Charity Paper

Giving back to the community is very important when a growing company like ours starts to become successful. It's great that you are trying to support a philanthropic program, and In this e-mail I will give you Information about two programs/Charles to support. The two organizations that I recommend are Penn Future and LEAD (Leadership Education and Development). Penn Future Penn Future Is one of the most effective environmental organizations In Pennsylvania. The nonprofit organization Is located In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was founded In 1998.The organization's mission statement states that their mall goal Is focusing on enforcing environmental laws to create a future where nature, communities and the economy thrive. The President, George Coving, is only compensated 4. 09% of the total revenue. The organization spends 77. 3% of its money on program expenses, growth, and fundraisers. Policies enforced by Penn Future are clean energy, air quality, water quality, and mining. The o rganization has been trying to achieve success In their mission to create a thriving community by replacing old outdated rower sources with clean and renewable energy made in Pennsylvania.They also are fighting factory farm pollution and damage from mining. Penn Future has been making sure that the government has been doing its part in maintaining a safe and healthy environment in the Trim-state area; they have also provided $2 million each year to help protect the environment. Climate change is becoming a big issue around the world, and Penn Future Is trying Its best to advocate for action regarding the Issue. They have proposed four actions that would reduce heat-trapping gases to the necessary level.These actions are: Implement the Pennsylvania climate action plan by first applying the recommendations with the greatest emission reduction potential with the least cost. Increase the amount of clean, renewable energy required in the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards. Continue P ennsylvania participation in the creation of a regional Low-Carbon Fuel Standard. Extend provisions of the energy Savings legislation. Penn Future would be a great organization to work with because of their reputation for going out and actually getting things done.The organization spends a majority of TTS money towards the environment, and with environmental issues becoming a big issue around the world, working with the organization would be great for our business's reputation and also the environment around us. We can support Penn Future by Ralston money around the office and donating the money to the organization. We can also provide some type of Incentive for workers If they go out and try to volunteer with the organization. In addition, we can work with the organization to make our building more CEO-friendly. LEAD (Leadership Education and Development)LEAD, a nonprofit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their mission Is to engage youth of diverse backgrounds and help them convert their great potential corporations so that they can find the right students to participate in their program. I understand you were also in a similar program in college, so you must be aware of the importance of such organizations. They use 71% of their money towards the program, the rest goes to expenses. LEAD has received about $2 million, and they serve 500 students yearly. Working with LEAD would be amazing for us.We could offer internships to the organization, which will help us around the office and will also give the students an idea of what it is like to work in the real world. We can also offer the interns Jobs depending on how they worked around the office. This will be great because we will see what kind of workers we are hiring before we even hire them. To sum it all up†¦ In conclusion, Penn Future and LEAD are the best organizations for us to partner up with. Penn Future will help the company's reputation, which is always a good thing. It will als o give us an opportunity in working towards a healthy environment.With the whole â€Å"Green† movement going on today, working with an CEO-friendly organization will definitely be great for our workers and community. LEAD is a great organization to work with because our company is based around ambition and hard work, and having the opportunity to help ambitious and hard-working students is great. Giving students the opportunity to become an intern at our company would be a win for us and the students. Some help around the office can't hurt, and the student can learn a few things while he's here. These are my two philanthropic program recommendations. Let me know what you think.

Critical Note: Ode to a Nightingale Essay

The speaker responds to the beauty of the nightingale’s song with a both â€Å"happiness† and â€Å"ache. † Though he seeks to fully identify with the bird — to â€Å"fade away into the forest dim† — he knows that his own human consciousness separates him from nature and precludes the kind of deathless happiness the nightingale enjoys. First the intoxication of wine and later the â€Å"viewless wings of Poesy† seem reliable ways of escaping the confines of the â€Å"dull brain,† but finally it is death itself that seems the only possible means of overcoming the fear of time. The nightingale is â€Å"immortal† because it â€Å"wast not born for death† and cannot conceive of its own passing. Yet without consciousness, humans cannot experience beauty, and the speaker knows that if he were dead his perception of the nightingale’s call would not exist at all. This paradox shatters his vision, the nightingale flies off, and the speaker is left to wonder whether his experience has been a truthful â€Å"vision† or a false â€Å"dream. † Referred to by critics of the time as â€Å"the longest and most personal of the odes,† the poem describes Keats’ journey into the state of Negative Capability. John Keats coined the phrase ‘Negative Capability’ in a letter to his brothers and defined his new concept of writing: â€Å"that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason† Keats’ poems are full of contradictions in meaning (‘a drowsy numbness pains’) and emotion (‘both together, sane and mad’) and he accepts a double nature as a creative insight. In ‘Nightingale’ it is the apparent (or real) contradictions that allow Keats to create the sensual feeling of numbness that allows the reader to experience the half-swooning emotion Keats is trying to capture. Keats would have us experience the emotion of the language and pass over the half-truths in silence, to live a life ‘of sensations rather than of Thoughts! ‘. Thus, ‘Ode to the Nightingale’ is more feeling than a thinking poem. Keats often deals in the sensations created by words rather than meaning. Even if the precise definition of words causes contradiction they can still be used together to create the right ambience. Negative Capability asks us to allow the atmosphere of Keats’ poems to surround us without picking out individual meanings and inconsistencies. That I might drink, and leave the world unseen† Hearing the song of the nightingale, the speaker longs to flee the human world and join the bird. His first thought is to reach the bird’s state through alcohol–in the second stanza, he longs for a â€Å"draught of vintage† to transport him out of himself. But after his meditation in the third stanza on the transience of life, he rejects the idea of being â€Å"charioted by Bacchus and his pards† and chooses instead to embrace â€Å"the viewless wings of Poesy. The rapture of poetic inspiration matches the endless creative rapture of the nightingale’s music and lets the speaker, in stanzas five through seven, imagine himself with the bird in the darkened forest. The ecstatic music even encourages the speaker to embrace the idea of dying, of painlessly succumbing to death while enraptured by the nightingale’s music and never experiencing any further pain or disappointment. â€Å"Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known† The poet explores the themes of nature and mortality. Here, the transience of life and the tragedy of old age is set against the eternal renewal of the nightingale’s fluid music. Man has many sorrows to escape from in the world, and these Keats recounts feelingly in the third stanza of his poem, a number of the references apparently being drawn from firsthand experience. The mention of the youth who â€Å"grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies,† for example, might well be an allusion to Tom Keats, the younger brother whom the poet nursed through his long, last struggle with consumption. But the bitterest of all man’s sorrows, as it emerges from the catalogue of woes in the third stanza, is the terrible disease of time, the fact that ‘Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes’. It is the disease of time which the song of the nightingale particularly transcends, and the poet, yearning for the immortality of art, seeks another way to become one with the bird. Even death is terribly final; the artists die but what remains is the eternal music; the very song heard today was heard thousands of years ago. The poet exclaims: â€Å"Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self! † The reverie into which the poet falls carries him deep into where the bird is singing. But the meditative trance cannot last. With the very first word of the eighth stanza, the reverie is broken. The word â€Å"forlorn† occurs to the poet as the adjective describing the remote and magical world suggested by the nightingale’s song. But the poet suddenly realises that this word applies with greater precision to himself. The effect is that of an abrupt stumbling. With the new and chilling meaning of â€Å"forlorn†, the song of the nightingale itself alters: it becomes a â€Å"plaintive anthem†. The song becomes fainter. What had before the power to make the sorrow in man fade away from a harsh and bitter world, now itself â€Å"fades† and the poet is left alone in the silence. As the nightingale flies away, the intensity of the speaker’s experience has left him shaken, unable to remember whether he is awake or asleep; thus â€Å"Adieu! he fancy cannot cheat so well†. The â€Å"art† of the nightingale is endlessly changeable and renewable; it is music without record, existing only in a perpetual present. As befits his celebration of music, the speaker’s language, sensually rich though it is, serves to suppress the sense of sight in favor of the other senses. In â€Å"Nightingale,† he has achieved creative expression and has placed his faith in it , but that expression–the nightingale’s song–is spontaneous and without physical manifestation. This is an odd poem because it both conforms to and contradicts some of the ideas he expresses elsewhere, notably the famous concept of â€Å"Negative Capability,†. This can be taken several ways, but is often linked with the statement he made: â€Å"If a sparrow come before my Window I take part in its existence and pick about the Gravel. † While Keats’s begins his poem with â€Å"a drowsy numbness pains† the poem that follows is anything but numb. But the opening ties in with the words that end the poem: â€Å"Fled is that music — Do I wake or sleep? Life is or may be a dream — a very Shakespearean image — but, dreaming or awake, perception and empathetic participation are rooted in Keats’s own consciousness. It is only in dreaming, Keats says, that we can become conscious of, and merged with, the life around us. Thus, Keats heads towards Negative Capability in the poem. Keats is not as great as Shakespeare but he has the sam e power of self-absorption, that wonderful sympathy and identification with all things, that â€Å"Negative Capability† which he saw as essential to the creation of great poetry and which Shakespeare possessed so abundantly.

A Case Study on Branding Bangladesh

Submitted By: Revolution 8th Semester, Session: 2008-09. Date of Submission: 10/12/2012. [pic] REVOLUTION 3rd Batch Session: 2008-09 |Serial: |Name of Students : |Roll No: | |01. |Farjana Nur Purabi |091648 | |02. Anik Kumar Devnath |091654 | |03. |Sheikh Sazzadur Rahman |091664 | |04. |Md. Ashiqur Rahman Rana Biswas |091695 | |05. |Rumana Jahan |091743 | |06. |Md. Masudur Rahman |091750 | |07. |Md. Rabiul Islam |091758 | |08. Md. Mushfiqur Rahman |091759 | |09. |Mohammad Ullah |07882876 | December 10, 2012. Shaikh Rafiqul Islam. Associate Professor. Department of Marketing . Jagannath University. Dhaka-1100. Dear Sir, Here is the assignment you allocated us to prepare on â€Å"Branding Bangladesh†. After researching and studying the current situation of the country based on collected data we have been able to prepare the assignment. All of the major points and insights information associated with the given issue are included here. Besides, we have attempted to include some of our personal assumption, practical experience and idea to make the assignment more fruitful. Thanking you for giving the break accomplishing such an interesting educative task. Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Group :- Revolution. 8th Semester. 3rd Batch. Session :- 2008-2009 Title Page Country Branding: A Case Study on Branding Bangladesh Tourism Export Brands Culture and Heritage pic][pic] People Investment Foreign and domestic policies [pic] [pic] [pic] Country branding is different in branding from a product. In developing the strategy, it would involve many intricacies and can be a long drawn out process. Branding Bangladesh is all about positioning Bangladesh in the minds of people. Branding Bangladesh is an important concept because it will help the country to understand how publics perceive her across the nations. Those people are consumers, potential tourists, and, most importantly potential investors. In the growth process of Bangladesh they all are participating actively. An effective nation branding campaign accelerates the economic growth of Bangladesh and the citizens feel dignified. It must be remembered that there are around 195 nations in the world; all are aggressively competing for the attention of investors, tourists, and citizens. Therefore, a well-planned nation branding campaign is crucial for the branding of Bangladesh. Table of Contents TOPIC |PAGE | |PART: A (Introductory Part) | | |Preamble |7 | |Objectives |7 | |Methodology |8 | |Limitations |8 | |PART: B (Theoretical Framework/Literature Review) | | |Literature Review |9 | |PART: C | | |Brand Dimensions of Bangladesh |10 | |Strategies for Branding Bangladesh |12 | |Country and Corporate Brands Co-positioning |16 | |Findings at a glance |16 | |PART: D | | |Recommendations |17 | |Conclusion |17 | |References |18 | Creating a branding program for Bangladesh demands an integration policy that most countries do not possess. To boost our commercial success it is very important to take action regarding branding Bangladesh. Branding Bangladesh the government should always observe their global image in countries they aim to target and the stakeholder should collaborate together and agree on a national stratagem. If the stakeholders could unite as one, pin down the purpose and objectives, and fulfill the process, it would reflect the will of one nation. Maintaining continuously the reputation in every sector (Tourism, exports, culture, people, brands and policy) is important to accelerate the task of branding. This assignment aims at clarifying the concepts of branding Bangladesh and argues that for a developing country like Bangladesh, branding is a prerequisite for national development. The specific objectives of this paper are: Review the conceptual and theoretical foundation of nation branding by leading authors in the marketing field; ? Examining and defining Branding Bangladesh and discussing its challenges. ? Attaining insights into branding Bangladesh ? Being familiar on the subject matter for lat er investigation for branding Bangladesh. DATA COLLECTION: Considering the objectives of the assignment, time, types of respondents, we collected both Primary and Secondary data to find out the necessary information regarding the strategies of branding Bangladesh. The sources are mentioned here- PRIMARY DATA: ? Taking personal interview of concerning people of tourism board; ? Discussing with the concerning people of Brand Forum of Bangladesh. SECONDARY DATA: ? Studying different articles and advertisements published in daily newspapers; ? Visiting different websites and journals. While preparing the assignment we faced some problems that were unavoidable and these limitations are mentioned below: ? This assignment was totally an unfamiliar type of assignment to us; ? People of the authority were unwilling to provide full information about our given topic; ? The permitted survey time we have got was very limited; ? We did not get enough concern person to collect necessary information; ? Our communication was confined only to the Dhaka city. Bangladesh has always held great promise. It enjoyed widespread international public support during the war of liberation, not only because its struggle was identifiable, but also due to the fact that it aimed to establish a socio-economic equilibrium and an equitable society where each citizen would have the opportunity to flourish. Another interesting problem the nation faces is that when it is compared to other countries it is invariably compared to nations with drug, mafia, and terrorist problems. While it is true that Bangladesh a huge population, with high unemployment rates, and increasing price inflation, often comparing it to failed or a semi-failed states does not do it justice. The weak status continued till the nineties. Then even Transparency International started ranking us as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. However, the nation’s image started improving post-2000 as did its performance indicators. The major indicators for socio-economic growth include: improvement in health status, increasing literacy, progress in gender balance, enhancement of employment opportunities, building transport and communications facilities, huge increases in media reach amongst rural and urban people, booming ITC businesses, a rise in remittance and agricultural, industrial, and ready-made garments (RMG) booms. In 2006, our global image increased exponentially with Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That put Bangladesh in a strong position, globally and we cannot let that slip. Therefore, it has become imperative to develop a nation branding campaign to keep us in the global limelight for the right reasons. While branding Bangladesh, the brand strategists must consider two key basic objectives: Firstly, it is crucial to instill pride in Bangladeshis and to persuade our people to be positive and feel dignified about themselves and for their country. The success of the nation branding program strongly depends on their active participation, ownership, and support. They should be proud of their country, culture, and heritage. Secondly, the government should come up with an aggressive but distinct nation branding campaign immediately, it is essential for our progress. Countries like India, Thailand, China, Malaysia, etc started similar branding journeys more than a decade ago and should not lag too far behind. We need a forceful branding campaign for our country so that we can emerge as an Asian Tiger by 2021; which will also mark the 50th year of our independence. Dr. Khalid Hasan  is Managing Director, Nielsen Bangladesh and Treasurer AmCham Bangladesh. Acknowledgement: AmCham Bangladesh. Brand Dimensions of Bangladesh Anholt is recognized for Anholt-GfK Nation Brand Index (NBI), and it is based on the same six categories to measure the global perception of a country. The brand of a country is judged based of the six dimensions. In case of branding Bangladesh we might focus on these dimensions and create brand image for Bangladesh. Fig: The Six Dimensions of a national branding Dimension 1: Tourism Tourism is one of the most visible aspects of a country brand because it receives considerable financial support from governments, and is therefore the main marketing tool at the national level. It is a major economic driver through employment, international visitor expenditures, investments, and regional development. Bangladesh Tourism Board has adopted different policies and strategies to promote and champion Bangladesh. It includes brand taglines like â€Å"Beautiful Bangladesh. † Dimension 2: Export brands There is a constant struggle to increase share of exports within the global market. In order to attain this purpose, the quality of exported products or services has to be superior to that of competitors. Export brands represent an important mark for Bangladesh. An increase in exports can raise the self-esteem of a country, which in turn boosts self-confidence and further success. Ten years ago, as a country Bangladesh was little known across the Globe. Today, most of the countries label as the country of high quality garments product and this is mainly due to the performance of our garments industry. Dimension 3: Investments All countries, be they developing or developed, are now striving for an investment-friendly image. Country brand, and everything that it stands for, has a lot to say when it comes to attracting foreign direct investments. In case of Bangladesh it is very good for us that a large number of investors are coming in different sectors. Dimension 4: Foreign and domestic policies. Nations are also judged in accordance with the foreign and domestic policies that their leaders initiate. Foreign and domestic policies must be coordinated so that they would invigorate the national brand. As a country we have to increase the ability to meet the residents’ needs for health, education, human rights, political participation more effectively. Dimension 5: People It is worth mentioning that the branding of a country must start from inside because a country’s brand is most frequently promoted by its people. In 2006, our global image increased exponentially with Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That put Bangladesh in a strong position, globally and we cannot let that slip. Beside, Sakib-al-hasan, a Bangladeshi cricketer also increases the brand image of our country holding number one position in ICC Cricket ranking. Joining the mission of UN, Bangladesh Army has created a new dimension for Bangladesh and it is obviously a good sign for our country Dimension 6: Culture and Heritage Last but not least, one should not overlook the cultural dimension of a country brand. Culture penetrates all areas of life, including all scientific endeavors. For this reason, culture has turned into the ultimate reference point, a conventionally accepted solution to all problematic questions. Strategies for branding Bangladesh We should take on a more conscious effort in branding country because country images draw out identifications, affect evaluations and purchase decisions. Additionally, countries compete for tourists, foreign investments and talented people. Let us look at this figure- Setting objectives: Branding Bangladesh we have to set clear and distinctive objectives that will help us to accomplish the different task most effectively. Different objectives might be: ? To be a Middle Income Country (MIC) ? 30th largest economy ? Per capita us dollar 6000 ? Economic goal †¢ Agro and labor intensive industry †¢ GDP growth to 10% †¢ Environmental protection Transportation and ship building hub. Performing SWOT analysis: Performing a SWOT analysis for nations is an idea that has been promoted by many others. In his book The Marketing of Nations, Philip Kotler (1997) confirmed the idea that each nation must assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) periodically in its five areas of capability: †¢ Government leadership; †¢ Factor endowments; †¢ Industrial organization; †¢ Social cohesion; †¢ Culture, attitudes and values. Based on the guidelines we might perform an effective SWOT analysis that will help to figure out our own most effectively and define the country’s objectives. S- Strength |W- Weakness | | | | |Potential Growth economics, |Lack of Coordination among different groups, | |Successfully meeting the millennium development goal. |Lack of coordination between corporate and country co branding, | | |Insufficient budget. | | | | | | |O- Opportunity |T- Threat | | | | |Positive sovereign credit achieved, |Corruption, | |Making agreement with different countries. |Political instability. | | | | Choosing a Specific direction for distinctive branding For distinctive branding we might choose a specific direction from industries, personalities, natural landmarks or historica l events. This process will help create brand image more effectively. Expanding upon an Umbrella concept: Expanding upon an umbrella concept will help to cover separate branding activities with consistency. Different branding activities will be coordinated through an umbrella concept. Consulting with opinion leaders to look at national strengths and weaknesses and compare those with the research we might do create this concept. Allocating adequate funds to finance each branding activities: To create a successful brand image and create a greater impact regarding brand adequate fund is necessary and concerning people should handle the matter with kin interest Creating Export Control: Creating export controls to ensure exported products are trustworthy and meeting the affirmed performance is necessary for branding Bangladesh. We have good will in foreign market in case of exporting garments products but sometimes it has been seen that due to some reasons our country is branded negatively and to avoid this we need to control export market. Maintaining balance between promise and performance: We will have to be very careful to maintain balance between the promise and performance. Sometimes it has been seen that we can’t afford quality service for the promising things e. g sometimes foreigners come to our country to enjoy heritage sides but due to transportation facility and accommodation facility they don’t get expected performance. This point is the main thing to create a positive brand image for Bangladesh. Performing Activities on a regular basis: Creating positive brand image different campaigns are needed. But we have to keep in mind that these campaigns should be taken consistently and thinking the vision and long run interest of the country. Creating strategy and Working out program to make the strategy tangible through improvement programs, campaigns are important to reinforce the past campaign. Making all the members interactive: Ensuring the cooperation and involvement of representatives of government, business, the arts, education and importantly the media we can make a fruitful effect for Bangladesh. In recent years the growth of Media sectors has constantly drawn our attention and the media might play a crucial role to brand Bangladesh. It is necessary to mobilize all those available forces of politicians, business people, artists, sportsmen and scientists to create a strategy for enhancing the image and reputation of Bangladesh on the international markets, i. e. for creating the national branding strategy. Country and Corporate Brands Co-positioning The concept of countries as brands has been increasingly recognized in the post-modern global world. A strong country brand can provide corporate brands with a unique set of values, which supports their positioning on the international market. Simultaneously, once corporate brands achieve worldwide success, they contribute actively to developing new features of the country brand. A nation’s image can provide competitive advantage to its company/product/service brands. Until and unless Bangladesh has some international brands it will be very difficult to create good brand image for Bangladesh. Consider Finland, a country which was outside the global arena ten years ago, and therefore little known. Today, we label it as the country of high-tech mobile phone technology, and this is mainly due to Nokia’s performance. In Bangladeshi context there are some brands (Square, Walton etc) so the overnment should coordinate to development of the company and in the mean time these companies should take initiatives for the country branding Besides that we might consider the task of Prothom Alo and Airtel Company, who jointly arrange the design of the largest â€Å"Alpona† at Manik Mia Avenue and thus made a new dime nsion for themselves as well as create a good image for Bangladesh in the world. Findings at a glance: ? It is now more critical than ever to create a unique identity for destination because it is now more competitive for survival in the global market. ? Limited budget and little management control create obstacles on the way of creating good brand image for Bangladesh. Political pressures, External environment factors such as economic downturn, natural disasters and pandemics can affect the process of branding Bangladesh. ? A major challenge for Bangladesh is that when the tourists’ visit the destination and found the reality does not match the projected image from the pre-trip information gathered prior to trip, the gap will lead to disappointment and they will become brand terrorists. This would lead to low repeat visitation and damage the brand image indirectly. ? Local governors and mayors have different objectives to promote their own region and cities rather than the n ation. ? Failure of government to control the flow of information through the Internet that shapes the national image. We need to conduct research among the people of Bangladesh, covering different segments, to understand their views and expectations. This will help in understanding the pulse of the nation and giving ownership to everyone, thus, satisfying different target audiences, different needs, and different institutions. The research should be conducted both internally (to understand the country’s socio-economic situation) and externally (global research among the investors and tourists). The findings will help develop a strategic plan on the nation-branding campaign; ? Concerned groups should make regular promotional activities to brand this country; The tourism sector of should be taken under focus to increase international brand value of Bangladesh by capturing large number of tourists; ? Both the government firms and Multinational Firms need to make attention to in crease the international brand value of Bangladesh; ? The key focus should be on the six dimensions which are mentioned earlier in the assignment to make our country value stronger. Country branding is not about constructing slogans. Country branding involves planned communication management and purposeful social engineering. Branding is no longer a choice but a necessity, and the branding is not a function to be performed solely by the state or individual corporations, but an integrative and concerted effort by all concerned stakeholders. If a country is effectively branded â€Å"soft power† can be engendered giving that country vast competitive advantage. However, only few developing countries have articulated and implemented a country branding strategy. The notion of an umbrella country brand inspiring, guiding and feeding commercial brands is a compelling one. Branding of developing countries could unleash a sustainable wealth creation behavior which will greatly help these poor countries break out of their poverty cycle. There is now an opportunity for developing countries to close this gap by turning their attention to employ professionalism in country branding. Books:- ? Kevin Lane Keller (2012-2013), Strategic Brand Management,3rd edition. Philip Kotler, Nation Branding 1997. Publications:- ? Mathias Akotia, CEO – Brand Ghana Office Accra, Ghana,† Country Branding: Promoting Investment, Tourism and Exports through Country Communication Management and Social Engineering†. ? Dr. Khalid H asan, Managing Director, Nielsen Bangladesh and Treasurer AmCham Bangladesh. Acknowledgement: AmCham Bangladesh, â€Å"Nation Branding†. Websites:- ? http://www. bangladeshbrandforum. com ? http://www. thedailystar. net ? http://www. tourismboard. gov. bd ? http://www. interbrand. com ———THE END——— ———————– Letter of Transmittal :- Executive Summary PART: A Preamble Objectives Methodology Limitations PART: B Literature Review PART: C Findings Export Brands Tourism Country Brand Investment People Foreign and Domestic polices Culture and Heritage Setting Objectives Step-1 Performing SWOT Analysis Step-2 Expanding upon an Umbrella concept Step-4 Choosing a Specific direction for distinctive branding Step-3 Strategies of Branding Bangladesh Creating Export Control Step-5 Making all the members interactive Step-9 Allocating adequate funds to finance each branding activities Step-6 Maintaining balance between promise and performance Step-7 Performing Activities on a regular basis Step-8 PART: D Recommendation Conclusion References Read also: Padma Bridge A Case Study on Branding Bangladesh Submitted By: Revolution 8th Semester, Session: 2008-09. Date of Submission: 10/12/2012. [pic] REVOLUTION 3rd Batch Session: 2008-09 |Serial: |Name of Students : |Roll No: | |01. |Farjana Nur Purabi |091648 | |02. Anik Kumar Devnath |091654 | |03. |Sheikh Sazzadur Rahman |091664 | |04. |Md. Ashiqur Rahman Rana Biswas |091695 | |05. |Rumana Jahan |091743 | |06. |Md. Masudur Rahman |091750 | |07. |Md. Rabiul Islam |091758 | |08. Md. Mushfiqur Rahman |091759 | |09. |Mohammad Ullah |07882876 | December 10, 2012. Shaikh Rafiqul Islam. Associate Professor. Department of Marketing . Jagannath University. Dhaka-1100. Dear Sir, Here is the assignment you allocated us to prepare on â€Å"Branding Bangladesh†. After researching and studying the current situation of the country based on collected data we have been able to prepare the assignment. All of the major points and insights information associated with the given issue are included here. Besides, we have attempted to include some of our personal assumption, practical experience and idea to make the assignment more fruitful. Thanking you for giving the break accomplishing such an interesting educative task. Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Group :- Revolution. 8th Semester. 3rd Batch. Session :- 2008-2009 Title Page Country Branding: A Case Study on Branding Bangladesh Tourism Export Brands Culture and Heritage pic][pic] People Investment Foreign and domestic policies [pic] [pic] [pic] Country branding is different in branding from a product. In developing the strategy, it would involve many intricacies and can be a long drawn out process. Branding Bangladesh is all about positioning Bangladesh in the minds of people. Branding Bangladesh is an important concept because it will help the country to understand how publics perceive her across the nations. Those people are consumers, potential tourists, and, most importantly potential investors. In the growth process of Bangladesh they all are participating actively. An effective nation branding campaign accelerates the economic growth of Bangladesh and the citizens feel dignified. It must be remembered that there are around 195 nations in the world; all are aggressively competing for the attention of investors, tourists, and citizens. Therefore, a well-planned nation branding campaign is crucial for the branding of Bangladesh. Table of Contents TOPIC |PAGE | |PART: A (Introductory Part) | | |Preamble |7 | |Objectives |7 | |Methodology |8 | |Limitations |8 | |PART: B (Theoretical Framework/Literature Review) | | |Literature Review |9 | |PART: C | | |Brand Dimensions of Bangladesh |10 | |Strategies for Branding Bangladesh |12 | |Country and Corporate Brands Co-positioning |16 | |Findings at a glance |16 | |PART: D | | |Recommendations |17 | |Conclusion |17 | |References |18 | Creating a branding program for Bangladesh demands an integration policy that most countries do not possess. To boost our commercial success it is very important to take action regarding branding Bangladesh. Branding Bangladesh the government should always observe their global image in countries they aim to target and the stakeholder should collaborate together and agree on a national stratagem. If the stakeholders could unite as one, pin down the purpose and objectives, and fulfill the process, it would reflect the will of one nation. Maintaining continuously the reputation in every sector (Tourism, exports, culture, people, brands and policy) is important to accelerate the task of branding. This assignment aims at clarifying the concepts of branding Bangladesh and argues that for a developing country like Bangladesh, branding is a prerequisite for national development. The specific objectives of this paper are: Review the conceptual and theoretical foundation of nation branding by leading authors in the marketing field; ? Examining and defining Branding Bangladesh and discussing its challenges. ? Attaining insights into branding Bangladesh ? Being familiar on the subject matter for lat er investigation for branding Bangladesh. DATA COLLECTION: Considering the objectives of the assignment, time, types of respondents, we collected both Primary and Secondary data to find out the necessary information regarding the strategies of branding Bangladesh. The sources are mentioned here- PRIMARY DATA: ? Taking personal interview of concerning people of tourism board; ? Discussing with the concerning people of Brand Forum of Bangladesh. SECONDARY DATA: ? Studying different articles and advertisements published in daily newspapers; ? Visiting different websites and journals. While preparing the assignment we faced some problems that were unavoidable and these limitations are mentioned below: ? This assignment was totally an unfamiliar type of assignment to us; ? People of the authority were unwilling to provide full information about our given topic; ? The permitted survey time we have got was very limited; ? We did not get enough concern person to collect necessary information; ? Our communication was confined only to the Dhaka city. Bangladesh has always held great promise. It enjoyed widespread international public support during the war of liberation, not only because its struggle was identifiable, but also due to the fact that it aimed to establish a socio-economic equilibrium and an equitable society where each citizen would have the opportunity to flourish. Another interesting problem the nation faces is that when it is compared to other countries it is invariably compared to nations with drug, mafia, and terrorist problems. While it is true that Bangladesh a huge population, with high unemployment rates, and increasing price inflation, often comparing it to failed or a semi-failed states does not do it justice. The weak status continued till the nineties. Then even Transparency International started ranking us as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. However, the nation’s image started improving post-2000 as did its performance indicators. The major indicators for socio-economic growth include: improvement in health status, increasing literacy, progress in gender balance, enhancement of employment opportunities, building transport and communications facilities, huge increases in media reach amongst rural and urban people, booming ITC businesses, a rise in remittance and agricultural, industrial, and ready-made garments (RMG) booms. In 2006, our global image increased exponentially with Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That put Bangladesh in a strong position, globally and we cannot let that slip. Therefore, it has become imperative to develop a nation branding campaign to keep us in the global limelight for the right reasons. While branding Bangladesh, the brand strategists must consider two key basic objectives: Firstly, it is crucial to instill pride in Bangladeshis and to persuade our people to be positive and feel dignified about themselves and for their country. The success of the nation branding program strongly depends on their active participation, ownership, and support. They should be proud of their country, culture, and heritage. Secondly, the government should come up with an aggressive but distinct nation branding campaign immediately, it is essential for our progress. Countries like India, Thailand, China, Malaysia, etc started similar branding journeys more than a decade ago and should not lag too far behind. We need a forceful branding campaign for our country so that we can emerge as an Asian Tiger by 2021; which will also mark the 50th year of our independence. Dr. Khalid Hasan  is Managing Director, Nielsen Bangladesh and Treasurer AmCham Bangladesh. Acknowledgement: AmCham Bangladesh. Brand Dimensions of Bangladesh Anholt is recognized for Anholt-GfK Nation Brand Index (NBI), and it is based on the same six categories to measure the global perception of a country. The brand of a country is judged based of the six dimensions. In case of branding Bangladesh we might focus on these dimensions and create brand image for Bangladesh. Fig: The Six Dimensions of a national branding Dimension 1: Tourism Tourism is one of the most visible aspects of a country brand because it receives considerable financial support from governments, and is therefore the main marketing tool at the national level. It is a major economic driver through employment, international visitor expenditures, investments, and regional development. Bangladesh Tourism Board has adopted different policies and strategies to promote and champion Bangladesh. It includes brand taglines like â€Å"Beautiful Bangladesh. † Dimension 2: Export brands There is a constant struggle to increase share of exports within the global market. In order to attain this purpose, the quality of exported products or services has to be superior to that of competitors. Export brands represent an important mark for Bangladesh. An increase in exports can raise the self-esteem of a country, which in turn boosts self-confidence and further success. Ten years ago, as a country Bangladesh was little known across the Globe. Today, most of the countries label as the country of high quality garments product and this is mainly due to the performance of our garments industry. Dimension 3: Investments All countries, be they developing or developed, are now striving for an investment-friendly image. Country brand, and everything that it stands for, has a lot to say when it comes to attracting foreign direct investments. In case of Bangladesh it is very good for us that a large number of investors are coming in different sectors. Dimension 4: Foreign and domestic policies. Nations are also judged in accordance with the foreign and domestic policies that their leaders initiate. Foreign and domestic policies must be coordinated so that they would invigorate the national brand. As a country we have to increase the ability to meet the residents’ needs for health, education, human rights, political participation more effectively. Dimension 5: People It is worth mentioning that the branding of a country must start from inside because a country’s brand is most frequently promoted by its people. In 2006, our global image increased exponentially with Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That put Bangladesh in a strong position, globally and we cannot let that slip. Beside, Sakib-al-hasan, a Bangladeshi cricketer also increases the brand image of our country holding number one position in ICC Cricket ranking. Joining the mission of UN, Bangladesh Army has created a new dimension for Bangladesh and it is obviously a good sign for our country Dimension 6: Culture and Heritage Last but not least, one should not overlook the cultural dimension of a country brand. Culture penetrates all areas of life, including all scientific endeavors. For this reason, culture has turned into the ultimate reference point, a conventionally accepted solution to all problematic questions. Strategies for branding Bangladesh We should take on a more conscious effort in branding country because country images draw out identifications, affect evaluations and purchase decisions. Additionally, countries compete for tourists, foreign investments and talented people. Let us look at this figure- Setting objectives: Branding Bangladesh we have to set clear and distinctive objectives that will help us to accomplish the different task most effectively. Different objectives might be: ? To be a Middle Income Country (MIC) ? 30th largest economy ? Per capita us dollar 6000 ? Economic goal †¢ Agro and labor intensive industry †¢ GDP growth to 10% †¢ Environmental protection Transportation and ship building hub. Performing SWOT analysis: Performing a SWOT analysis for nations is an idea that has been promoted by many others. In his book The Marketing of Nations, Philip Kotler (1997) confirmed the idea that each nation must assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) periodically in its five areas of capability: †¢ Government leadership; †¢ Factor endowments; †¢ Industrial organization; †¢ Social cohesion; †¢ Culture, attitudes and values. Based on the guidelines we might perform an effective SWOT analysis that will help to figure out our own most effectively and define the country’s objectives. S- Strength |W- Weakness | | | | |Potential Growth economics, |Lack of Coordination among different groups, | |Successfully meeting the millennium development goal. |Lack of coordination between corporate and country co branding, | | |Insufficient budget. | | | | | | |O- Opportunity |T- Threat | | | | |Positive sovereign credit achieved, |Corruption, | |Making agreement with different countries. |Political instability. | | | | Choosing a Specific direction for distinctive branding For distinctive branding we might choose a specific direction from industries, personalities, natural landmarks or historica l events. This process will help create brand image more effectively. Expanding upon an Umbrella concept: Expanding upon an umbrella concept will help to cover separate branding activities with consistency. Different branding activities will be coordinated through an umbrella concept. Consulting with opinion leaders to look at national strengths and weaknesses and compare those with the research we might do create this concept. Allocating adequate funds to finance each branding activities: To create a successful brand image and create a greater impact regarding brand adequate fund is necessary and concerning people should handle the matter with kin interest Creating Export Control: Creating export controls to ensure exported products are trustworthy and meeting the affirmed performance is necessary for branding Bangladesh. We have good will in foreign market in case of exporting garments products but sometimes it has been seen that due to some reasons our country is branded negatively and to avoid this we need to control export market. Maintaining balance between promise and performance: We will have to be very careful to maintain balance between the promise and performance. Sometimes it has been seen that we can’t afford quality service for the promising things e. g sometimes foreigners come to our country to enjoy heritage sides but due to transportation facility and accommodation facility they don’t get expected performance. This point is the main thing to create a positive brand image for Bangladesh. Performing Activities on a regular basis: Creating positive brand image different campaigns are needed. But we have to keep in mind that these campaigns should be taken consistently and thinking the vision and long run interest of the country. Creating strategy and Working out program to make the strategy tangible through improvement programs, campaigns are important to reinforce the past campaign. Making all the members interactive: Ensuring the cooperation and involvement of representatives of government, business, the arts, education and importantly the media we can make a fruitful effect for Bangladesh. In recent years the growth of Media sectors has constantly drawn our attention and the media might play a crucial role to brand Bangladesh. It is necessary to mobilize all those available forces of politicians, business people, artists, sportsmen and scientists to create a strategy for enhancing the image and reputation of Bangladesh on the international markets, i. e. for creating the national branding strategy. Country and Corporate Brands Co-positioning The concept of countries as brands has been increasingly recognized in the post-modern global world. A strong country brand can provide corporate brands with a unique set of values, which supports their positioning on the international market. Simultaneously, once corporate brands achieve worldwide success, they contribute actively to developing new features of the country brand. A nation’s image can provide competitive advantage to its company/product/service brands. Until and unless Bangladesh has some international brands it will be very difficult to create good brand image for Bangladesh. Consider Finland, a country which was outside the global arena ten years ago, and therefore little known. Today, we label it as the country of high-tech mobile phone technology, and this is mainly due to Nokia’s performance. In Bangladeshi context there are some brands (Square, Walton etc) so the overnment should coordinate to development of the company and in the mean time these companies should take initiatives for the country branding Besides that we might consider the task of Prothom Alo and Airtel Company, who jointly arrange the design of the largest â€Å"Alpona† at Manik Mia Avenue and thus made a new dime nsion for themselves as well as create a good image for Bangladesh in the world. Findings at a glance: ? It is now more critical than ever to create a unique identity for destination because it is now more competitive for survival in the global market. ? Limited budget and little management control create obstacles on the way of creating good brand image for Bangladesh. Political pressures, External environment factors such as economic downturn, natural disasters and pandemics can affect the process of branding Bangladesh. ? A major challenge for Bangladesh is that when the tourists’ visit the destination and found the reality does not match the projected image from the pre-trip information gathered prior to trip, the gap will lead to disappointment and they will become brand terrorists. This would lead to low repeat visitation and damage the brand image indirectly. ? Local governors and mayors have different objectives to promote their own region and cities rather than the n ation. ? Failure of government to control the flow of information through the Internet that shapes the national image. We need to conduct research among the people of Bangladesh, covering different segments, to understand their views and expectations. This will help in understanding the pulse of the nation and giving ownership to everyone, thus, satisfying different target audiences, different needs, and different institutions. The research should be conducted both internally (to understand the country’s socio-economic situation) and externally (global research among the investors and tourists). The findings will help develop a strategic plan on the nation-branding campaign; ? Concerned groups should make regular promotional activities to brand this country; The tourism sector of should be taken under focus to increase international brand value of Bangladesh by capturing large number of tourists; ? Both the government firms and Multinational Firms need to make attention to in crease the international brand value of Bangladesh; ? The key focus should be on the six dimensions which are mentioned earlier in the assignment to make our country value stronger. Country branding is not about constructing slogans. Country branding involves planned communication management and purposeful social engineering. Branding is no longer a choice but a necessity, and the branding is not a function to be performed solely by the state or individual corporations, but an integrative and concerted effort by all concerned stakeholders. If a country is effectively branded â€Å"soft power† can be engendered giving that country vast competitive advantage. However, only few developing countries have articulated and implemented a country branding strategy. The notion of an umbrella country brand inspiring, guiding and feeding commercial brands is a compelling one. Branding of developing countries could unleash a sustainable wealth creation behavior which will greatly help these poor countries break out of their poverty cycle. There is now an opportunity for developing countries to close this gap by turning their attention to employ professionalism in country branding. Books:- ? Kevin Lane Keller (2012-2013), Strategic Brand Management,3rd edition. Philip Kotler, Nation Branding 1997. Publications:- ? Mathias Akotia, CEO – Brand Ghana Office Accra, Ghana,† Country Branding: Promoting Investment, Tourism and Exports through Country Communication Management and Social Engineering†. ? Dr. Khalid H asan, Managing Director, Nielsen Bangladesh and Treasurer AmCham Bangladesh. Acknowledgement: AmCham Bangladesh, â€Å"Nation Branding†. Websites:- ? http://www. bangladeshbrandforum. com ? http://www. thedailystar. net ? http://www. tourismboard. gov. bd ? http://www. interbrand. com ———THE END——— ———————– Letter of Transmittal :- Executive Summary PART: A Preamble Objectives Methodology Limitations PART: B Literature Review PART: C Findings Export Brands Tourism Country Brand Investment People Foreign and Domestic polices Culture and Heritage Setting Objectives Step-1 Performing SWOT Analysis Step-2 Expanding upon an Umbrella concept Step-4 Choosing a Specific direction for distinctive branding Step-3 Strategies of Branding Bangladesh Creating Export Control Step-5 Making all the members interactive Step-9 Allocating adequate funds to finance each branding activities Step-6 Maintaining balance between promise and performance Step-7 Performing Activities on a regular basis Step-8 PART: D Recommendation Conclusion References Read also: Padma Bridge

Macroeconomic - Market Rate of Interest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macroeconomic - Market Rate of Interest - Essay Example The cash rate can be changed by the mortgage as well as the rates of business loans. The aggregate economy is often influenced by monetary policy. Suppose the Reserve Bank deals in supplying more money to the commercial banks, those banks will attempt to keep the reserve rate at steady level and launch into lending more cash in the market. This will lead to a fall in the cash rate. The supply of funds can be increased by increasing the average maturity of the repos, expanding the private security ranges. The changes in the monetary policy will shed its effects on the interest rates in the short run and thus the relationship between the cash arte and the interest rates can be easily defined. But it should be kept in mind that the cash rate lacks the potential to determine the level of intermediary’s rates (Campbell, 1997). 2. Analyze the effects of a decrease in the interest rate on consumption and investment expenditures, the level of aggregate demand, the inflation and the un employment rates. Answer: The changes in the interest rates can shed effects on the consumption spending. With increase in the price levels the interest rates tends to increase. ... On the other hand the expenditures on consumption will decrease. Aggregate demand is expressed by AD = C + I + G + (X-M), where C= consumption, I= capital investment, G= government spending, and (X-M) = trade balance. When the interest rate falls, the capital investment rises and therefore the aggregate demand rises. The effect is just the opposite for rise in the level of interest rates. If the interest rates fall, the demand prevailing in the society for the goods as well as services will fall. Therefore the prices of the products will tend to fall being the resultant of fall in price. Decrease in demand will lead to less production and eventually unemployment rises. 3. Explain what is the meant by the credit creation process of the commercial banks and how it may be influenced by the expansionary monetary policy. Answer: The primary functions of banks include acceptance of deposits, remittance of funds, advancing loans, creation of credit and financing foreign trade. Creation of c redit is one of the unique functions of the bank. It is the responsibility of the banks to supply money to the traders as well as to the manufacturers. The banks are also involved in creating or manufacturing money. The deposits of the banks can be regarded as money. Such deposits can be compared with cash. The deposits can be used in purchasing goods as well as services. They can also be used in debt payments. The deposits of the customers are called primary deposits. The banks keep a certain part of the deposits in the form of reserves while the rest is made available for loans advancements. Therefore every deposit has the potential to create loan. The banks do not pay cash to the customer when it grants a loan to them. The bank simply credits the requisite or the loan amount in the

Islamic accounting and financial reporting Essay

Islamic accounting and financial reporting - Essay Example However, in certain scenarios, the accounting principles in most of the Islamic countries have also experienced major complexities due to their dissimilarities prevailing within the globally accepted accounting standards (Yaya, 2004). In relation to conventional insurance principle, the primary objective of Shari’ah is generally identified to be a concept of survival of individuals. With regard to this particular notion, the primary objective of insurance industry in the Islamic countries is to protect each individual from various risks that are likely to link with their life, health and/or wealth. In the context of the Islamic law agenda, the term insurance is acceptable owing to the general standards and provisions of Sharia’ah’s law (Arbouna, n.d.). The primary purpose of this essay is to critically explore the particular features of Takaful operations that differs them from the conventional insurance firms. The study also explains the key factors and reporting requirements that are frequently observed to create various conflicts with International Financing Reporting Standard (IFRS) for insurance companies. Term ‘Takaful’ is defined as a system in the Islamic insurance segment based on the guiding codes of ‘ta’awun† (mutual assistance) and ‘tabarru’ (voluntary contribution) (Matsawali & et.al, 2012). The Takaful industry in the Islamic accounting and reporting sector is often observed to experience rapid development in different nations since the previous few decades (Matsawali & et.al, 2012). In relation to the recent guidelines followed in the insurance sector, the Islamic insurance companies are able to formulate effective methods that are generally applied by conventional insurance companies to maximise profit and build strong relationship with a valid form of contract among both the parties involved in particular insurance. However, Takaful can be observed as such a system, which does not ensure offering adequate rights to the

Human Elephant Conflict. Human Invasion Into The Wilderness Essay

Human Elephant Conflict. Human Invasion Into The Wilderness - Essay Example The article by Perera (2009) reported in Gajaha points out that most Asian nations are facing a drastic decline in the number of elephants. Similar trend was visible in Africa where the number of elephants declined from over 5 million to anywhere between 470,000 and 630,000 in a matter of hundred years. Thus, while the African elephants are termed ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN Red List, their Asian counterparts are classified ‘endangered’ by the Red List of the World Conservation Union (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2011). However, before blaming humans for all these, it is necessary to look into the numbers of yearly manslaughter by elephants. According to Handwerk (2005), nearly 500 people are killed by elephants in a year, and the number is on rise year by year. Thus, it becomes evident that there is a conflict between men and elephants. This work looks into the various factors behind the conflict and the various ef fects of the conflict. Human invasion into the wilderness- the first reason It is pointed out by Nelson et al (2003) that one reason for increased elephant-human contact is the changes in land use. People started converting forest land for crop cultivation, settlement, and livestock grazing. The scholars make the observation that as human landscape reached such areas which were previously occupied by wildlife, there is higher chance for human-elephant conflict. Another point comes from Houghton (1994). ... Then, elephants move towards the farmlands and settlements in the near vicinity for water. There are many more reasons in the pipeline. According to Lahm (1996), one reason is logging. As already noted, elephants live on secondary vegetation and successional forest. When logging occurs, the cleared land gives birth to thick growth of secondary vegetation. Thus, elephants tend to move to these newly developed areas for food. Yet another vital point as put forward by Kangwana (1995) is that increased human interference leads to the development of canals and cattle fences. When such developments block the natural migration routes of elephants, and when humans settle along the boundaries of such protected areas, the possibility of human-elephant conflict increases. Also, there is the revelation from Naughton et al (1999) that as the economic situation of people has improved, there is a considerable decline in tolerance to elephant presence. There is a totally different aspect of the issu e explored by Anderson and Grove (1987). According to them, there are various factors that lead to the development of enmity in humans towards elephants (ibid). The most important factor is the development of national parks by governments. Such parks tend to exclude the local people making them feel alienated from the entire plan. As a result, the area becomes ‘frozen’ in a short while. So, the local people start resenting the wildlife, and dominant wild animals like elephants are the main victims of this hostile attitude. The scholars argue that this resentment is exacerbated by the feeling that the animals have access to such political, economic, and land advantages which are inaccessible for the native people (ibid). Yeager and Miller

Organizational Behavior Final Project Research Paper

Organizational Behavior Final Project - Research Paper Example Organization culture deals with the code of work, belief and skills perspective in the organization and defines how things are done in the organization (Baker 2). In general, organizational culture is created to encourage the collective role by all the employees to meet set objectives and goals (Madu1). The leadership style used dictates the type of organizational culture in an organization. For a leader to develop a proper organizational culture, they first impose their, standards, expectations, beliefs and standards to the other employees to be applied in the organization. As leadership ideas become shared, and embedded in the organizations operations, the employees develop skills signals and work ethics as required. Proper culture can develop into deep into the organization, and if it is fully integrated, can lead to business success. This culture takes two levels of existence, and the first level deals with organizational behavior and artifacts. This relates to behavior that can be physically observed in the organization including the layout of organization environment, dressing code and the general behavior of people. The second level of organizational culture involves expressing the values of the organization that are not physically observable, but are appear in the general operations of the organization. For instance, the way the organizations related to the products and customers also is reflected by the organizational culture. Organizations can set their standards to become customer oriented in the operations, and through this, products and services are be tailored to meet the specific needs of customers (Madu 3). Organizational cultures can be evaluated on whether or not they are effective at a time when the organization is facing a crisis. If the culture is incapable of handling the crisis at that time, then the leadership needs to change their culture to handle it (Haworth 1). Furthermore, organizational culture plays a very important role in organi zations, and in many cases, it provides direction to the organization. This organizational culture provides employees with what is desired from them, and how they are to present themselves, or behave in the workplace environment. It also provides employees with a sense of communication in the organization, and in most cases it with a chain of command to be followed. It also provides a sense of order in the organization, and leadership together with the staff can be able to know how their roles and how they are to achieve this in organizations. Culture in an organization allows for strategic innovation of products and services, and shows, which methods organizations can follow; either product centered or market centered approaches. Organizational culture provides management with a means of managing the workforce in the organization, and helps set the roles and tasks for each member of the staff (Tharp 3). Organizational culture is very important in managing organizational change, whi ch may arise either internally or externally. This organizational change enables the management to gain competitive advantage from

Offer and Acceptance. Intension to Create Legal Relations Essay

Offer and Acceptance. Intension to Create Legal Relations - Essay Example A survey was conducted and thus it objectively appears that the offer was genuine and that Belinda believed that the offer was genuine. The offer and acceptance also appear to meet the requirement that a valid acceptance must mirror the terms of the offer.3 On the facts of the case for discussion, Belinda accepted Tom’s offer as they were presented to her. Therefore it can be argued that a valid offer and acceptance was made. The question is therefore whether or not Belinda was free to withdraw her acceptance. Only if the acceptance was subject to the condition that Belinda receives a satisfactory survey would allow her to withdraw her acceptance. However the condition must be clearly stated as a prerequisite for acceptance.4 Based on the facts of the case for discussion, the offer and acceptance were both unconditional. Given that the offer and acceptance were both made pursuant to the common law rules for valid offer and acceptance, Belinda has entered into legally binding c ontract with Tom. ... There is a presumption however, that agreements between social and family groups are not generally binding contracts.6 In Balfour v Balfour, it was held however, that where there are arrangements and agreements between close members of a social or family group, the presumption that there is no intention to create legal relations is a rebuttable presumption.7 The presumption can be rebutted by evidence to the contrary.8 The loan syndicate between Matt, Mark, Luke and Jon is arguably an arrangement between a close social group as they are colleagues and the arrangement has nothing to do with their work. The presumption that as a social group there is no intention to create legal relations can be rebutted if it can be shown that by joining the syndicate and trusting the ticket purchases and collection of winnings to another member of the syndicate, the parties were putting themselves at a disadvantage. The disadvantage arises because, they could have purchased the winning lottery ticket themselves and collected their own winnings. It was held in Parker v Clark that the presumption can be rebutted where a party to the agreement is disadvantaged by the agreement.9 A similar arrangement occurred in Simpkins v Pays. In this case, a woman together with her granddaughter and tenant agreed to enter a competition as one entrant under the woman’s name and that any winnings would be shared between them. However, when the woman collected the winnings she decided against paying the tenant a share of the receipts. It was held that when the parties shared the competition fee there was an intention to create legal relations and thus there was a legally binding contract.10 It

Are the constructive trust rules affecting co-owned housing based on Essay

Are the constructive trust rules affecting co-owned housing based on the common intention of the parties - Essay Example First and foremost, intimate relations are based on trusts and this is particularly important where â€Å"individual autonomy† is ceded in reliance and trust on the perpetuation of shared goals and objectives.3 Secondly, the rules applicable to constructive trusts recognize that the intimate bond can be broken and equity will intervene to ensure that one party is not unjustly enriched to the detriment of the other.4 Thus the rules of constructive trust are designed to interpret and affect co-owned housing in circumstances where factual evidence contradicts the legally documented ownership of the house in question. The courts do not automatically interpret the mere existence of a relationship at time the house is acquired as evidence of co-ownership. The courts are guided by the concept of unconscionability and refer to the common intentions of the parties in determining what is conscionable or unconscionable. The main idea is to determine whether the common intentions of the p arties are sufficiently made out to justify a claim to co-ownership against the legal title to real property.5 Thus it is argued that the rules of constructive trusts affecting co-owned housing are based on identifying the common intentions of the parties. This paper demonstrates how the courts have relied on the identification of the common intentions of the parties to determine whether or not it would be unconscionable to enforce ownership by reference only to the legal title. The first part of this paper therefore examines and analyses the doctrinal basis of constructive trusts and the second part of this paper demonstrates how the common intentions of the parties forms the basis by which co-owned housing is interpreted under the rules of constructive trusts. The Doctrinal Basis of Constructive Trusts The result of a court finding the existence of a constructive trust is twofold. First the court may order that one party compensate another or that one party â€Å"convey a particu lar right† to another.6 It is this characterization of the constructive trust that has given way to criticisms that the constructive trust is no more than a fiction created by the courts and is not comparable to an express trust. More specifically it is argued that the constructive trust is confusing and with an unclear doctrinal basis because it interprets entirely personal matters relative to property and thus does not follow a clear and concise doctrine.7 Despite the criticisms about the nature and doctrinal basis of the constructive trust, it is based on a sound doctrine: the equitable distribution of property.8 As Hudson explains, the constructive trust serves a practical purpose. It provides a means by which the courts may imply a trust so that â€Å"justice is done on the facts before† the courts â€Å"on the basis of preventing unconscionable conduct†.9 It therefore follows that constructive trusts are not based on a doctrine that facilitates random distr ibution of property. Rather, the constructive trust is applied â€Å"to ensure that an ethical notion of good conscience is maintained in English law.†10 The House of Lords puts the doctrinal basis of the constructive trusts in its proper perspective by noting the equity has always focused on the conscience.11 Hudson argues that constructive trusts are imposed: ...on the basis of the defendant knowing of some factor which affects her conscience in

What is a petition for writ of habeus corpus Essay

What is a petition for writ of habeus corpus - Essay Example The Supreme Court also declared that Georgia’s death penalty was not constitutional. The huge publicity to the case helped eminent lawyers like Amsterdam to fight the case of Furman, who was poor and most importantly, black. Amsterdam was able to show that the judgment was biased and heavily discriminated because the defendant was not only poor but also black. He argued that the jury did not have any guidance regarding the death sentence and the verdict was random mainly based on the discriminatory practices of the individuals. Amsterdam said that jury often just listens to the evidence of guilt and decides if the defendant deserves to die. The same cases often have the same conviction. Most of the sentences of death penalty are of those who are black, poor, mentally ill or uneducated. The wealthy, white or mentally healthy people rarely get death sentence (Steins, 1995). Judge, Douglas had also declared that death penalty had targeted the unpopular segment of society and therefore was unconstitutional under Eighth

Why Did Lloyd Gearge Fall From Power Essay Example for Free

Why Did Lloyd Gearge Fall From Power Essay How important were Lloyd Georges Attitudes and Antics in his fall from Power? After the First World War many countries faced major problems. These were extremely difficult economical problems, high levels of unemployment and most people were depressed as they would have lost someone they knew and loved in the war. Any prime minister that ruled Britain would have found it very difficult to lead the country in such post-war problems. A liberal named Lloyd George was the man to do so. He was head of a coalition which the conservatives were the majority. Lloyd George came into power in 1918 and lasted four incredibly difficult years until 1922. This was a massive achievement in itself as Britain was in such a vulnerable position in post war circumstances. Lloyd George was a very popular political leader as he appealed to many types of people especially the working class as he was the war time leader that guided Britain to victory and that he stated he wanted a fit country for heroes to live in and to make Germany pay the whole cost of the war; this is one reason why the conservatives allowed him to head the coalition. Another reason why the conservatives wanted him to head the coalition was that he would be the person that would take the blame if anything went wrong in such problematic times for Britain. Lloyd George responded to the needs of the people of Britain in a charming manor as he tried to do as much as he could for them. He demobilised troops by releasing holders of key civilian jobs first and ordinary rank officers last, this created some alarming protest. The Government then ingeniously changed its tactics by adopting a policy which was first in, first out. This worked very well as families that had not seen their relatives for a long period of time would get to see them before a troop that had been dispatched later for war and by the autumn of 1919 more than four million troops were back in the country. Most of them found jobs thanks to the post war boom. This was very encouraging for the new government Although Britain was on the rise, unemployment was the highest it had been for a very long time. This was in a sense due to the continuation of the slow decline of the British economy which had begun in the 1870s. Countries that wanted British goods had reverted to other means of receiving this as during was times it was hard to get them from Britain. After the war they did not come back to Britain to get the goods but kept on receiving them from other sources. Lloyd George then extended unemployment insurance which pleased many people as they were in financial difficulty after the war. He offered unemployment payments for no more than fifteen weeks in any one year and only to workers earning less than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250 a year. This enabled many families to eat as Britain was on the brink of starvation during the war. This added to Lloyd Georges popularity. In addition Lloyd George passed The Sex Disqualification Removal Act in 1919; this allowed women to stand in parliament. This added to his popularity with women, which was a very large percentage of the country as many men had been killed in the war. The Lloyd George government pledged to build `homes fit for heroes for the troops returning from the war and the 1919 Housing Act was passed to fulfil this pledge; under the Act government grants were available, subject to compliance with strict conditions, for houses for the working classes. On 12th June 1919 Dr. Addison, President of the Local Government Board and the minister responsible for implementing the government housing policy, cut the first sod at Stourton. This added to Lloyd Georges popularity even more as troop returning from war got new houses fit for heroes. Another problem that Lloyd George avoided was that the miners wanted to work a six hour day for a 30% increase in wages, the miners also wanted the government to keep control of the mines but the mine owners wanted the mines back. Lloyd George offered them a 7hour day and continued government control for the time being and in order to solve this issue a commission called the Sankey commission was set up. This commission was set up to try and negotiate a possible agreement between the miners and the mine owners. The miners accepted this offer. In 1921 the Sankey commission was unable to negotiate an agreement between the miners and the mine owners. This enabled Lloyd George to avoid permanent nationalisation of the mines and he gave control back to the mine owners on the 1st April. The mine owners told the miners that they would have to work more hours for less pay due to the slump in exports. This outraged the miners who formed a triple alliance between the railway, transport and general workers and themselves the miners. They threatened a General Strike but on the 15th April the miners allies abandoned the idea, the miners were furious and regarded this as betrayal. The miners continued their strike, which lasted three months, but without support they could not win on any of their fronts. They returned to work and soon afterwards workers in other trades faced wage reductions. Lloyd George had just solved the problem of a general strike but he was losing support rapidly from the workers. A reduction in government revenue due to the expense of unemployment benefits and a dip in business profits lead to a committee lead by Sir Eric Geddes, which recommended drastic cuts in government spending, was set up. The government took this advice and saved à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½64 million. This policy became known as the Geddes act. The government saved money by reducing expenditure on the army, navy, education, health services and council house buildings. Many believed that Lloyd George was doing the Conservatives dirty work for them as it was not really affecting the rich but was very damaging for the poor as they had many necessities damaged. On the other hand Lloyd George did make errors which led to his downfall as prime minister; one of these errors was when he sent in British troops into to help the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian civil war. The Bolsheviks won the civil war and the British troops had achieved nothing from going into war, they were pulled out of the war soon after the Bolsheviks won. Many people resented Lloyd Georges intervention including the Russian Bolsheviks, and many among the working class who admired the Russians. Lloyd George was nervous and consequently an Anglo-Russian trade treaty was signed in March 1921. Another mistake Lloyd George made was at the Genoa Conference, which took place on Lloyd Georges initiative. The Germans were complaining that they would not be able to make the next reparations payments to France, and Lloyd George decided that he would hold a meeting to try and negotiate an agreement between the two. Other problems were also discussed there including the diplomatic relations between Russia and Europe war debts to USA. The conference fail horribly as France did not compromise at all and wanted the whole cost of the reparations payments from the Germans, the Americans refused to even attend the meeting and the new Russian government were insulted that they would have to repay debts from the previous Tsarist government. The Germans and the Russians withdrew from the meeting and signed their own treaty which consisted of the Germans officially recognizing the Russian government and both mutual debts being wiped off. This worried many nations as the two suspect states were now reconsolidated. The finger was pointed towards Lloyd George as he set up the conference. A major rift between English and Irish relations brewed immediately after the election, this called for Lloyd George to solve. This occurred when the 73 Sinn Fein MPs, who wanted Ireland as a separate country from Britain, organised their own parliament in Dublin, called the Dail. Sinn Fein proclaimed the Republic of Ireland. The IRA began a terrorist campaign against the police and the government retaliated by using the Blacks and Tans. Although Lloyd George found a temporary solution to the problem by partitioning Ireland he enraged many people as the conservatives were furious that the union between Ireland and Britain was destroyed, this was very problematic for Lloyd Georges coalition as he depended hugely on the conservatives support. The event that lost decided Lloyd Georges fate as prime minister was the Chanak incident. The Turks threatened to break the treaty of Sevres which had handed most of Turkeys European land over to the Greeks. The Turkish nationalists overthrew the Sultan for signing the treaty and were determined to overturn the treaty. The Greek army went in to overthrow the new nationalist government but were defeated by the Turks; the Turks then threatened the British forces occupying parts of Turkey. Lloyd George did not allow Britain to be bullied by the Turks as the Greeks had, he stated that if Turkey broke into the neutral zone then they would not only face war with Britain but the whole British Empire. Britain avoided warfare by agreeing that a new treaty should be signed called the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Lloyd George made the fatal error of not consulting the other prime ministers of the commonwealth before promising them into a possible war. This outraged the conservative and was the last straw for them as they saw his unforgivable rashness as uncontrollable. From then on he had few days in charge. Lloyd Georges antics had been to blame for his fall in popularity as he had a reputation for sleeping around with other MPs wives, as u can imagine this enraged many MPs. Before his election as leader of the coalition he didnt have his whole liberal party supporting him as they deemed him untrustworthy. He used to sell Honours for his own personal fortune which was deemed unreasonable by many. He used to use his position to his advantage as he used to play the stock market to his advantage as he had inside knowledge because of his high position, this lead to him acquiring a small personal fortune due of his seedy antics and by abusing his position as leader of the country. The conservatives had used him to get Britain through the toughest few years after the war and now had no more use for him as they could replace him with Bonar Law becoming the leader and the conservatives taking full control. In conclusion I believe that Lloyd Georges attitudes and Antics were important but not very significant as the conservatives knew what they wanted to get out of him, and from day one his days were numbered as prime minister. If he averted some negative incidents then maybe he could have had another term in power but not much after that. I believe that the main incident that caused Lloyd George to fall from power was the Chanak crisis as it put the cherry on top for the conservatives. This was because Lloyd George lost much respect of many people.

Improving Our Public Schools Essay Example for Free

Improving Our Public Schools Essay Being educated is a right, not a privilege. Whether it be in a public or private learning institution, to be educated is still what matters most. In choosing the right school for students is one of the critical decisions to arrive at a settlement. Children growing while learning are the next runners of the economy, the government, the entertainment. With their innate, infinite potentials, the quality towards learning experience is something that cannot be deprived of. Shaping them is shaping the future. But, before anything else, how can these students achieve the satisfaction of real-learning? In reality, global economy is not stable. Thus, not everyone is capable of affording their children on sending to good schools or the students themselves who work to sustain their studies can steadily stand with it. Reason why public schools are established. Student education is vital. It edifies information obtainment, organization and presentation to its receivers. If public schools are not well-maintained, its quality is degraded. A degraded quality means failure to imply proper education among its learners. Improving public schools enables its constituents to advance in education symmetry to those of in private schools. From the Comprehensive School Improvement Program (CSIP) which is a decade-long initiative to improve public schools under the Ford Foundation, it created independent observers who evaluate education initiatives. With this, suggestions from other individuals arose which are focused on improving public schools. The project started to gain donors who support the improvements. Not all public schools are lucky enough to have CSIP behind. That is why solutions are mandatory upon planning to develop a public school. Hiring qualified teachers, improving buildings to a modernized ambiance, ample funding, comprehensive program of study and efficient leadership are components of a successful improved school (Petrovich 8). Teachers are the primary persons responsible for the students. Although in some cases, teachers are hired even without passing the qualifications or, they may have passed but the quality they pass onto students does not suffice the standards of a proper education. Facility renovations are costly, which become hindrance in providing both teachers and students comfort. This is linked to the funding for a school. More so, the designed curriculum must be updated and extensive teaching methods are used. Sadly, what breaks the objective of improving public schools is the negligence to essentially impose it. Normally, these public schools cater the poor ones. And sustaining such, even from the government, is not always much reliable specifically among the third world countries. Advocacies will be of help in promoting aiding the schools. With the conviction of participation in assisting programs for public learning facilities improvement, it would at least lessen the burden of pushing the school on providing quality education despite its lax. Being a part of a project to progress public school is not easy. It will always, in a way or another, encounter financial problems; and should the allocated budget dries up, the project halts. Still, there are strategies to support in order to fulfill goals. Building constituency and coalition to minimize future financial and human dilemmas are important. Also, establishing communications and expanding networks increase participants. Public schools are still schools. It is a building that teaches how to form a better society. Regardless of the class it serves, it deserves the right to be respected and recognized. ? Works Cited Petrovich, J. Strategies for Improving Public Education. New York: Ford Foundation, 2008.

Consequences of Outsourcing Human Resources

Consequences of Outsourcing Human Resources This essay will attempt to highlight the issues pertaining to the effects of outsourcing human resource management. The essay will be structured as follows: An Overview on Outsourcing of HRM The Rationale of Outsourcing The advantages of Outsourcing The disadvantages of Outsourcing An analysis on effect of Outsourcing An Overview on Outsourcing of HRM-The HRO The Outsourcing is the new management mantra which came into existence during the turbulent times of 90s, where it was seen as an effective tool for cost cutting. Outsourcing basically means hiring of the relevant business function from a third party. This phenomenon made rapid advancement and very soon engulfed nearly all area of the business. The function of Human Resource management has also been affected by it. Although in HRM outsourcing is a relatively newer term but the economic crisis of global meltdown has helped it to a stage where more and more organisations and businesses are opting for it. Following are main findings of the survey carried out by CIPD (2009) in the UK- HR outsourcing (HRO) is used by 29% of the survey respondents. Most organisations are increasing their use of HRO. Over the last five years, 20% reported significant increases in HRO activity, and 44% reported a slight increase in HRO activity. Only 11% have reduced their reliance on HRO. Only 44% of those organisations that outsource other business functions also outsource HR. HR outsourcing is used predominantly in private sector organisations, with 69% of those outsourcing HR working in this sector. HRO is pursued by 25% of public sector organisations in this sample. The private service industry dominates the use of HRO, with 50% currently undertaking HRO activities. Twenty-four per cent of HRO activity is in manufacturing, 22% in public services, and 4% in voluntary and charitable organisations The top drivers for HRO include access to skills and knowledge (71%), quality (64%) and cost reduction (61%). Organisations stressing clear objectives and targets in these areas are also more likely to have achieved them. The top three wholly outsourced areas include legal activity (69%), payroll (66%) and pensions (64%). The areas partially outsourced the most include training (49%) and recruitment and selection (47%). HRO is not relieving pressure for the internal HR team, with 43% confirming HRO failure in this case. Source- CIPD survey 2009 Introduction to HRO HRO is often confused with the two more associated terms -HR shared services and HR expert leasing. To begin, it is necessary to distinguish HRO from HR shared services and HR expert leasing. The main reason for this confusion is the complexity involved in Shared Services and HR expert leasing. HR shared services are also known as co-sourcing (Shen et al. 2003). The shared service has two forms. First, there is a shared service set up by large organizations to provide assistance and services not only to their own departments or subsidiaries, but also to external client organizations as an outsourcing business. Second, the other type of shared service refers to those set up, again by large and often multinational or multi-establishment organizations, aimed at restructuring their service provision through recentralization and of a creation of an internal market system. This is very popular in large enterprises, such as Motorola, Fuji, HSBC, IBM and Nokia. HR expert Leasing refers to the concept used by some professional employer organizations of leasing HR experts to clients (Laabs 1996) due to the fact that when the option of leasing employees is used, HR is more likely to be kept in-house, thus HR expert leasing should not be regarded as HRO. Similarly the shared services which are designed at providing services to internal and external clients cannot be in strict sense be regarded as HRO. Thus we see that in both the cases, i.e. HR expert leasing and the Shared services, there is no significance of the third party, which as per the definition of HRO is an prerequisite for them to be classified as Outsourcing. Hence we see that there is a clear demarcation between all the three services being used to provide HR support to the organisation. The commencement of Outsourcing in HR functions commenced primarily with the field of Recruitment. The Business organisations felt the need for recruitment as an independent function which could be transferred to third party for a measure of cost cutting and bettered shared service. Soon the functions such as Pay roll management, benefits and legal advice, were also outsourced. If we analyse the key decision for whether the particular function is outsource or not is based on the fact that whether the function is a core function or not? The rationale behind the Outsourcing The five competitive forces (Charles R Greer; Stuart A Youngblood; David A Gray, 1999) that can be called as the driving force for the companies to outsource some or all of their HR activities are: downsizing, rapid growth or decline, globalization, increased competition, and restructuring. Downsizing: The inevitable restructuring of entire industries has recast HR departments as formulators and implementers of downsizing. The pressure of reducing costs has now made HR themselves as targets of downsizing due to the overwhelming demands for reduced costs for HR services. Rapid Growth or Decline: Again the Costs as a major factor, the retrenched firms, or those in decline, face incredible pressures to reduce costs, while high-growth firms face similar pressures to monitor costs. HR outsourcing presents the option of cost reduction Globalization: Due to this, the companies now staff comprising of host country or third party nationals, this required harmonizing pay and benefit packages in accordance with the local laws demands specialized expertise. Larger vendors that focus on compensation and benefits offer these specialized services and deliver expertise built on experience and concentration in particular regions of the world. Increased Competition: Increased competition, both on domestic and international front, emphasizes the value-added role of products and services. Firms that subscribe to the balanced scorecard approach to measure effectiveness look not only at financial measures of firm success, but also at customer and employee measures of service quality. As per General Electrics CEO Jack Welch- He pays attention to only three measures of firm effectiveness-cash flow, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. If HR departments are to be responsive to both internal and external customers, they  must look for ways to improve the quality and responsiveness of their services. Proponents argue that outsourcing offers HR an option to satisfy competing demands for improved service and responsiveness at a reasonable cost. Structuring: Firms that redeploy HR generalists to serve key divisions or business units of the organization can transform HR into a service role. Such a transformation serves as a source of competitive advantage for the firm. These new, service-quality cultures are not easy to build and sustain, particularly among established, traditional, or entrenched HR departments. Strategically, HR outsourcing decisions can potentially be part of a larger pattern of responses designed to deliver hard-to-imitate, hard-to-substitute, value-added services that enhance the value and quality of the firms products and services. After having seen the driving force behind the HRO we will now try to analyse various models of HRO as conceptualised by the resource-based view (RBV) (e.g. Barney 1991; Ulrich 1996); that suggests that the resources of a firm are rare and valuable and cannot easily be substitutable, are more likely to achieve sustained competitive advantage. According to the RBV, a firm should only outsource those resources which are replaceable or imitable not its core functions. This concept is in line with the core and periphery concept (Atkinson 1984), which can be applied to evaluate what HR activities are more likely to be outsourced. According to Atkinson, the core is defined as a numerically stable core group which will conduct the organizations key, firm-specific activities (Atkinson 1984: 29). The core can be redeployed easily between activities and tasks and has functional flexibility. All other function which support the core are known as the periphery, this provides the organization wit h an advantage to vary the numbers with fluctuation in labour demand (known as numerical flexibility). Ulrich (1998) suggested that core activities creates unique value to employees, customers and investors and are transformational in nature. Non-core activities are easily duplicated and replicated and are of transactional nature. Thus we find that HR core activities include top-level strategy, HR policies, employee relations, and line management responsibilities (e.g. appraisal and discipline) and the peripheral activities include specialist activities (e.g. recruitment and outplacement), routine personnel administration (e.g. payroll and pensions), relocation, and professional HR advice (e.g. legal advice related to employment regulations) {Finn (1999) and Lepak and Snell (1998)}. Thus according to the core and periphery theory, while the administrative and transactional functions (periphery) can be outsourced, it is in the interest of the firm to keep the strategic parts of HR (c ore) remain in-house. However, in practise, the core and periphery concept is difficult to distinguish as some HR activities appear to be purely administrative, but actually are not. For instance, recruitment is often seen as suitable for outsourcing, but its a key function that should stay in-house. To ascertain these arguments, we next shall analyse the advantages and the disadvantages of Outsourcing of HR functions. The advantages of Outsourcing As mentioned above one of the major benefits of HR outsourcing is Cost Saving but is not the only advantages of the Outsourcing. It provides a wide array of advantages specially to the small and rapidly growing businesses with limited resources, to achieve the same level of efficiency and service consistency in their HR functions as larger companies, without having to invest in large amounts of capital. The advantages of outsourcing can be enumerated as follows:- Cost Savings. Companies can realise substantial cost savings by outsourcing HR activities and functions. Torode (2000: 2) reported a success story about cost reduction about Trident Inc. reducing its HR administrative burden by 65 per cent and uncovering US$40,000 in overpayments for insurance premiums by using Employease Inc.s web-based human-resources application. The same is also supported by Gilley et al. (2004) that outsourcing training and payroll could lower administrative and overhead costs of training staff. Greater Focus on Core Business Activities. Due to globalisation companies face aggressive competition both locally and from abroad and thus can incur a tremendous amount in terms of lost business and loss of competitive advantage by spending more than required time and resources in non-core or administrative functions. Outsourcing enables companies to focus on their core competencies and to direct their full attention towards market dynamics and business strategy. Greater Participation by HR in Value-Adding Activities. Outsourcing certain HR administrative tasks enables the HR department to free themselves of time-consuming administrative tasks and direct their attention towards helping to improve their companys business performance thus fulfilling there roles as that of a strategic partner. Greater Efficiency. Due to the vertical specialisation and intense competition the outsourcing providers can usually perform the task more efficiently than the internal HR department. This is also due to the fact that service provider has a specialised team and since provides wide array of services to various outsourcer, hence at times can have more resources as well as experience to deal with any situation. This is specially true for medium and small firm which have a smaller HR department. Greater Flexibility of a Decentralized Structure. The business environment is very volatile, presenting newer challenges to companies. Outsourcing provides flexibility by removing those responsibilities and constraints that make it difficult to react effectively to changing conditions and issues. A leaner, more focused company engaged in fewer activities, is better able to react to environmental changes. Risk Reduction. Risk reduction is a major benefit of HR outsourcing. As the outsourced tasks are the outsourcing providers core competency, they are unlikely to make lesser mistakes as compared with the clients internal HR staff. Furthermore in case of eventuality of mistakes, the service provider can be held accountable for losses to its client thus lowering the level of risk. More so ever the firms can enjoy the benefits of the HR functions without having to invest heavily in those HR functions, at the same time also keeping the option to change the outsourcing supplier if required. More Objective Process. Outsourcing provides a certain degree of objectivity to the functions of HR department as service providers are not affected by political, cultural and bureaucratic conflicts intrinsic to the firm, which prevents the department from being fully productive and aligned with the strategic goals of the organisation. Outsourcing HR functions brings the objectivity of a third party into the process. Disadvantages of Outsourcing Cost-Savings Not Always Achieved. Laabs (1996) argued that HRO in fact leads to increasing costs because it may be less expensive to administer HR functions in-house, the same is also supported by Friel (2003),who argues that one major reason for higher costs of HR outsourcing is that HRO is still in its infancy. For example, software products must be tailored to organizations requirements, pushing up development costs. The following are examples showing increasing costs as a result of HRO. BP Amocos international contract with Exult increased costs by one third in 2001 (Broad 2002). BT admitted that costs were on the rise in its contract for HR service provision with Accenture HR Services in 2002 (Broad 2002). The September 2002 audit revealed that Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the United States paid up US$2.6 million to VA sytems well above the original estimate of US$1.2 million.(Friel 2003). Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of America paid NCS Pearson, US$700 million as against originally estimate of US$103 million,by the end of 2002. (Friel 2003). Greer et al. (1999) found in their study that specialized vendors were unable to achieve greater economies of scale and cost savings due to the magnitude of the internal HR operations of some large companies,. More importantly, as Greer et al. (1999) warned, outsourcing produced no cost savings when only two or three vendors dominate a specialized market. Caulkin (2002: 10) has supported Greer et al. by arguing that the argument of economies of scale and specialization is self-serving, benefiting providers, not purchasers. People Issues. This is one of the most debatable aspects of Outsourcing. An extensive study by Hackett Benchmarking Research revealed that companies consider the greatest obstacles to outsourcing to be cultural and political factors. The services being outsourced to an outside entity poses a threat to the employee trust in the system. Further more the vendor working environment and ethics might not be commiserating with the firms which would bring out contention of issues. For example (Broad 2002), when Bank of America formed an alliance with Exult which included a major outsourcing arrangement, employees were worried about the implications of the deal for their positions. It is only when they understood that it was Exult, and not Bank of America, that would make the required investments, that they became reassured and accepted the alliance Problems with the Outsourcing Provider. The providers might be faced with issue where he is forced to cover up for any mistakes for which the service provider can be held liable. Further more the organisational culture of the provider would also be a binding factor as they can be a cause low service standardsr, a lack of attention to regulatory and business requirements, or unmet objectives and timeframes by the outsourcing provider. Loss of Control. Outsourcing HR functions can lead to a loss of control by the buying company. According to recent study by Accenture, 48% of executives surveyed stated that the fear of a loss of operational control was the greatest impediment to expanding their use of outsourcing. Their can be a fundamental mismatch of hierarchy in the firm as the line manager and the service provider might not be able to synchronise their working. Consequences of outsourcing Major implication, both in terms of their (changing) roles and their experience of the HR services of Outsourcing have been felt by HR professionals, line managers, employees who receive the services, and outsourced HR staff who provide the services. In-house HR Professionals. Most noticeable impact on in-house HR professionals will be in terms of the nature of their work and their career patterns, although due to scarce literature, the extent is difficult to predict. Ulrich (1998) proposes four new roles for HR; among those he recommends sharing of HR work in varying proportions among the line management, employees, external consultants, and other groups. But he does not really discuss the rationale by which this distribution of work would be determined (Procter Currie, 1999). Nor have the implications for their career prospects been contemplated. Greer et al.s (1999) study suggests that as a consequence of outsourcing of HR activities, the user company would mandatorily have to deploy in-house HR generalists who know can manage the outsourcing relationships. However, this also poses a threat of work intensification for these HR professionals, as they might still be relied by their colleagues to provide the service because they may be used to it or are unfamiliar with the new system. For example, Shen et al.s study (2004) indicates that the job content for the NHS maintenance manager of National Health Services (NHS) trust hospital in the United Kingdom has undergone severe work intensification and radical change ever since the outsourcing of maintenance. The same can also happen to the HR managers when outsourcing HR takes place, since both functions require intimate knowledge of the organization and a relatively high level of relationship management. HR outsourcing also raises concerns about the career prospects of the HR staff. One of the significant changes to career prospect would be Availability of fewer career development options for specialists as compared to generalist. At the same time, as there would be only a limited activities being performed in-house, general HR experience would be hard to gain. This will also raise question about the type of training to be provided to HR professionals that existing training for the HR profession is generalist-oriented, while in future the service provider would need specialists. Therefore, outsourcing HR could affect the in-house HR staff in ways such as job intensification, change in job content, reduction of career development opportunity, and increased levels of stress, especially when the relationship with the service provider is strained and the quality of services unsatisfactory. More broadly, the role that HR professionals play will be dependent upon their interaction with other groups both within and outside the organization (Procter Currie, 1999). Communication can be more difficult, especially when there is geographical, as well as organizational, separation. But if the onward march of HR outsourcing is a given, then the HR professionals will need to learn how to play the game (Turnbull, 2002). Line Managers. One of the apparent rationales of Outsourcing has been to delegate the softer aspects of the HR function to the line management ie involvement in and ownership of HR decisions. For example, Vernon et al. (2000) found that in Europe it is a common practise for sharing responsibilities between the HR specialists and the line management, in regard to the policy making: About a third of senior HR specialists reported an increase in line management responsibility for HR issues over the last three years (Vernon et al.,2000, p. 7). The role of line managers in executing HR policies and shaping HR practices has long been acknowledged (e.g., Currie Procter, 2001; Marchington Parker,1990; McConville Holden, 1999; Procter Currie, 1999). This has resulted in line managers taking on additional responsibilities, thus intensifying their role. This can at times all draw away or cloud the focus of line manager from their primary role. Also in reality, some of the smaller tasks may take longer to explain via electronic devices and are easier for the line managers to do themselves. The lack of HR support on-site seemed to have caused work intensification for the line managers, since they no longer have easy access to the HR staff. Another aspect which is pertinent to mention here is the competence of line manager. Line managers in the United Kingdom have been criticized for their lack of HR skills and competence, especially on legal matters such as discipline, dismissal, redundancy, and equal opportunities (e.g., Currie Procter, 2001; Hall Torrington, 1998; Mc-Conville Holden, 1999). They have also been criticized for their lack of interest in managing human resources, as HRM tends to be low down in their operational priority. In addition, they tend to focus on the hard, rather than soft, aspects of the HRM issues. Employees Receiving HR Services. The most significant outcome of this has been on the employees as they find difficulty in divulging confidential or private information with unknown HR person over the phone or online. This can also be termed as loss of Human touch from the term Human Resources. Research carried out by Feng Lee Cook (2006) about the employees response in Consult-Corp UK also indicates the same. Number of employees felt loss of emotional aspect as they felt that staff in the services centre, provide answers by reading off the screen or the manual and the entire process is mechanical. Another consequence of the outsourcing has been the lack of clarity of ownership of problems that may occur in HR services. With no HR department, at times the employees could find a void for issues such as grievance against their line manager itself especially when the grievance concerned the line manager or if the line manager responsible for their performance appraisal. All these change s may cause some fear and resistance among the workforce. BP Amocos outsourcing of HR is a case in point (see Higginbottom, 2001). As a result, it may actually be more costly for the organization to acquire the HR services from the external provider when all the indirect costs (both financial and emotional) that may incur in-house are calculated. This is especially true for large organizations in which employees are highly professional and highly paid. Outsourced HR Staff. Traditionally, skilled and knowledge-intensive work such as HR activities has been provided by workers of status. Employers tend to have an employment relationship with these employees that is characterized by relatively high levels of trust in order to elicit greater commitment and effort from the workers (Streeck, 1987). It has been argued that the tacit knowledge possessed by these workers is vital for the organizational competitiveness (Cooke, 2002; Manwaring, 1984; Pavitt, 1991; Polanyi, 1966; Willman, 1997). Outsourcing of this type of work replaces the status approach by a (short-term) contractual relationship of tight specifications of all aspects as a predominant mechanism of control. This mode of employment relationship does not encourage workers to provide extra-functional contribution to enhance the firms competitiveness (Fox, 1974). In fact, the potential problem of gaining commitment from the nonemployee workers is well recognized by organizations a nd academics (Cooke, Hebson, Carroll, 2005). For the employees of the service provider, job security may be low and firm-specific knowledge may be lacking as a result of multiclient services and the standardization of work processes. Indeed, lack of critical expertise and a customer service focus, or failure to take the interests of their client into account when delivering their HR services, have been found to be some of the main reasons for the failure of the HR outsourcing relationships (Greer et al., 1999). Additional complications in the employment relationships may occur where the HR outsourcing decision involves the transfer of existing HR staff to the external service provider (see Table 1). For the employees concerned, the transferred HR staff are likely to be protected, at least in principle, by some sort of employment regulation of the specific country (e.g., the Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment [TUPE] regulations in the United Kingdom). In theory, the em ployment contract of the transferred workers is preserved intact under TUPE regulations. In reality, however, their terms and conditions and other experience of work may change significantly, albeit incrementally (Cooke et al., 2004), since the impact of TUPE has proven to be only marginal to date (Colling, 1999; Wenlock Purcell, 1990). As Domberger pointed out, the principal effect of TUPE is to ensure minimum standards are maintained in negotiated transfers. The legislation is designed merely to assure the continuity of employment (Domberger, 1998, p. 143). For example, Cooke et al.s (2004) study of outsourcing in the public sector reveals that work intensification and increased performance monitoring are common features of post-transfer working life. Outsourcing offers the new employers opportunities to improve organizational performance by creating change through reducing staff numbers; introducing new skills and working practices; and by modifying individual incentives, employ ment terms and conditions, and attitudes to the workplace Domberger, 1998). None of these changes can be prevented effectively by TUPE, although not all of these changes necessarily point to a worsening scenario to the disadvantage of the workers (Cooke et al., 2004). However, this raises a question as to the extent to which the client organization can expect their ex-employees to (continue to) demonstrate loyalty and commitment in providing their services. These employees may be resentful that they are being dumped by their former employer and/or may have taken on their new employers organizational values that are not necessarily in line with those of their former employer. These issues may be exacerbated if the new employer has also taken on staff from other client organizations, thus creating a work environment with multiple cultures, multiple identities, and competing demands for preferential treatment from client organizations (Rubery et al., 2003). These issues also present a serious challenge for the new employer. The outsourcing firm has to manage a fragmented workforce, one where employees have different employment packages. At the same time, the outsourcing firm is trying to implement a coherent HR strategy and a consistent organizational culture while delivering customized HR services to its client organizations. Conclusions The aim of this article has been to provide an overview of the various aspects of HR outsourcing with a combination of empirical evidence and academic debate. The intention has been to provide a critical review of the state of affairs in the practice of HR outsourcing and to raise issues that require further academic research and attention from organizations interested in HR outsourcing. Existing literature on HR outsourcing appears  to be rather limited in general. This is perhaps due to both research and practice in HR outsourcing being in its early stages of development. There is a longer tradition of firms outsourcing discretional aspects of HR (e.g., payroll, training, health and safety,  legal advice), areas in which they lack inhouse expertise and that are deemed noncost- effective to develop and maintain inhouse. Existing evidence suggests that HR outsourcing has increased substantially over the last decade, although some authors remain cautious about the future growth of HR outsourcing. Training and payroll appear to be the favorite aspects of HR outsourcing. In addition, recruitment, taxation, and legal compliance are often outsourced. However, employee relations, HR planning, career  management, and performance appraisal are less likely to be outsourced, as they are more likely to be seen as core competencies or activities. Even so, there are no clear patterns of the types of HR activities that are outsourced. Existing evidence also suggests that the primary motives for HR outsourcing are to reduce cost, to gain external expertise, to enhance strategic focus of the in-house HR function, and to improve service quality. Cost reduction and sell-out strategy are also important factors for making decisions. While the overwhelming objective for outsourcing appears to be cost reduction, both the transaction-cost economics model (Williamson, 1985) and the resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) seem to influence firms HR outsourcing decisions. T he diverse evidence as to whether the HR outsourcing trend is set to grow or not and/or at what rate implies pragmatic decision making by firms when considering whether to outsource HR activities. Due to the limited number of empirical studies on various aspects of HR outsourcing and the fragmented and inconclusive evidence they have yielded, it is difficult to draw clear conclusions on the types of HR activities that should be outsourced and the effectiveness of HR outsourcing. In fact, evidence seems to suggest that organizations decisions in outsourcing are not always rational  (Vernon et al., 2000), nor is their process successful or the outcome effective. It is possible, however, to identify a number of research issues and practical implications that require further attention from academics and practitioners. Conclusion The resource-based view (RBV) (e.g. Barney 1991; Ulrich 1996) suggests  that a firms resources that are valuable, rare, and not easily imitable or  substitutable are more likely to achieve sustained competitive advantage. According to the RBV, a firm should focus on its core competencies and  outsource those not valuable, and imitable or substitutable resources. The  RBV is consistent with the core and periphery concept (Atkinson  1984), which can be applied to analysing what HR activities are more  likely to be outsourced. According to Atkinson, the core is defined as a  numerically stable core group which will conduct the organizations key,  firm-specific activities (Atkinson 1984: 29). The core can be redeployed  easily between activities and tasks, by means of multiskilling or through  flexible career structures, known as functional flexibility. The periphery,  however, provides the organization with the ability to increase or decrease  the organizations headcount in response to every fluctuation in demand  for labour (known as