Launching New Ventures Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Launching New Ventures - Dissertation Example In order to identify and develop a business opportunity, it is necessary to follow certain processes. These processes are analytically described below. At a first level, it is necessary to choose the approach on which the processes will be based. The effectual approach of decision-making has been chosen under the terms that the future conditions of the market involved cannot be precisely defined in advance – taking into consideration the strong market turbulence because of the global recession. Each of the phases of the processes is justified using relevant literature; additional literature is analytically presented in a separate section. 2.1 Effectual approach The effectual approach of the decision-making process is based on the proposition that since certain elements of the future are known, there are measures that can be taken for controlling it, even if its precise characteristics are not known. In the terms of the business environment, the above approach means that the future performance of business plans can be guaranteed – at an important level - by taking measures which are appropriate in terms of the common market conditions. The above approach is not based on the perspective that the exact future conditions of the market can be known, a perspective accepted in the causal approach of decision making. For this reason, the effectual approach has been chosen as most appropriate for checking a business opportunity, since this approach has the following benefits: a) it does not require accurate decisions but just effective plans; emphasis is given on the construction of the business projects and not on the development of a series of decisions; this fact can help to save time in realizing the projects, b) it does not require precise goals or stable market environment; this fact is an advantage of the effectual approach taking into consideration the turbulence in the global market, c) it does not require extensive market research, a fact that could also save time/ resources in the completion of the business project involved(Doke et al. 2007).

Enron Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enron - Research Paper Example top, what exactly went wrong, and how this wrong was further fueled by an individual’s personal quest for gains, eventually turning the company into nothing more than a mere sand dune. A significant part of this research would also attempt to highlight circumstances under which auditors for the firm, Arthur Anderson failed to play its role as well as the failure of the federal government in its part to detect cracks in Enron’s policies and financial reporting to its shareholders. â€Å"In an attempt to identify the relationships, organizational and individual, that played a part in Enron’s fall, I will highlight the reasons that led to the eventual failure of Enron, the role played by individuals serving the management of Enron to hide information from their employees, stakeholders and the general public to elude failures and heavy losses incurred due to malpractices and willful fraudulent activities.† Based in Omaha, Nebraska, InterNorth was a very large company with investments in businesses ranging from plastics to petroleum exploration and so on. Primarily a gas pipeline manufacturer, InterNorth was also distinguished in its operations of the largest gas pipeline spread across North America. A legacy of Northern Natural Gas Company founded in 1932, InterNorth was formed as its holding company in 1979. Later in 1985, InterNorth took over Houston Natural Gas Company in 1985, in pursuit of expansionary production opportunities. For a while, the company was renamed HNG/InterNorth after the takeover, later named to Enron in just a few months. After the takeover, HNG/InterNorth fell into depth of $ 4.2 billion (Gavridis) following the acquisition of the company. In view of the critical situation, Kenneth Lay, then CEO of HNG, used Employee Stock Ownership Program to pay off the debt. After the settlement, the company, initially planned to manage two headquarters in Omaha and Houston, moved all its operations to Houston, Texas where HNG was initially based,

Motivation and Personality Motivation is a business and how it affects consumers

Motivation and Personality Motivation is a business and how it affects consumers 3.4 Motivation and Personality Motivation is a stimulating factor; it generates a behaviour which gratifies a need (Meyer et al., 2004 and Parish et al 2008). As a particular need satisfies, it generates a new one thus needs are perennial (Drakopoulos, S. A., 1994). As per Abraham Maslow consumer behaviour or purchasing decisions are based on their live pyramid which is exhibited in Fig (1.1). Â  This figure also clarifies priority decisions based on economic and general circumstances. Maslows motivational need theory states that people are encouraged through their unsatisfied needs. It further implies that lower needs should be fulfilled prior to higher needs. Also, he stresses that each and every need (i.e. survival, physiological, love, safety, and esteem)Â  should be fulfilled in an unbiased manner (Gawel, 1997). The definitions of motivation (Meyer et al., 2004 and Parish et al 2008) and the concept of needs (Drakopoulos, S. A., 1994) emphasis over consumers purchase decisions. These definitions clearly justify that there is a relation between consumer behaviour and Maslows motivational theory; as a person who is living in a street, would be more interested in food and shelter rather than keeping money to buy a BMW car. Maslows theory is quite pertinent for marketing purpose as marketers must keep into consideration this theory while designing marketing tactics and strategies, and specifically for marketing communications quotes and messages. The Maslows theory is appropriately elaborated below :- Fig.1.6 Source: (Huitt. 2004, pp1). Physiological needs are primary needs of human being; it comprises the basic necessities of life (food, clothing, and shelter). These needs are more significant than safety needs or other needs which are in the hierarchy (Maslow, 1970). He further described these needs as survival needs, and stated that their gratification is prominent in order to fulfil other hierarchical needs. Security and safety comes under safety needs, it includes economic security and physical safety and economic security. Once an individual becomes physically secured and economically stable, he/she start focusing to social needs, which consist of need for love, affection, intimacy, acceptance etc. After gratifying social needs, he/she starts craving for self accomplishment, which means prestige and social status. The final need is Self-Actualization when the individual recognises his/her personal potential, seeks personal growth, self-fulfilment and peak experiences. The main question here is how these needs do affects consumers purchasing behaviours, and what are the marketing implications? Norwood proposes that Maslows hierarchy is very helpful to describe and understand the variety of information that individuals search in order to gratify their needs at various levels. Norwood (1999) again stated that individuals at the lowest level only look for information which will him/her help to get their basic needs. Hence, any information which is not directly helping the individual to meet basic need will be ignored. He further emphasized that individual who is at the safety level of the hierarchy will be interested for that information which will help him/her to be secure and safe. Belongingness needs can be easily sought out by Enlightening information [which is generally found in books, magazines or other materials pertaining to relationship development]. He further evoked that Individual at the esteem level would be more interested to gather Empowering information which will help him/her to satisfy their self ego. In order to satisfy cognitive, aesthetic, and Self-actualization needs, edifying information would be helpful. While Norwood does not specifically address the level of transcendence, I believe it safe to say that individuals at this stage would seek information on how to connect to something beyond themselves or to how others could be edified (Huitt, 2004) 3.5 Learning and Perception Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organises and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world. (Pizam and Mansfeld, 1999, pp21) It is also defined as changes in an individuals behaviour based on experience. Learning and Perception are very prominent and persuading psychological factors in consumers buying decisions. Within the domain of perception, self concept is the totality of an individuals thoughts and feelings about oneself. Thus ones thoughts and feelings influences how one selects, organises and interprets information to create a picture of the world (Rosenberg 1979 and DeLamater, 2003) After intensely analysing the two definitions [perception by Pizam and Mansfeld and self concept by Rosenberg], it can be easily conclude that consumers perception about product affect his/her purchase decision as purchase decision is directly proportionate to consumer perception. Repercussion of perception in marketing is that people selectively perceive what they look forward for which ultimately affect their buying decisions. Different perceptions impact consumers decision making differently (Pizam and Mansfeld 1999) Selective perception notifies that it is a tendency of customer to organize and interpret information constantly, on the other side selective exposure proposes that customer pay attention to those thoughts and messages which are connected to its belief and attitude. And if in case these messages are not related or connected than they remain unnoticed and ignored. Just opposite to this approach, selective comprehension states that customer interprets only that information which is consistent with their held attitude and belief. The other element of perception is selective retention which reveals that everyday customer come across several advertisement, marketing communication messages, emails etc but they do not remember all that they see, read, and hear, hence they are always very selective as what to retain and what not. Lastly comes, subliminal perception, it stresses that several times customer hear and see messages without awareness, nevertheless, the impact of these messages on buying decisions is still pretty arguable. Learning is a behaviour which result into repetitive buying. It comprises the process of automatic reaction to a circumstance constructed through constant exposure of it (i.e. Behavioural learning); monitoring the results of others buying behaviour and correct it accordingly (i.e. cognitive learning) and the next arguable point is loyalty, its a positive and supportive attitude or in other words consistent purchase of a single brand again and again (Kerin et al., 2003). As per Delamater (2003), lifestyle means learning of influenc, how an individual live, what products he/she buys, how he/she use it, what they actually think about these products and how they feel. Moreover, attitude, values and beliefs are other very important psychological factors that stimulate consumer decision making. 3.6 Marketing, Social and Economic Factors influencing consumer purchase decisions There are various factors like social, environmental, marketing, promotional, and economic except psychological factors, that play vital role in consumer buying decision. Persuasive promotional campaigns, advertisements and other informative messages are at time very useful while consumer buying decisions such as whilst information search phase, adverts serve as significant source in order to evaluate information regarding rival brands. [as discussed in chapter three] Moreover, marketing campaigns also convince consumer to a large extent in order to identify their wants and needs towards products and services (inception of decision making process) Some factors like economic factor are as prominent as psychological influences (Pizam and Mansfeld, 1999; Norwood, 1999; Kerinn et al., 2003 and De Lamater, 2003) For instance, If need is identified, it is dependent on the consumers economic powers that can actually decide whether to buy products or services or not to gratify the urge. At times consumers ethical values could also stimulate the buying behaviour. Additionally, disposable income and availability of finance have great impact on buying a product or brand over other, in a broader sense it greatly impact consumers buying decisions. According to a research in US, it is revealed that the level of disposable income is considered most important factor which impact automobile demand. It further showed that the scarcity of fuel and frequent hike in gasoline prices also influenced the demand of cars to a great extent and noticed a steep fall in demand (Carlson, 1978) Soon, another research was carried out by Carlson and Michael (1980) with the aim to forecast the demand of US car industry. This research concluded that disposable income is a major factor that affects the final demand. It also revealed that price plays a significant role to decrease the sale of automobile. Similarly various other studies was carried out to by various researcher like Arguea, Hsiao and Taylor (1994), Kang and Chen (1996) Kobos, Erickson, and Drennen (2003) over the topics study of the US car industry and research of demand for Chinese automobiles. All of them concluded that prices of fuel and income of the consumer stimulates the demand of cars. Their research also demonstrated that availability of credit and income are very important determining factor of consumer decision. Here the foremost question arises that how the recent economic recession result in to decrease in the demand of goods and especially for cars [which this project intends to uncover]. Generally, during recession, consumers even those who are employed] are sceptical and more conscious about their spending and more towards savings money for future uncertainties, and this is one of the reasons of reduced demand of goods and it is quite apparent in the car industry. Further, the impact of this and all other theories discussed above are analysed in chapter four and five.

Mag Lev Trains :: Magnetic Magnet Train

The basic concept of how a magnetic train works is very simple. The train has magnets all along the underbody. Each magnet is faced the exact same way, with the poles all facing the same direction. As you know from playing with magnets, opposites attract and alike kinds always want to push away. The track which the train rides on is lined with these magnets, with alike poles facing the train. This creates an air cushion between the train and the track. Forward motion of these magnetic trains, resides on the magnetic propultion of the track. The track is lined with magnets that can be switched rapidly back and forth to attract and push the train. Each magnet has an electronic swith attached to it. All the magnet switches are computer controled to accelerate or decelerate the train. Today's world has an ever growing need for higher speed and less travel time, and Mag lev trains meet this demand. Maglev trains use superconducting magnets to propell them, and can reach speeds of up to 550 kilometers per hour. Japan is on the forfront of Maglev technology. Japnanese engineers have built a Maglev train known as the MLX01 which is the fasted train reaching a speed of 552 kilometers per hour. There are two tracks for the MLX01 currently in Japan. One of them is featured above. The Yamanashi test line is where most of the research and testing is performed. The track stretches a span of 42.8km (26.6miles). As stated earlier the MLX01 can reach speeds over 550km/h. However, its main purpose was to test and confirm the miniumum radius curve and steepest gradient and to confirm a steady travel speed of 500km/h (310mph). Japan has a large number of high speed trains. They hold the world record for speed of any train with the MLX01, known as the "Bullet Train". Japan is one the elite leading countries in Mag lev technology, innovation, and design. Look forward to seeing more Mag lev creations from Japan. Germany has shown much interest in Mag lev technology. They too are also on the forfront of Maglev design and technology. The principal high speed line in Germany runs between Wurzburg and Hanover, and part of the railway from Stuttgart to Frankfurt is high speed, and there is a major high speed line under construction which will run between Berlin and Hanover. The only high speed line in Italy runs between Firenze and Rome, a non-stop service using Pendolini trains taking 1hour 30 mins with an average speed of only 103mph, 165km/h.

Rbs – Abn Amro Acquisition

Background: ABN AMRO had come to a crossroads in the beginning of 2005. The bank had still not come close to its own target of having a return on equity that would put it among the top 5 of its peer group, a target that the CEO, Rijkman Groenink had set upon his appointment in 2000. From 2000 until 2005, ABN AMRO's stock price stagnated. Financial results in 2006 added to concerns about the bank's future. Operating expenses increased at a greater rate than operating revenue, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated further to 69. 9%. Non-performing loans increased considerably year on year by 192%.Net profits were only boosted by sustained asset sales. There had been some calls, over the prior couple of years, for ABN AMRO to break up, to merge, or to be acquired. On February 21, 2007, the call came from the The Children's Investment Fund Management hedge fund which asked the Chairman of the Supervisory Board to actively investigate a merger, acquisition or breakup of ABN AMRO, stating that the current stock price didn't reflect the true value of the underlying assets. TCI asked the chairman to put their request on the agenda of the annual shareholders' meeting of April 2007.Events accelerated when on March 20 the British bank Barclays and ABN AMRO both confirmed they were in exclusive talks about a possible merger. A consortium of banks, including RBS, Belgium's Fortis, and Spain's Banco Santander also proposed an acquisition and finally won the deal. The RBS-ABN Amro deal is also unusual in that it led to the fall of not just one buyer but two: the Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis was nationalised by the Dutch government last year to avert a liquidity crisis. On 22 April 2008 RBS announced the largest rights issue in British corporate history, which aimed to raise ? 2billion in new capital to offset a writedown of ? 5. 9billion resulting from the bad investments and to shore up its reserves following the purchase of ABN AMRO. On 13 October 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a UK government bailout of the financial system. The Treasury would infuse ? 37 billion ($64 billion, â‚ ¬47 billion) of new capital into Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds TSB and HBOS Plc, to avert financial sector collapse. This resulted in a total government ownership in RBS of 58%. As a consequence of this rescue the chief executive of the group Fred Goodwin offered his resignation, which was duly accepted.In January 2009 it was announced that RBS had made a loss of ? 28bn of which ? 20bn was due to ABN AMRO. At the same time the government converted their preference shares to ordinary shares resulting in a 70% ownership of RBS. The 452-page report by the FSA into what went wrong at RBS found that the bank conducted inadequate due diligence into ABN, on the basis of just two lever arch files and a CD. â€Å"The board was fully aware that it could undertake only extremely limited due diligence in respect of the ABN Amro acquisition.However, it ap pears to have treated the fact that such constraints on due diligence are normal in any contested bid as, at least to some degree, entitling it to disregard this impediment. † Once they started to look around ABN’s trading books after the acquisition, they realised that a lot of their businesses, particularly what you would call model businesses where valuations were based on assumptions, were based on forecasts that were super aggressive,† said one senior former RBS trader. The woes at RBS were in stark contrast to its consortium partner Santander, which had acquired businesses that proved relatively simple to separate.Quite how well Santander had done out of the deal, became only too apparent on November 8 when it announced it was selling Antonveneta to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena for â‚ ¬9bn, â‚ ¬2bn more than the price it had bought it for less than a month earlier. On 9 February 2010, the businesses of ABN AMRO acquired by the Dutch state were legal ly demerged from the RBS acquired businesses. This created two separate banks within ABN AMRO Holdings, The Royal Bank of Scotland and the new entity named ABN AMRO Bank, each licensed separately by the Dutch Central Bank Transaction:RBS (UK:RBS), Santander (US:STD), and Fortis offered 30. 40 euros in cash and 0. 844 RBS share for each ABN Amro share, valuing the Dutch bank at 38. 40 euros a share. The deal was valued at â‚ ¬67 billion. Barclays offer for ABN AMRO was â‚ ¬67. 5bn, â€Å"Our philosophy is to offer as much cash as possible,† said Fred Goodwin, chief executive of RBS, at a press conference. He said the banks were able to offer more cash after performing limited due diligence on ABN Amro. Throwing in more cash heightened the pressure on ABN to back the consortium's offer.Shareholders accepted a 71bn euro ($98. 5bn; ? 49bn) offer to clinch Europe's biggest ever banking takeover and Barcalays withdrew its bidding. Breaking down the costs Under the plan, RBS w ould pay 27. 2 billion euros to get ABN's North American, Asian, Latin American (except Brazil), investment and corporate banking arms. Fortis would pay 24 billion euros to get ABN's Dutch, private-client and asset-management businesses, and Santander would fork over 19. 9 billion euros for ABN's Brazilian and Italian presence.The three banks would share other assets, such as ABN's head office and its private-equity portfolio. They'd sell the stake in Capitalia , the Italian bank that's recently agreed to be bought by UniCredit . The break-up of ABN will involve 4,500 branches across 53 countries and unravelling businesses ranging from cash management operations in Asia to retail banking in Brazil. RBS is expected to take its wholesale and investment banking business and its Asian operations while Santander will get ABN's Italian and Brazilian units, and Fortis its Dutch business and wealth and asset management operations.Royal Bank of Scotland acquired the business most affected by the market turbulence of the sub-prime crisis. Objective: The banks saw a 4. 23 billion euros in cost savings by the end of 2010, and said their profit will be boosted by an additional 1. 22 billion euros of revenue. They said the deal is expected to increase Fortis's earnings per share by 4% by the end of 2010, lift RBS' EPS by 7% and improve Santander's EPS bsy 5%.

Lindsay lohan

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had planned to spend their 18th birthday on June 13 side by side. But when the much-hyped day arrived, Ashley was left to celebrate without her twin sister, first poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel and then with a Jaunt to Mexico with two pals. One week later the reason for Mary-Skate's absence became clear: The star, recently the focus of speculation regarding her Increasingly frail-looking body, had been admitted to an undisclosed facility for treatment related to an eating disorder. â€Å"This is a challenge that Mary-Kate has made a decision to face,† says her rep Michael Poignant. â€Å"This is a challenge she will meet. † The admission struck a sad and troubled note for Mary-Kate, who along with Ashley has turned their image as positive, clean-scrubbed role models into a business empire that grossed more than $1 billion in sales last year. Yet to friends, family and even casual onlookers, the subject of Mary-Skate's health has been a so urce of concern In recent months. Although the petite twins (Mary-Kate is 5'2†³; Ashley Is 5'1 have always been slender, Mary-Kate appeared to be painfully thin of late.So widespread was the talk about her weight that the actress herself poked fun at It when the twins hosted the May 15 Saturday Night Live; playing paparazzi photographers, they shouted, â€Å"Mary-Kate, you're so skinny?eat a sandwich! † Sadly, beneath the playfulness was a health crisis. â€Å"There was an intervention,† says someone who has known the Olsen for several years, adding that the twins' father, Dave, and Mary-Skate's therapist committed her to a treatment facility soon after her June 7 high school graduation. â€Å"They finally reached the point where they had to act. They didn't want to find her dead on the floor from not eating. Those close to the star say that there was no single Incident that triggered the decision to seek professional treatment; rather, Mary-Skate's problems had steadily worsened with time. One source says that the change In Mary-Kate, who dates Boston University student David Guttenberg, 21 (his dad Is Trademarks studio expounder Jeffrey Guttenberg), first became evident two years ago. â€Å"She looked different,† says the source. â€Å"She developed circles under her eyes. † Staging the intervention before Mary-Kate turned 18 meant that her parents still had a legal right o seek treatment for her.It isn't the first time her family has tried to aid Mary-Kate, whom close pals call MS. According to one source, after the actress got into a minor car accident about a year and a half ago her father tried motivating her to eat by telling her she couldn't get her black Range Rover back until she gained some weight. Another source says the family hired someone to monitor Mary-Skate's eating. â€Å"Sometimes she was taken out of school to eat,† says a former classmate at Campbell Hall high school. â€Å"During the last year sh e had an adult eating with her most of the time.Everyone knew how skinny she was. † disorder],† says director Dennis Gordon, who helped the twins' spring comedy New York Minute. â€Å"l had a lot of meals with her, and it didn't seem there was anything wrong. † Adds Dir. Drew Pinky, the TV psychologist turned actor who played the twins' father in New York Minute: â€Å"She was the sweetest of the two. But I didn't notice anything. She; hid it well. † Such deception is typical behavior among eating-disorder sufferers, many of whom go to elaborate lengths to disguise their problems. â€Å"Everyone was very angry with Mary-Kate at first,† says a source.She's lied so much and for so long. It's part of the illness. † In fact, both Mary-Kate and Ashley flatly denied such problems in an interview with PEOPLE in April. â€Å"Being in the public eye, you're labeled that you have an eating disorder,† Ashley said at the time. â€Å"You have a drug addiction,† said Mary- Kate. â€Å"We don't have problems! † declared Ashley. The fraternal twins?MS has long been known as the free-spirited one; Ashley as the sophisticated one?have also put on a united front dealing with other recent challenges, including the dismal $13. 7 million box office for New York Minute. We ere really disappointed,† says Gordon. â€Å"They were incredibly mature about it. They said, ‘Okay, I guess we can't open a movie Just yet. Next! ‘ † Showbiz vets since making their debut on Full House at Just 9 months old, the girls have long been praised for their business savvy and solid grounding. But others have wondered if the stress placed on their slender shoulders would eventually take a toll, as it has on other young Hollywood stars (see sidebar). â€Å"The pressures of the entertainment and fashion business are pressures that Mary-Kate and Ashley both have always thrived on,† says a friend.That said, â€Å"ther e's no doubt that the pressure of being successful, running a business and planning for college?that's a lot. † Still, adds the friend, â€Å"l don't think you can draw a straight line between the pressure in nobody's life to this sort of illness. † Says Carolyn Costing, the director of the Eating Disorder Center of California and the Monte Indo Treatment Center in Malibu: â€Å"We look at it like there's a gun, a bullet and the trigger: The gun is biological predisposition, the culture is the bullet and something like the stress of being a celebrity is what pulls the trigger.Not helping matters is the ever-present skinny sweepstakes among young women, many of whom worship stars like Mary-Kate as a source of â€Å"administration,† Shortly after Mary-Skate's appearance at a May premiere, Web surfers on a bulletin board at guru. Com posted messages like, â€Å"I'm convinced she's Ana [a slang term for anorexic]! † Another online follower took notice of Mary -Skate's red string bracelet, which some teens and young adults wear as a signal of their â€Å"Ana† pride and to remind themselves not to eat. (Her rep's response: â€Å"l don't believe that's true [of Mary-Kate]. â€Å")