exceptionally lower levels of self-esteem. Results and conclusions:  The SpLD group remarked that they felt more cared for and valued in comparison to the group of mainstream schooling.  The study, PhD research and literature confirmed they are more positive self-concepts and levels of self-esteem compared to mainstream education.  Put the emphasis according to Dr. Humphrey insist that the challenge is to create the environment of impending security and value.  Dyslexia pupils in mainstream schools felt isolated and excluded.  During interviews he conducted of dyslexia children, a majority have had extremely negative experiences at schools involving instructors who referred to them as slow, stupid or lazy.  This is excessive damage to this child as he will believe this coming from a teacher.  What is urgent and of most importance is his belief in early identification, with the educational environment (as required), intervention to enhance the development to self will provide all that is called for in grounding the value and achievement in excellence of children with dyslexia. How does a researcher begin the process of identifying research topics or problems that are feasible for examination via the educational research process?  First identify a problem or question requiring research.  Establish a prediction that resolves the problem or answers the question.  Gather written documentation to support the prediction and interpret and analyze the data to confirm the cause for information to research.   Within the area of educational research you must enlist the six step process of research.   Involving (1) identifying the problem for research, (2) reviewing the literature, (3) identify the purpose for the research.  Continue the process by (4) collecting data, (5) studying, interpreting and analyzing it and (6) evaluating and reporting the findings. How does a researcher turn a real-world problem or issue into a research question/hypothesis?  The research problem in the beginning is general, further study of the purpose allows narrowing the topic, which allows questions for specific predictions.  Central ideas have to be addressed from your study, methods in collecting data that will be identified from the questions or purpose statement, and then interpreting results of the project and the research links the questions and purpose statements to major results. When developing a literature review, how does a researcher determine which materials should be included in their literature review and which materials should not be included?  Your information confirms data by other sources and techniques or has additional, more recent (up-dated findings), or improved data findings of the same literature.  These are the reasons your findings would be relevant to the literature review. How does a researcher determine the number of reference materials to be included in a literature review?  The type of study determines the number of reference materials within the literature review.  In the quantitative study, three locations are used.  At the beginning (1) a substantial amount of literature is stated, (2) additional literature justifies/documents the need and rationale for direction of the study (includes purpose statement, research questions or hypothesis).  (3) At the end of study is confirmation and disconfirmation of (prior) predictions from the literature.  In the qualitative study the subject issues a broad range with minimal (though functional) information which is supported and modifies existing findings of the literature. In the qualitative inquiry, researchers do not make predictions about findings.  Rational for direction of study, a hypothesis or a purpose statement is not required or needed within qualitative research and most of the listing of referenced material is at the end.    What is the overall function or purpose of the literature review?  A literature review organizes gathered literature from topics and documents required for a proposed study and regarded as an important step in the research process.  Sources include journal articles, and books.  Yet the preferred version has information from government documents, conference papers and books.  This exercise allows critical evaluation toward the selection of literature you’ll use.  Literature is organized by abstracting or taken notes from home computer or the neighborhood library’s visual diagram of it.  You will summarize the literature for inclusion of a research report.  This gains an exceptional amount of information while improving research skills.  Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Special Educational Needs

The four core components are Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results and Discussion. There are two primary objectives wi...

Debt Management Planning

A. Payment Provisions   The city hospital must pursue this program since it enables them to make a single monthly payment that is distributed to their creditors. This erases the necessity to perform single payments to each and every creditor of the city hospital. Most of the creditors of the city hospital who are involved in this program will enable the city hospital to decrease its monthly payment and, after the hospital has included a payment history, will even remove interest and late charges. Therefore, in this process, more of the city hospital’s payment goes to reducing its debt, enabling the city hospital to move out of its debt easier. B. Payment Schedule / Provisions In this type of debt management program, the city hospital management has the prerogative to choose the payment date that’s best for them. The hospital’s management has the freedom to select any day from the 1st to the 28th of every month. C. Security This program honors the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is a federal law that protects the city hospital from unwarranted threats that can be possibly done by their creditors and prevents creditors from producing fallacious statements against the city hospital. D. Terms of Financing / Fees This program is entitled to provide turnkey financing options as part of the total solution for the city hospital to recover from its financial handicap. This program’s main objective is to guarantee the city hospital of excellent financial structuring meant to answer the financial handicap of the city hospital, while at the same time remaining on the track of the latest hospital technologies and innovations. The terms of financing will also help the city hospital to maximize its limited budget yet still have the space to upgrade its technology. LONG-TERM DEBT ALTERNATIVE A. Debt Management Planning A Debt Management Plan would serve as the link between the established standards and practices in then city hospital. It would be able to articulate, organize, and most importantly integrate the content and processes of the city hospital policies with integration of appropriate technologies. It would facilitate multiple levels of city hospital policies and decision making.   In general, the debt management planning is an ongoing process that would translate the financial needs of the city hospital into concrete actions. It allows the city hospital to take advantage of the latest innovations in debt management while at the same time minimizing the negative impacts of unexpected challenges. Debt Management Planning provides a clear pathway for the implementation of the above mentioned program which could result into a more efficient expenditure of the city hospital’s resources and an improvement in their financial performance. The Debt management plan should reflect the policy and financial situation of the city hospital. However, the debt management plan cannot guarantee the needed changes. The debt management plan must ensure that the processes of debt management plan development, implementation, and evaluation are included as the integral components of the implementation of the necessary program. A well-designed debt management plan would be a dynamic tool that will serve as a guide for the city hospital’s innovations in debt management. This debt management plan would also represent opportunities for dialogue and professional development that enhance city hospital decision making in terms of financial issues. The Debt Management Planning for the City Hospital should: <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Be an organized and continuous process, utilizing a simple yet direct planning model, and resulting into a document which would improve how the program are used for the city hospital’s debt management, assessment, and communications. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Take into consideration the conventional mortgage, taxable bonds, tax-exempt bonds and FHA-insured mortgage. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Be broad but realistic enough in terms of its scope. The debt management plan must also include economical and technically feasible solutions. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Involve all the stakeholders—including the management, employees, staff members, clients, and experts–with experience in debt management.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Identify the financial strengths and weaknesses of the city hospital and how each will impact the implementation of the program.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Make a formalization of the city hospital’s procedures and methods for making debt management decisions, which should include also the setting of priorities and the evaluation, upgrading, and uses of finances and resources. </li> </ul>   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Debt Management Planning

A. Payment Provisions The city hospital must pursue this program since it enables them to make a single monthly payment that is ...

Why Do Banks Ration Credit?

This essay is about credit rationing. The first part of the essay introduces you to the reasons and purposes why banks ration credit. Included in the first part are the roles of adverse selection and moral hazards in determining the lending policy of particular banks. The essay further expands the topic as it includes other subtopics relating to the main topic of credit rationing. These are the three paradigms of credit rationing namely price rationing, disequilibrium quantity rationing, and equilibrium quantity rationing. Discussions on the said topics are also included as it approaches the end of the paper. Introduction             It is argued that most of the early banks’ lending decisions were politically motivated and skewed, with preference to the rich merchants. Overly stringent laws, usually championed by the agrarian critics themselves, forced bankers into that lending pattern. Many bank charters in the early periods forbade banks in raising additional equity capital or increasing interest rates above a low ceiling or usury cap. When market interest rates exceeds beyond the usury cap, as they usually were, banks were naturally flooded with discount applications. Due to these prohibitions by law, banks were forced into credit rationing. This is the natural act of banks in lending only to the safest borrowers. These are characterized as the most known persons/institutions to the bank and those with the highest wealth levels.             Before a lender knows, whether it is safe or not to lend this person, he must first screen the potential borrowers. In addition, monitoring the behavior of the borrower is also needed, even after the loan is made. For the first issue, the lender needs to choose borrowers of high credit quality before granting a loan in order to minimize losses on his part due to default. This is if asymmetric information makes it impossible to distinguish good and bad risks. This is termed as the problem of adverse selection. If the lender was unable to distinguish the bad risks, he will charge an average interest rate (between good and bad). Therefore, high quality borrowers (HQB) pay more than they should, while the low quality borrowers (LQB) less. Due to his situation, some of the HQB drops out of the market, worsening the mix. Higher interest rates even make the problem worse, and even worse as LQB (with low probability of repayment) are willing to pay the said rates. An answer to this problem is the suitable collaterals, as it provides compensation even if the borrower turns out to be low quality, and defaults.             For the second issue, it is done to ensure that the borrower is not doing anything that is against the lender’s interests, while the loan is still outstanding. One specific situation to show this is the problem of moral hazard. In here, the borrower might use the funds in engaging into high-risk activities, which can lead to a low possibility of loan repayment. Moral hazards (and expenditures incurred to overcome it) are a form of agency costs, like costs arising from the separation of principal (lender) and agent (borrower). It is due from the inconsistent incentives arising in a contract, specifying a fixed value payment between debtor and creditor, particularly given limited liability. The debtor prefers the course of action that maximizes his wealth, while the creditor prefers those that maximizes the expected value of his obligation from the debtor. Thus, it creates conflict of interest between the two. There are four ways to reduce this problem and they are reputation, net worth/assets, control and commitment. Credit Rationing             A credit’s availability to individual borrowers is limited. The aspects of the debt contract, along with the borrower’s nature, are reflected on the way this availability is being rationed. Financial institutions or direct lenders may respond to credit demand in various ways. The three paradigms of credit rationing are price rationing, disequilibrium quantity rationing, and equilibrium quantity rationing. For the first type, the risk of default is compensated by spreading the interest rate charged on a loan, over a risk-free rate. The second type is the outcome of the government’s direct controls on credit, or slow adjustment of rates to credit’s supply and demand. On the other hand, the last type comes from the severe asymmetries of information between the borrowers and lenders. Price Rationing             In the price rationing of credit, it is implied that the fact that “the loans’ interest rate is set for the credit’s supply and demand to equilibrate, through the use of instruments like collaterals to offer lenders further protection,” is not ruled out. Generally, the paradigm assumes away many of the information problems outlined above. Therefore, this makes it applicable only to a subset of cases.             Debt must be held by another agent as an asset. As suggested by the portfolio theory, return demanded by that agent will depend on the risk and on the asset’s expected return. For example, an unsecured consumer loan will command a higher interest rate than a Treasury bill of the same maturity, owing to its relative characteristics of risk. A consumer may default on both the interest and the principal, while the government can keep its promises, by the use of its power to tax and to print money. These considerations may be formalized into a theory of the interest rates’ structure. The ‘credit quality’ spread between the yield on a private issue of debt and risk-free debt in the same national market depends on seven factors. These are default risk and associated costs to the lender; the call risk of the bonds’ (or loans’) possibility of early liquidation, at the lender’s probable inconvenient time; status of tax exemption; maturity term/period; any screening or monitoring costs; security or collateral; and market liquidity.             The possibility of the non-collection of interest and principal as promised in the debt contract is called the default risk. This is an apparent difficulty of unsecured loans. However, as noted, returns may be also difficult to obtain even if a loan is collateralized. There is the possibility that the lender will demand a higher expected return, to compensate for the extra risk. An indicator of the market’s assessment of default risk for fixed-rate debt is the differential between the yield on a private bond and public bond. They should be of the same maturity, callability, tax features, etc. It is also important to make a distinction between the three returns concepts: the interest rate (coupon), expected return, and the yield.             Relating the price-rationing paradigm to the economics of debt, price-rationing presupposes, either that there is the lack of information asymmetries, or that there is the possibility of overcoming the problems relating to adverse selection and moral hazard, whether by means of adequate screening and monitoring, reputation, net worth, control, or commitment.               Disequilibrium Quantity Rationing             There are some cases, wherein the normal market equilibrium of the equal supply and demand at a market-clearing price, may not operate. There may be rationing of credit at a non-market-clearing price with excess demand (or supply) of loanable funds, in the sense that among loan applicants who appear to be identical, some receive a loan while others do not.             Credit rationing is characterized by most authors as a disequilibrium phenomenon, as a consequence of the imposed government regulations on credit markets. The typical aim of such regulations lies on enabling the exertion of monetary control without a raise on interest rates, and/or the improvement of credit allocation to preferred sectors. Credit rationing clearly arises in the case of interest-rate controls and with sectoral direction of credit. It is also suggested that government controls on the banks’ balance-sheet growth can lead to credit rationing. Although it depends on whether the banks choose to set a high market-clearing interest rate (there is no rationing for this case), or, they keep lower rates and ration credit, maybe in avoidance to political difficulties.             Behavior endogenous to the market could also result in the form of disequilibrium rationing. It can also arise from the banks’ desire to share interest-rate risks with customers. Alternatively, banks might wish to charge a standardized rate, to ensure fair treatment between broad classes of heterogeneous borrowers. It will fully accommodate the demand of the most preferred borrowers in each class, while rationing credit to the least preferred members. Finally, controlled interest rates may help lessen the borrowers’ search costs. Occasional, publicly announced changes reassure uninformed borrowers that well-informed banks are not taking advantage of their relative ignorance. Equilibrium Quantity Rationing             Credit rationing can still arise in equilibrium instances. Therefore, rationing is not necessarily a consequence of market disequilibrium resulting from sticky prices or government regulation, though it is pretty obvious to lead in rationing. An equilibrium rationing is a probable result when the problems of the debt contract set out in the previous parts, apply particularly strongly, i.e. there is imperfect and asymmetric information, and there are incomplete contracts.             As stated in the previous sections, the key is that the interest rate offered to borrowers has affected the risks of the loans in two main ways. First, borrowers who are willing to pay high interest rates may, on average, be worse risks. They may be willing to borrow at high rates, due to the possibility that what they will repay is lower than the average. This is known as the problem of adverse selection. Second, as the interest rate increases, borrowers who were previously ‘good risks’ may undertake projects characterized by lower probabilities of success, but higher returns when successful. This is the problem of moral hazards, where the incentives of higher interest rates lead to the borrowers’ undertaking of riskier actions.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Why Do Banks Ration Credit?

This essay is about credit rationing. The first part of the essay introduces you to the reasons and purposes why banks ration ...

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ADVERTISING METHOD AMONG YOUNG CHINESE PEOPLE

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY                 This study seeks to investigate the types of advertising used in China to address the youth and determine which approach is most influential to them. The term influential is used in this study as a term to define a Chinese youth’s positive decision to purchase a product because of specific styles in advertising they like, or to define a Chinese youth’s plain preference to a particular advertisement and his or her reason for that behavior. This issue is decided to be investigated because the Chinese youth makes up 630 million of the whole Chinese population (Simpson, 2000). That number is a potential target for companies marketing in China. China, over the years, has progressed in the advertising industry. There is a drive to increase the use of advertising in the country. However, while there is a potential to increase market sales of companies in China through advertising, most studies are general and are not focused on a specific demographic group. For instance, it is still undetermined which advertising approach is most influential to Chinese youth. The rationale of this study is basically to determine which type of advertising approach or combination of different advertising strategies will have an appeal on a specific demographic group such as the Chinese youth. This study may begin to determine the types of strategies needed in advertising to penetrate China’s youth market. Advertising is a broad issue and there are many approaches to consider. However, the preferences of the youth in advertisements can be narrowed down in a single combination of advertising strategies. This study may be useful for companies that are willing to market in China and target the youth as their main consumers.   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY               The study will address three key objectives. They are the following: 1.                  To determine the most effective communication process and message medium of advertising that can be effectively used to gain the attention and support of the Chinese youth. 2.                  To determine which advertising features do Chinese youth mostly prefer and what types of themes can capture their attention easily; and also to determine which medium used for advertising (i.e., TV, radio, magazines, etc.) they usually use.   3.                  To increase the overall understanding in the current Chinese youth culture and to build theories through that culture on how advertising can be used effectively on them. This may also be an opportunity to build new theories in advertising to the Chinese youth.   CONTRIBUTION OF EXISTING LITERATURES                 The isolated China the world once knew is now extinct. Over the years, China has been in a period of economic transition, becoming a manufacturing superpower in the process. In economic terms, China’s market-oriented reforms have brought highly visible success and economic transformation, raising hundreds of millions of people out of poverty (Country Watch, 2005). The country’s economic success attracted many foreign investors and continues to do so (Jagersma and van Corp, 2003). Some examples of multinational companies that became successful in China include the likes of Motorola, Philips and Unilever (Jagersma and van Corp, 2003). What makes China attractive to investors is that its reforms and economic growth made the country a consumer powerhouse; including 1.3 billion consumers who have begin to demand more expensive consumer goods such as washing machines, cars and CD players to name a few (Tse, 1998; Jagersma and van Corp, 2003). Not only that, China is also a home of cheap raw materials and affordable labor, and is also considered as a perfect export site of inexpensive semi-finished and finished products (Jagersma and van Corp, 2003).               With all these market potentials in China, there are many marketing factors that are needed to be investigated, and how to incorporate advertising strategies in the country is one of them. Along with the growth of Chinese markets, the advertising industry has grown head to head with it – their growths are almost intertwined. Since the end of China’s isolation to the world, there has been a serious drive to promote advertising in the country. For instance, in 1987, Wan Li, prime minister of the Chinese State Council, declared advertising essential to the promotion of economic prosperity (Chan, 1995). Since then, the advertising sector has experienced very rapid growth. Chan (1995) stated that the average annual growth rate of advertising revenue for the period between 1983 and 1993 was 50%. Similarly, Ha (1996) cited that from 1992 to 1993, the number of advertising agencies almost tripled (Ha, 1996). It is said that China’s open-door policy has influenced this growth greatly (Chillier and Denis, 1999).               However, despite this growth in advertising, Chillier and Denis (1999) argued that there are still many questions that need answers concerning this rapidly expanding and culturally complex market. Some of the unanswered questions they pointed out include: What is the current advertising context in China (customs, constraints, distinctive cultural features)? What lessons must foreign firms operating in China learn about advertising strategies?    But while those questions have a definite weight in them, they are too general and broad because there are many demographic groups in China. In this current study, it is decided that if ever such questions are explored, the focus should be on specific demographic groups. The specific demographic group chosen for this study is the Chinese youth group. This group is chosen because Chinese youth is perhaps the most definite target of advertisements. Simpson (2000) from the BBC world news stated that the estimated population of China is more than 1.2 billion and more than half of them – about 630 million – are under the age of 24. Simpson (2000) emphasized, without any exaggeration, that the entire Chinese youth population is more than the entire population of United States, Russia, Canada and Australia combined. Furthermore, young people account for 35.9 percent of China’s 21.9 internet users and 23% of them have mastered at least one foreign language (Smith and Wylie, 2006).   One of the issues that advertisers need to consider when addressing and capturing the hearts and minds of Chinese youth is the changing Chinese youth culture. One of these changes is that Chinese youth has already jumped into the ‘cool’ mentality (Smith and Wylie, 2006). In a particular study that asked Chinese university students to state what makes a company ‘cool’, under half of the respondents made the correct description – individuality and innovation make a company cool (Smith and Wylie, 2006). Chinese youth now wants products that will make them stand out from the rest of the crowd. Smith and Wylie (2006) stated that if companies want to succeed in advertising to Chinese youth, they must incorporate values that Chinese youth perceive as ‘cool’ – an image of individualism, entrepreneurship, and empowerment.   Being ‘cool’ among Chinese Generation Yers is also characterized by rebellion, openness, aggressiveness, and electronic music, avant-garde, dyed-hair and weird wardrobes (Min, 2004). Min (2004) stated that Chinese parents mostly do not understand the behavior of their teen offspring. It was cited from a famous Taiwanese writer that the current generation gap in China is just unavoidable, and that mutual understanding and respect should be pursued because each generation has their own shared experience (Min, 2004).   The Chinese youth’s embracement of the concept of ‘cool’ can also be reflected from the media, specifically Chinese television shows. Recently, teen-focused television shows emerged across China and one notable example that can be cited is the ‘Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Super Girl contest’ that took place last year (Lynch, 2005). The contest is similar to Idol search contests (i.e., American Idol, British Idol, etc.) that are sweeping in different countries across the world. The Super Girl contest in a nutshell gives a shot to young women all over China for televised fame and fortune (Lynch, 2005). The contest featured five finalists: a moody, Avril Lavigne-type rocker; a prepubescent baby doll; an energetic schoolgirl; a glamour queen in evening wear; and a rough-and-ready tomboy (Lynch, 2005).  This shows that Chinese girls are now becoming familiar with the global concept of popular culture, which is the beginning of being conscious to the concept of ‘being cool’.   Wang (2005) stated that dress code is the first priority in Chinese youth culture in order to be labeled as ‘cool’. Music is not being taken as a form of self-expression unlike in other countries adhering to the concept of ‘cool’. According to Wang (2005), “Music is a backseat driver, second to the dress code, in the total picture of cool culture consumption, and should not be taken as a privileged force in influencing brand adoption”. In China, music is seen primarily as an entertainment culture rather than a vehicle of serious self-expression.   Aside from the ‘cool’ concept, advertisers in China might also want to look at the ‘sex appeal’ approach in advertising to gain the attention of Chinese youth. According to Liu, Li and Cheng (2005), China is now experiencing a period of sexual revolution. The evidence is all over China: billboards advertising of Calvin Klein underwear; increase of most often sexual-themed fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Vogue; and the increase of love-making scenes on Chinese movies (Liu, Li and Cheng, 2005). There are also news that reflects China’s sexual awakening such as the increase of sexually-themed news, and the introduction of adult products exposition. Liu, Li and Cheng (2005) stated that sex is not a taboo in China anymore, and the most liberal demographic about it are the Chinese youth. Although there are government efforts to stop sexually explicit advertising, such themes keep coming back and basically shows that the Chinese people are now open for such a sensitive issue.               Aside from the communication approaches in advertising such as the ‘cool’ and ‘sexual’ approach mentioned above, there are also other traditional advertising approaches that may gain the attention of Chinese youth. For instance, advertisers have also been known to use emotional and informative appeal in advertising. Informative and emotional advertising are two basic types of creative strategies (Chan and Chan, 2005). Informative advertisements communicate facts about the product or the brand (Chan and Chan, 2005). The targeted response is usually a logical thinking process. Emotional advertisements on the other hand attempt to establish a favorable feeling and associate it with the brand (Chan and Chan, 2005). Currently, Chan and Chan (2005) found that the percentage of informative commercials dropped from 58% in 1993 to 55% in 2002. The research shows that the amount of information content carried by individual commercials dropped significantly. Chan and Chan (2005) explained that the continued shift of direct informative advertising to emotional or symbolic appeal advertising further illustrated that China was now entering a post-scarcity age. However, it is still unclear if this type of advertising applies to the Chinese youth. Further researches are needed to be conducted to confirm this hypothesis.               The advertising law in China is simple. There are few points that are prohibited in any advertising campaign. They are: the use the National Flag, the National Emblem or the National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China; use the names of State organs or their functionaries; use terms such as “State-level,” the “highest-grade” or “the best”; hinder social stability or endanger the safety of persons or property, or harm the public interest; hinder public order or violate sound social morals; contain information suggesting pornography, superstition, terror, violence or hideousness; contain information that engages in ethnic, racial, religious or sexual discrimination; hinder the protection of environment or natural resources; or; other circumstances prohibited by laws or administrative rules and regulations (China Online, 2004). Those who are planning to advertise to Chinese youth should consider those prohibitions to develop an effective advertising campaign that can penetrate the Chinese youth culture.               Language may also be an issue when advertising to Chinese people in general. Liu and Pecotich (2000) stated that language is a basic communication tool so it plays an important part in advertising. The concepts such as memory, recall or persuasive power will unavoidably affected by the languages. Since dialects are spoken languages, it is believed that dialects will also affect those variables in advertising. Liu and Pecotich (2000) cited that there are more than 80 languages currently used in China but since more than 98% of the people in China are from the Han ethnic race. The choice between the use of mother tongue or foreign language should also be considered as an issue. Cited from Lynch (2005) again on the Super Girl contest, a rocker, Huang Jing, a college student majoring in advertising, seemed the favorite of the crowd. However, after she belted out her opening number in English, one of the four judges, music producer Cang Yanbin, chastised her. “You should trust the charm of the mother tongue,” he said. This shows that the Chinese are very much keen in preserving the use of their mother tongue despite the fact that English is already considered as the international language that every nation can use to communicate. But then, it is still unknown which language do Chinese youth prefer to hear in TV and radio advertisements or read in newspaper advertisements. As mentioned earlier, many Chinese youth today have already mastered one foreign language. This may have a link to how they want to hear or read their daily advertising experiences.             Aside from themes and communication approaches, another area of advertisement that advertisers should look at in addressing Chinese youth is the type of medium used for the ad. There are basically many media that can be used for advertisement. These may include: newspaper, television, radio, magazines, internet, yellow pages, and direct mail (Bruneau, 2004). Among those medium, television may be the best bet. According to the Center for the Study of Intelligence (2006), current estimates indicate that there are now about 25 TV sets per 100 people and that roughly a billion Chinese have access to television. Furthermore, an official estimate shows that there are now more than 7,000 magazines and journals in the country, which means that the usage of published materials in the country may have increased (Center for Study Intelligence, 2006). Also, it has been reported that there is a continuous increase of Internet usage in the country (Center for Study Intelligence, 2006). This also shows a great opportunity for companies to advertise on popular local internet sites in China. These variations in advertising medium make it more complex to determine which advertising medium greatly influenced the Chinese youth.   METHODOLOGY                 The research strategy that the study will utilize is the descriptive method. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (Creswell, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. (Best, 1970) In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). This research is also cross-sectional because of limited time. This research is a study of a particular phenomenon (or phenomena) at a particular time. (Saunders et al, 2003) Accordingly, cross-sectional studies often employ the survey strategy, and they may be seeking to describe the incidence of a phenomenon or to compare factors in different organizations.   In this study, primary and secondary research will be both incorporated. The reason for this is to be able to provide adequate discussion for the readers that will help them understand more about the issue and the different variables that involve with it. The primary data for the study will be represented by the survey results that will be acquired from the respondents. On the other hand, the literature reviews to be presented in the second chapter of the study will represent the secondary data of the study. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from business and e-commerce journals, theses and related studies on advertising and specifically advertising to the youth not only in China, but in other parts of the world. For this research, the researcher, after gathering the relevant data needed, will collate them together with published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from social science journals, then afterwards render a critical analysis on the collected documents and verbal materials.   Data Collection     The survey method, also known as the questionnaire method, will be used in gathering the data for this study.   Surveys are the most common form of research method for collection of primary data (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). One of its purpose is to describe, e.g., to count the frequency of some event or to assess the distribution of some variables such as proportion of the population of different age groups, sex, religion, castes and languages, knowledge, attitude and adoption of practices about particular issues, and other information of similar nature about the population (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). The descriptive survey of the population is valuable in understanding the audience, and in the definition of the existence and magnitude of the problems, and the survey data are also helpful in determining cause and effect relationships between variables (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). Further, the preliminary descriptive survey results can prove useful for planning more sophisticated survey studies with a view to identifying areas where problems occur or where changes are required, to understand why people behave in a certain manner and what can be done to provide alternate solutions to the problems, where an attempt is made to understand the relationships between different variables, and the purpose of survey becomes to diagnose or analyze the situation rather than just describe the situation (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). Surveys may also be done to measure the extent and nature of effect and impact of a project to the population exposed to it for a reasonable length of time (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000).   A semi-structured questionnaire will be used for this study. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews provide the researcher the opportunity to ‘probe’ answers, which can be done in instances where there is a need or want for the interviewees to explain further or build on their responses, and this is important if one is adopting a phenomenological approach, where the researcher is concerned to understand the meanings that respondents attribute to various phenomena, as interviewees may use words or ideas in a particular way, and the opportunity to probe these meanings will add significance and depth to the data obtained and may also lead the discussion into areas that had not been previously considered but which are significant for understanding and may help in addressing research questions and objectives (Saunders et al, 2003). Basically, the questionnaire will contain statements that can be answered through ranking and will also contain open-ended questions. A five-point Likert Scale is the technique to be used to measure the responses of the respondents on the ranking statements.   Sample Frame   The study will sample a target number of 500 Chinese middle-class university students age 17 to 21. The samples will be chosen through convenience sampling. Convenience sampling is picked over types of probability sampling because it will make the survey faster and easier. The total number of youth is China is by millions and the use of non-probability sampling such as convenience may be advisable because 1 percent of that total population is too much for the study to cover.               The criteria for the sampling is that the respondents should be Chinese citizens, Chinese in lineage, should be studying in a university, their family should have a good yearly income, and that they should be 17 to 21 years old. These specific demographic requirements have been put in the study so as to make the results more specific. Middle class youth are chosen because they are the ones who have access to different types of media and are most likely to purchase branded products and rely on advertisement for purchase guidance. Data Analysis   The data results of the study will be analyzed by determining their corresponding frequency, percentage and weighted mean. The following statistical formulas will be used:   1.       Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.             n % = ——– x 100        ;           n – number of responses             N                                 N – total number of respondents   2.       Weighted Mean             f1x1 + f2x2  + f3x3 + f4x4  + f5x5 x= ———————————————  ;                         xt where:             f – weight given to each response                         x – number of responses                         xt – total number of responses   Potential Limitations     REFERENCES:     Best, J. W. (1970). Research in Education, 2nd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc.   Bruneau, D.A. (2004). Advertising. U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington DC. Center for the Study of Intelligence (2006). The Chinese Media: More Autonomous and Diverse–Within Limits (online). Available at: http://www.cia.gov/csi/monograph/425050797/1.htm [Accessed: 03/23/06]. Chan, K.W. (1995). Information Content of Television Advertising in China. International Journal of Advertising, Vol.14, No.4; pp.365-373.   Chan, K. and Chan, F. (2005). Information Content of Television Advertising in China: An Update. Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 15, No. 1; pp. 1-/15   Chillier, C. and Denis, J. (1999). Advertising in China: Trends, Constraints, and Implications for Foreign Firms. University of Geneva Hautes Etudes Commerciales. Unpublished Study.     China Online (2004). Advertisement Law of the People’s Republic of China (online). Available at: www.chinaonline.com [Accessed: 03/23/06].   Commonwealth of Learning. (2000). Manual for Educational Media    Researchers: Knowing your Audience. Vancouver, Canada:      Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).   Country Watch. (2005). China: 2005 Country Review. In CountryWatch.com [online]. Available at: [http://www.countrywatch.com]. Accessed: [03/23/06]. Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.   Ha, L. (1996). “Concerns about Advertising Practices in a Developing country: An Examination of China’s New Advertising Regulations”. International Journal of Advertising, Vol.15, No.2; pp.91-102.   Jagersma, P.K. and van Gorp, D.M. (2003). Still Searching for the Pot of Gold: Doing Business in Today’s China. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol24, No.5; pp.27-35.   Liu, F., Li, J. and Cheng, H. (2005). Sex appeal advertising: gender differences in Chinese consumers’ responses. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol.18, No.1; pp.19-28.     Liu, F. and Pecotich, A. (2000). Culture, Language and Advertising in China: A Preliminary Explication of the Chinese Context. ANZMAC 2000 Visionary Marketing for the 21st Century: Facing the Challenge Lynch, D. (2005). China under spell of mighty ‘Super Voice Girl’ (online). Available at: http://www.chinageny.com/html/china_youth_news.html [Accessed: 03/23/06]. Min, L. (2004). We are Generation Y (online). Available at: http://www.chinageny.com/html/china_youth_news.html [Accessed: 03/23/06].   Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business   Students, 3rd Ed. London: Prentice Hall Financial Times.   Simpson, I. (2000). China’s youth: Shaping the future (online). Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1001366.stm [Accessed: 03/26/06]. Smith, J. and Wylie, J. (2006). China’s Youth Define “Cool” (online). Available at: http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0407/smith.html [Accessed: 03/23/06]. Tse, E. (1998). The Chinese Consumer Market. Strategy and Business, pp.10-21, Second Quarter.   Wang, W. (2005). Youth Culture, Music, and Cell phone Branding in China. Global Media and Communication, Vol. 1, No. 2; pp.1-15.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ADVERTISING METHOD AMONG YOUNG CHINESE PEOPLE

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY This study seeks to investigate the types of advertising used in China to address the youth and de...

To improve the sales productivity by modify the information system for the Janssen (HK) Ltd

Scope/Rationale of Project   Janssen Pharmaceutica was established in 1953 in Belgium by a young medical doctor, Dr Paul Janssen. Success came quickly, for the fifth molecule synthesized was found to have therapeutic properties. Many more innovations were to follow, in fields as diverse as gastroenterology, psychiatry, neurology, allergy, mycology and pain management. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceutica joined the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.   Through the years, Janssen Pharmaceutica had established separate marketing and sales operations in various countries to support the medicines discovered in their laboratories. In order to support the long term company growth, local market companies had a clear objective: double digit sales growth every year.   Janssen (HK) was set up in 1980; information on the competitive situation of competitors suggests that Janssen (HK) Ltd is under-performing on Own Brand product sales in recent years. This may be due to the fact that   1.      The current practice of the sales team is not effective. 2.      The better performance of the competitors 3.      The sales department cannot follow the strategic directions from the management. 4.      Existing HRM and information system are not efficient for the sales team.   This project will therefore review these factors against the business result and sales team performance in order to             1.      Confirm the existing information system and HRM of Janssen (HK) Ltd are sufficient to support the future sales growth objective. 2.      Provide a recommended framework which enables the IT team and HR team to develop a new strategy, helping to enable the business to achieve its strategic aims.             Methodology   The objective of the project is to provide the management of the business with HR/IT framework to support its new strategic aim and objectives. To support these, the framework recommended will be matched to the specific needs of Janssen (HK) Ltd.   Janssen (HK) Ltd is a well-established pharmaceutical company, it is important that the recommendations from this project provide a contribution to the business long- term growth. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to undertake a structure review of the existing sales area of business to identify and understand:   -         The current sales team culture -         How IT department work with sales team -         The tasks and activities undertaken within HR department     This structured review will be undertaken with the aid of questionnaires to ensure that critical points are consistently extracted from the interviewees.   Interviews will be undertaken with, the franchise directors, Human Resource Manager, IT manager and salesman. Questionnaires and discussions will be developed to extract specific information at each level. Research will also be carried on the area of information system and human resource system.   The outcomes from all this research will be compared will other pharmaceutical company. And thus provide the recommendations for the managements.   Data Sources   Primary Sources             Interviews with Janssen (HK) Staff             Survey of performance measures             Janssen (HK) Sales Data   Secondary Information             Industry/market reports   Aspects of MBA Syllabus Used   The project will involve aspects of the core courses, in -         E-business, -         TQM -         Human Resource Management.     Proposed Chapter Headings and Sub-Headings   1.         Introduction 1.1           Overview of Janssen (HK) Ltd 1.2           Background to the Project 1.3           Terms of Reference 1.4           Project Methodology 1.5           Structure of the Report   2.         The sales performance 2.1           Janssen Performance 2.2           Sales Team Structure 2.3           Sales Team Culture             2.4       Industry Performance   3.         Human Resources within Janssen (HK) Ltd 3.1           Review of current Practice 3.2           Responsibilities within Sales Area   4.         Information System             4.1       Review of current Practice             4.2       Responsibilities within Business   5.         Delivering Strategic Aims             5.1       Historical Position             5.2       Future Development   6.         Summary of Key Literature             6.1       Main area of Research             6.2       Summary of Key Points   7.         Business Benefits             7.1       Anticipated Business Benefits             7.2       Impact Analysis   8.         Conclusion and Recommendations             8.1       Conclusion             8.2       Recommendations   Appendices and Bibliography Work Programme   Activities   Mar., 06 Apr., 06 May., 06 Jun., 06                 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 - Janssen Induction   - -                             - Review existing approaches within the business       - -                         - Review HR/IT systems in the other business           - -                     - Review literature and third party information               - -                 - Survey on Janssen Sales Staff           - -                     - Survey on HR/IT Staff               - -                 - Analyze Data                   - -             - Discussion with Key individuals                       - -         - Produce the outline of recommendations                           - -     - Document and Project Submission                               - -                                                 Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

To improve the sales productivity by modify the information system for the Janssen (HK) Ltd

Scope/Rationale of Project Janssen Pharmaceutica was established in 1953 in Belgium by a young medical doctor, Dr Paul Janssen. Success...