Analysis of the salient features of Beck’s cognitive theory Essay

Beck’s cognitive theory assumes that most psychological problems arise from faulty thinking processes. The theory is centred on three factors that form what can be illustrated as a triad. Beck (1976) noted that the three factors that affect the human mind’s capabilities are thoughts, antecedent events and behavior (Figure 1). Figure 1: The foundation of Beck’s (1976) concept of the cognitive theory Source: Created from the description by Bandura (1976) A point worth noting is that these factors cannot act on their own as they do so in synergy with other factors. For instance, behavior is affected by the environment; thoughts are affected by the self (individual); and antecedent events are influenced by the current events. Beck’s cognitive theory perceives antecedent events, thoughts and behavior to be dynamic. In addition, according to (1998), each of the three constituents of the triad is capable of affecting others. However, Beck (1976) notes that in evaluating the triad, cognition or thoughts require more emphasis. This is because it is through thoughts that human beings are able to change their beliefs, attitudes, interpretation and perceptions in different instances. Moreover, thoughts or cognitive factors serve as a platform for filtering or appraising events. In line with this, if the human mind is biased towards one event at the expense of another, the thinking process would elicit some form of emotional and behavioral responses that would imply some problems in life. Therefore, according to this theory, the way human beings think could actually change the way they feel and behave. The cognitive theory serves as a way of understanding and treating depression due to the approach it takes in addressing the various faculties of the mind. In addition, since it highlights issues related to mental capabilities, it is appropriate for addressing mental health issues and other instances of disorders that arise due to depression or factors such as substance use. In postulating the theory, Beck was of the opinion that depressed people often have low opinion of themselves. Precisely, Beck suggested that depressed people believe that the world, their future, and they themselves were the causes of their depression. In addition, Beck (1998) noted that people might be faced with psychological difficulties due to occurrence of automatic thoughts, negative self-assessments and dysfunctional assumptions. Moreover, Beck connoted that automatic thoughts usually pave the way for emotions but occur considerably fast with the affected individual’s little awareness. As a result, such individuals do not view themselves with high esteem. As an example, people affected by stress may address themselves in considerably high critical tones; they also blame themselves for every mishap that befalls them. Beck’s theory and depression Beck (1987) noted that depressed people, apart from having a low opinion of themselves, also develop schemas in their minds such as â€Å"if many people hate me then I am worthless. † Nevertheless, such beliefs are usually primitive, overstated and rigid. It is worthy noting that the self schemas developed in the minds pf distressed people are usually stable but latent and only discernible when they are stimulated by social stressors (for instance when a person provokes the distressed individual) (Beck, 1987). Once the distressed person is provoked, the depressive diagram in the mind of the individual becomes activated by the stress of the event (provocation) and results into a two-fold consequence (Beck, 1976). The first effect is that the content of the distressed person becomes negative. This is characterized by a cognitive triad and the person develops negative beliefs about himself or herself, the world and the future (i. e. every aspect of the cognitive triad becomes negative). In the second phase, there is a systematic bias in the mind that characterized by distortion of information processing capability and being prone to committing errors. Although not all forms of depression are caused by stimulation of the self-schemas, Beck viewed the negative cognitive triad and negative processing of information as the intrinsic features of all depressions (Beck, 1987). The result of the negative schema is fear for all activities by the individual. This is in spite of the fact that some activities could be easily accomplished. For instance, a negative evaluation of self worth may be â€Å"I am unworthy, I just can’t do this†; and a negative evaluation of the world or daily events may be â€Å"Everything that happens to me is just enough evidence that my world is crumbling, this world does not need me. † On the other hand, a distressed person’s evaluation of the future may be â€Å"It seems that nothing will ever get better for me even in future. † From the above illustration, Beck’s Cognitive Model of Depression clearly shows how early experiences in life can lead to the development of dysfunctional beliefs, which in turn cause individuals to have negative self-views, which in turn result into depression (Beck, 1987).

A Prayer Fpr My Daughter

A Prayer For My Daughter A Prayer for My Daughter is a poem written by William Butler Yeats in 1919. This poem is a pray-like poem. And it generally tells about the poet's ideas about his daughter who is sleeping at the same time while the poem is being told. Throughout the poem the Yeats reflects that how he wants his daughter's future should be.This essay will analyze the poem under three subtitle: 1- What does this poem mean†, 2- The poetic devices, imagery, rhyming, figures of speech, used in the poem and mood, diction, language, and the structure of the poem, 3- An essay in a feminist point of view titled â€Å"What does the poet want his daughter to become†Ã¢â‚¬  . The poet is watching his infant daughter sleep. In the first stanza he starts with describing the setting of the poem. It is stormy outside, there is a kind of dark and gloomy weather and he prays for her.And he says that he has gloom in his mind and we will understand that what gloom is that in his min d. In the second stanza the poet describes the things while he was praying for his daughter. He walks for an hour and notices the â€Å"sea-wind scream upon the tower†, â€Å"under the arches of the bridge†, â€Å"in the elms above the flooded stream. † They probably represent the dreaming of the human beings and they are decisive. They are all about the present things and they block people from thinking about the future events.The last four lines of the second stanza clearly explain this idea: â€Å"Imagining in excited reverie That the future years had come, Dancing to a frenzied drum, Out of the murderous innocence of the sea. † In the third stanza he prays for her beauty, but not too much. He considers the beauty as a decisive element for choosing the right person to marry. He emphasizes that too much beauty may cause her loose the â€Å"natural kindness† thus that might prevent her from finding the â€Å"heart-revealing intimacy† and a true friend.Related with the third stanza, the fourth stanza refers to Helen herself, who â€Å"being chosen found life flat and dull,† and also to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who chose her spouse the cripple, Hephaestus. Helen â€Å"had much trouble from a fool†, the fool is Menelaus, the husband of Helen, whom she deserted in favor of Paris. Whereas Aphrodite suffered from â€Å"being fatherless†, hence without a father to guide her, Yeats intends to be a guiding father to his young daughter. The fifth stanza describes the quality that Yeats came to see as at the very heart of civilized life: courtesy.By courtesy he understands a means of being in the world that would protect the best of human dignity, art and emotion. And in his prayer for his daughter he wishes that she will learn to survive with grace and dignity in a world turned horrific. He explains that many men have hopelessly loved beautiful women, and they thought that the women loved them as wel l but they did not. In the sixth stanza he hopes that his daughter will be a â€Å"flourishing hidden tree†, which is not rebel but kind and happy, but contains her happiness within a particular place.And additionally he wants his daughter to be not argumentative and aggressive, or perhaps quite and secure, â€Å"rooted in one dear perpetual place. † When combined with the previous line, the last line clearly defines his hope fro daughter to live in a victorious life â€Å"like a green laurel. † And the linnet also represents that he wants her thoughts to be a guide for a good life for her and her life to be in a good fate. In the seventh stanza he tells about himself a little bit, and we can conclude that he also suffered from love and beauty, but he also emphasize that hatred is drying and destructive.Thus he asserts that hatred is the worst response one can have in the world. He hopes that his daughter will not have such strong opinions which are the forms of hatred. Then he implies that â€Å"an intellectual hatred† is the worst of hatreds. In this stanza he uses an image â€Å"Plenty's horn. † It symbolizes the source of the rich gifts that will be given, served to his daughter. This part of the poem also accuses â€Å"the loveliest woman†, Maud Gonne, because of not using properly the gifts given to her and he hopes that her daughter will use them well and wisely.Ninth stanza serves the ideas of Yeats about hatred and recovering of the world. He supports that a woman can heal herself by getting away from hatred and also the world can be purified by avoiding from hatred and diversions. Thus we can recover the innocence and we can â€Å"be happy still. † In the conclusion stanza he hopes her daughter to be married in ceremony, of which source is the â€Å"horn† again. He uses the ceremony to symbolize the richness of the horn and the power of the â€Å"laurel tree. † POETIC DEVICESOnomatopoeia (the use of words that sound like the thing that they are describing) – howling, scream, spray, choke, scowl, howl Repetition (saying the same thing many times) – in the ninth stanza: self-appeasing, self-delighting, and self-affrighting Alliteration (the use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter in order to make a special effect) – howling, and half hid, cradle-hood and coverlid, great gloom, sea-wind scream, being made beautiful, like the linnet, live like, linnet from the leaf, hatred driven hence, recovers radical, bellows burst, bridegroom bring, find a friend Assonance (similarity in the vowel sounds of words that are close together in a poem)- walked and prayed, young-hour, such-overmuch, trouble- fool, with-meat, yet-that-played, beauty-very, poor-roved, loved-thought-beloved, hidden-tree, dried-late, linnet-leaf, should-scowl, quarter-bowl, hatred-wares, spreading laurel tree. FIGURES OF SPEECH Metaphor- Ceremony is used for the Plenty's horn, custom is used for the spreading laurel tree, linnet is used for good faith, and laurel is used for having a victorious life Personification- Sea-wind scream-human being, years†¦ dancing-human being, frenzied drum- human being, angry wind- human being, Simile- â€Å"all her thoughts may like the linnet be†, â€Å"may she live like some green laurel† Juxtaposition- â€Å"murderous innocence† Imagery- The â€Å"storm† is representing the dangerous outside forces, may be the future that she will encounter with soon.The â€Å"cradle† is representing his daughter's babyhood. The sea is the source of the wind and logically is the source of â€Å"future years† as well. The â€Å"murderous innocence† is attributed to the sea and represents poet's daughter and the outside world which waits for her. He uses the imagery â€Å"dried† for his mind to explain how the bad ideas are rooted in his mind. And also he uses the â€Å"horn† as ceremony and the â€Å"tree† as custom. LANGUAGE, DICTION, MOOD, STRUCTURE The language used in the poem is like the language used in lectures and also prayer. The word â€Å"may† gives to the poem a pray-like mood. The narrator is the poet's himself, and he tells the poem quite personal.He uses â€Å"I†, â€Å"she†, â€Å"my daughter† to make it personalize. The moods of the stanzas are different than the others. But the first stanza has a frightening atmosphere. In the second stanza he is anxious about what will future bring to her, the third one has the same mood but in here he is careful. In the next one he uses classical mythology to express his obsessions. The fifth one is a little bit more confident and hopeful. The sixth one is more cautious and has a negative mood. The seventh is self aware, strong and kind of regretful. And the last three stanzas are written in a happy mood and have hopefulness. The structure of the poem is not complex to analyze.It has 10 stanzas and eight lines each. It was written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is aabbcddc, and the rhythm is regular. WHAT DOES THE POET WANT HIS DAUGHTER TO BECOME The poem is about William Butler Yeats ideas, and his anxiety about his baby daughter's future and life. He wants his daughter to become a woman who is virtuous, wise. He uses the image of his daughter partly to represent his ideal woman. Most of the images that he uses are parts of the ideal woman he has in his mind or its opposites. He supports that a woman should be â€Å"a flourishing hidden tree†, who is not well-known but beautiful. She shouldn't be anything but â€Å"merry. † Innocence† is beautiful in women, that's why if his daughter keeps her innocence inside and do not abuse it, she will not be affected by the â€Å"wind. † He thinks that too much beauty distorts women, and causes them to destroy the gifts that are given by â€Å"H orn of Plenty† thus he wants his daughter to use the gifts wisely and properly. And he wants his daughter to learn the fact that â€Å"hearts are earned†, and the men, who are deceived by just beauty, will notice their mistake later. He wants her daughter not to have strong opinions like hatred, because he thinks that hatred is the worst thing in the world. He hopes she will marry, and her house will be full of customs.

Improving democratic boundaries through the internet Essay

Introduction The internet has changed the way many things are done. The traditional methods have been scrapped and newer more efficient and effective means are constantly being offered through and on the internet. The unique ability of the internet to render geographical boundaries obsolete allows anyone to access an almost infinite pool of information and to also share that information without regulation or control (Kalir 2002). The speed with which this information and exchange of ideas is facilitated by the internet makes it a potent medium for democratic plans. Given these benefits and advances that the internet has offered, it comes as no surprise then that the internet has also allowed democratic boundaries to improve by allowing for better communication and exchange of ideas. This discourse on the effect of the internet on improving the democratic boundaries will therefore attempt to show that the ability of the internet to bypass traditional boundaries and barriers to a free exchange of ideas and information has improved democratic boundaries despite the attempts of government to restrain or control this medium. Bypassing Traditional Boundaries As mentioned previously, the internet allows any person to access information from any place and also access any information available online. The ability of this medium to encourage the free exchange of ideas between people of any race or culture makes it easier to cross and overcome whatever boundaries may have been set in place traditionally (Lessig 2000). â€Å"Digital Democracy† which is the â€Å"use of digital communication technologies to enhance the democratic process by, among other things, making the process more accessible, increasing and enhancing citizen participation in public policy decision making, and increasing government transparency and accountability† plays a vital role in bypassing these traditional boundaries and improving the existing democratic boundaries by inviting democratic participation (Lim 2006). One of the reasons why the internet has been so successful at bypassing and improving these barriers is because of the fact that through the internet, â€Å"convergence† is achieved at a relatively low cost (Mitchell 2002). This means that people from all walks of life are not necessarily constrained by finances and such as to hamper or inhibit them from participating in the democratic process or in digital democracy. This in effects allows for a more mixed lot of participants and allows for a richer exchange of ideas and a greater participation from a wider demographic base (Lim 2006). Put simply, the relatively low cost of access to the internet at the present allows for more people to participate and also increases the amount of information available that is vital to the success of â€Å"digital democracy:† The greater scope for freedom, autonomy, creativity, and collaboration that the internet provides makes it a successful tool in bypassing the traditional boundaries and constraints that have prevented people in participating in the democratic process and thus by providing for such the existing democratic barriers are improved. Free Exchange of Ideas and Information Governments realized that as the internet was maturing there would be a need to control and regulate access to the internet as well as to control the content of the information on the internet (Simon 2001). Most of the regulations however have proven to be ineffective as more and more people were able to find means to bypass them (see bypassing traditional boundaries) and thus led to the formation of â€Å"social movements† on the internet which is a key to the improvement of democratic boundaries (Lim 2006). Social movements are broad social alliances of people who are connected through a shared interest in blocking or promoting social change (Trippi 2004). On the internet, with the amount of information available and the number of people participating, it is but a natural result that people who share similar beliefs form their own â€Å"societies† or those who do not have any firm beliefs are able to find something which they do subscribe to. According to Lim, â€Å"The ability of the internet to provide many people access to forums for deliberation on a range of public issues and the involvement of decision-makers in online forums assure participants that their voices will be heard. Their efforts contribute to building a new public sphere where rationality rules, citizen voices are heard, and public officials heed the demos. (Lim 2006)† By allowing more people to participate and exchange ideas freely, support for proper movements to improve the democratic situation of any state, can quickly be generated thus ensuring the success of the democratic process. Yet as pointed out by one writer, the limitations of such actions are still determined by the effective sphere of influence and control of the government over the geographical and political terrain (Barlow 2001). Improving Democratic Boundaries As shown by the arguments above, the internet indeed improves democratic boundaries and presents the opportunity to eventually create a world democracy. The boundaries that have traditionally existed to bar or hinder any interaction between peoples has been bypassed by the internet and thus allowing more people to interact with each other and to mobilize despite the geographical distances of each other. The convergence that this allows makes the generation of any support necessary to improve the democratic process easier and also allows for access to a larger support base. Another factor which has led to the success of the internet in improving democratic boundaries is the fact that it allows for faster and more exchange of information. This then allows more people to interact with each other and also form â€Å"social movements†. These social movements allow people to voice out their ideas collectively and thus improving the chances that their rights are not suppressed and that their voices are heard. The future of democracy on the internet is bright indeed. With the number of people and countries that have access to internet increasing, it is guaranteed that the democratic process will survive despite attempts of certain governments (China) at regulating this medium (Longworth 2001). Still, time and again, it has been shown that whatever controls and regulations governments attempt to set in place have always been bypassed thus ensuring that the future for democracy lies in the internet, in cyberspace. References: Barlow, J. (1996). A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www. eff. org/~barlow/Declaration-Final. html. Davis, S. , Elin, B. and Reeher, G. (2002). Click on Democracy: The Internet’s Power to Change Political Apathy into Civic Action. Boulder CO: Westview Press. Kalir, E. and Maxwell, E. (2002). Rethinking Boundaries in Cyberspace. The Aspen Institute: Communications and Society Program. Lessig, L. (2000). â€Å"Innovation, Regulation, and the Internet. † American Prospect 11, no. 10. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www. prospect. org/print/V11/10/lessig-l. html Lim, M. and Kann, M. (2006). Democratic Deliberation and Mobilization on the Internet. Annenberg Center for Communication University of Southern California. Longworth, R. (2001). â€Å"Government Without Democracy. † American Prospect 12, no. 12. Retrieved November 1, 2006, from http://www. prospect. org/print/V12/12/longworth-r. html. Mitchell, W. (1995). City of Bits: Place, Space, and the Infobahn. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://cyber. law. harvard. edu/people/reagle/inet-quotations-19990709. html. Simon, L. (2001). Democracy and the Internet: Allies or Adversaries? Woodrow Wilson Center Press. Trippi, J. (2004). The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything. Regan Books. â€Å"Political Influentials Online in the 2004 Presidential Campaign. † (February 5, 2004). Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University.

The Decline of the Honeybees in North America Term Paper

The Decline of the Honeybees in North America - Term Paper Example It is characterized by Few or lack of dead bees in the hive; pollen and honey stores in the hive; the presence of live queen with few bees; and loss of adult worker bees among other factors. Historically, the tendency of honey bee colony loss through pathogens, pests, and parasites among other diseases was a common issue in America. It is an issue that the Americans were very familiar with and had its remedy because it was not very critical as the current phenomena of CCD. In fact, research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has attributed this overwinter loss to other unknown factors other than CCD. Nevertheless, some vigorous scientific researchers have related the contemporary CCD in North America with a number of issues. In this case, diet and nutrition, pest and diseases, genetic factors and diversity, pesticides and other chemicals, environmental stress, and bee management are associated with CCD. Therefore, the contemporary research tries to view their effects on bee colony health into detail (Corn, 2014). Genetic diversity has been seen as one of the major issues that scholars have attributed to the current decline in the population of colony honeybees. In this case, some scholars tend to view inbreeding as a possible contributor to the current reduction in the population of the honeybees in North America. These researchers argue that inbreeding, if not properly handled, is one of the factors that may create weak species incapable of resisting even simple diseases.

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 40

Leadership - Essay Example Concern for the people in an organisation entails making sure that the employees have the best working conditions and a given a fair remuneration. Creating favourable conditions in the work place for the employees makes them feel appreciated and increases their loyalty to the organisation, which then translates to them working with a lot of dedication hence more improved performance in the organisation (Kuballa, 2007). Concern for productivity within an organisation entails increase the output levels in the organization. A firm that aims at increasing productivity is mainly concerned with improving efficiency of the production process; however, this may be at the expense of the satisfaction of the employees (Lohrasbi, 2006). Productivity in an organisation cannot be achieved unless the employees are willing to improve the performance; poor treatment of the employees leads to low productivity even when an organisation has put in place measures to improve productivity, this is because those measures that have been put in place require human labour in order for them to work (Sharma & Gupta,

Probation, Pardons and Parole Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Probation, Pardons and Parole - Essay Example The officer will gather information about the criminal from the criminal’s family, victims and any other relevant individuals. ‘Normally the PSI report contains; prior criminal convictions and juvenile adjudications, description of the offense, the defendants vocational background and work history, defendants marital status, financial status, length of residence in the community, educational background and other pertinent data, medical history, substance abuse history, and psychological or psychiatric history, harm suffered by any victim, victims impact statement, defendants statement, applicable sentencing guidelines, evaluation of the defendants probable adjustment in the community based upon factual information in the report, sentencing recommendations including any consecutive sentencing requirements’. (THE PRE-SENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT (PSI) KNOW YOUR RIGHTS) This paper focuses on the basic purposes of a PSI report, Supreme Court ruling with respect to th e confidentiality of a presentence report, sentencing guidelines and mandatory sentences which affect presentence investigations, Sources of information contained in the presentence report etc. Besides being instrumental in determining his federal prison sentence, the PSI is vitally important with respect to Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) federal prison designation, security level, custody level, restitution issues, work assignments, bunk assignments, furlough eligibility, transfers, community custody placement, inmate quality of life enhancements, admission into the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program and how the inmate is treated in prison by both the guards and inmates. (Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSI)—Examples of What’s In It) The main purpose of a PSI report is to aid the judge in determining the sentence. The criminal background of the person is important in determining the

Employment law 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employment law 1 - Essay Example In the above case, Wal-Mart is not liable for any offense since US constitution protects employees with criminal background from any form of discriminatory practices in employment matters. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964 prohibits all forms of employment discrimination on the basis of national origin, religion, color, or race (Repa 15). In the above case, Wal-Mart had no hiring policy requiring the criminal background of the potential employees. In the case, Bobby has only previous being convicted of a misdemeanor and not rape. However, Wal-Mart can implement a policy to request the criminal background of employees, but it must put into consideration the nature of job, the gravity of past convicted offense and time lapse since the offense before making the hiring decision (Repa 67). Wal-Mart is not liable for not requesting the criminal background of Bobby since no employment law requires the company to do so. Equal employment opportunity guidelines require all employees to av oid or minimize requesting the criminal background of employees since this may lead to discrimination in employment practices (Walsh 163). Under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines, Wal-Mart is not supposed to deny Bobby the employment opportunity even if the company has a policy on employee criminal background screening except when the crime is job-related (Walsh 162). Wal-Mart is not liable for any offense in hiring Bobby considering no hiring policy that requires the background checks of employees and the nature of past convictions and the current allegations of

Jobs and Guides for Counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jobs and Guides for Counseling - Essay Example Counselors fail to discharge their duties to full fruition and satisfaction as the average number of students assigned to them nationwide is about 477 to 1. This has resulted in the increasing number of school drop outs due to lack of proper guidance and care; very often younger children are not provided sufficient care. The duties of the counselor vary from preparing students to "start thinking about careers, build communication skills and develop healthy attitudes about themselves and their peers" at the elementary school level to assisting "students with study habits, financial aid, college recommendations, class schedules, transitions between grades and high-stakes tests". At times counselors also have to tackle psychological imbalances and disorders associated with teenage pregnancy and love affairs. It is sad to note that the school budgets very often undermine the significance and role of counselors as they give more priority to other areas like "helping children with disabilities and raising achievement in the poorest schools'. The article thus throws light on the fact that the counselors under the present system are unable to establish personal relationships with the students which is the key factor in the counseling process. The role of counselors can never be undermined as they have the capacity to determine the destiny of the nation by molding the personalities of the prospective citizens. Under favorable conditions, counselors can prove themselves to be reformers who can concentrate on the over all growth of the students and help students to see through peer pressure, family problems and other psychological and mental distractions. For this there should be special funding from the part of the government and there should be ample provisions for counseling in the school bu dgets. Besides, counseling to be effective, the proportion of the number of students per counselor should be reduced so that the counselor can have intimate personal contact and relationship with the students. One of the major objectives of counseling in schools is to enable students to choose the best career that suits their innate taste and talents. For this, students need to be trained well to present themselves confidently while attending job interviews. Personal questions that are not strictly job related often make candidates uncomfortable and the article 'Job Hunting These Questions Are Illegal' considers such questions as illegal as they are 'discriminatory'. According to the author, these illegal questions can vary from family details, sexual preference and marriage status, racial and ethnical origins, health, criminal records to physical disabilities. Students should be guided well to handle these circumstances when they go out of the schools and it is the duty of the counselor to instill a feeling of self esteem in the minds of the learners irrespective of his/her family background, ethnic origin or personal health related limitations. They should be taught that they have equal employment opportunity like all other well to do candidates. Both the articles are closely related as they deal with the importance of counseling. The second article is a continuation of the first as it develops one of the areas that the counselors and the employers need to pay attention when it comes to job hunting and selection of candidates. The articles

Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy Essay

Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy - Essay Example According to studies that were aimed at providing scientific evidence for evaluation and decision making with regard to preventing teenage pregnancy for the whole nation; it was concluded by specialists that the sex education in teen pregnancy approach is efficient and effective in curbing teenage pregnancy as compared to abstinence only. The relationship between sex education, teen pregnancy and birth rates need to be taught to the teens if the situation is to be salvaged (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Consequently, other critical influences like socio-economic status, education, cultural activities, and access to contraceptives through Medicaid waivers should be critically analyzed. However, this is not taken into consideration across the nation; the emphasis are on abstinence laws rather than sex education. The teen pregnancy, abortion and birth data significantly shows that higher levels of abstinence education strongly culminates into higher levels of abstinence character hence resulting into decreased pregnancies among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). In the same line of argument, other factors as earlier mentioned impact severely on teenage pregnancy. For instance educational attainment, Ethnic composition, and socio-economic status have a hand in either alleviating or aggravating the situation. Medicaid waivers for family planning have been found to significantly reduce unplanned pregnancies especially among low income women and among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Through comprehensive research and analysis it has been established that although elaborate sex education in the US has resulted in lower teen pregnancy rates, these rates are still high as compared to teen pregnancy levels in Europe. This is mainly associated with poor laws and policies that do not advocate for sex and STD education to

Critical overview of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Dissertation - 1

Critical overview of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The onset of globalization, which is characterized by the drastic integration of international trade into one single market, further underscored this as trade disputes and disagreements between countries emerge with the increase in international commerce. According to Lu, Verheyen and Perera, arbitration has been the most common dispute resolution mechanism today both in the international market and among parties that conduct business with sovereign states that the enforceability of awards has become increasingly important and practical.1 (p. 163-164) According to FINRA, parties may even prefer arbitration than a juridical process because the process is faster and more effective.2 Currently, the multilateral arbitration mechanism that most states are subjected to is the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 otherwise known as the New York Convention. As of 2009, 142 out of the 192 members of the United Nations signed the convention. The majo rity of global trading organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) also accede to this convention. It mandates all courts of the ratifying states to enforce and recognize private agreements and â€Å"arbitral awards made in the territory of a State other than the State where the recognition and enforcement of such awards are sought, and arising out of differences between persons, whether physical or legal.†3 Saudi Arabia has been receptive of foreign arbitration awards in the past and rarely elevated disputes to international fora but its courts do not automatically endorse foreign judgments.4 In April 19, 1994, the country signed the convention. Some changes have been effected with regards to enforcement of arbitration awards. When Saudi signed the convention, a royal decree (No. M/11 of 16/7/1414) was released, which provided that recognition and enforcement of foreign awards should be limited to those made in the territory of States, which have also acceded thereto.5 This among other factors such as the persistence of Islamic law and the effects it entail in doing business in the country has made the situation complicated and at times problematic particularly in terms of the enforcement of arbitral awards. This problem would be investigated by this research, with the initial expectation that there are numerous variables that hinder and limit such enforcement particularly in the religious and bureaucratic spheres. 3.0 Scope of the Study In pursuing the research objective, this research would focus on two important conventions that Saudi is party to: the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 and the Riyadh Convention. These mechanisms would be used as the standards by which arbitration awards enforcement are either successful or a failure exclusively in the Saudi experience. 4.0. Methodology Since this is a descriptive and analytical research, this study will not use models for empirical inquiries. Instead, this researcher will use a combination of ‘black-letter' doctrinal analysis and ‘law in context' approaches. The idea is to capture the complexity of having to discuss the general subject of

Employee Relations in IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employee Relations in IBM - Essay Example Employee can help an organization to create a competitive advantage in the market which may become difficult for other organization to replicate. Therefore one of the most important areas that the company has been investing on is in its employee. In the last 10 years, there have been a lot of changes that have taken place in the organization which has been influenced by external factors. There have been several factors that have been influencing the changes in the organization that have been beyond the control of the organization. These changes have been emanating from the changes in the operation environment. One of the changes that have had a great impact on the industry has been the changes in the external environment. The landscape of technology has been changing and the company has not been left behind. The company has come up with several innovation that are likely to position it in the market in line with other competitors as we entered the new millennium the company came up with a new generation of servers which are all aimed at meeting the changing technology. This was also due to the changes in the demand for the underlying infrastructure that has been supporting e-business which has become the business model of the day. (IBM, 2008f) In the future the change in technology is likely to influence the operation of the company. Since it is operating in a field led by technology, the company is likely to make several changes in its operation in the future in a move that will position it in the market. Change in technology is the most probable external factor that will impact the operation of the organization. The changing concept of corporate social responsibility also had an impact on the company as it become more responsive to the needs of its consumers. As a result the company came up with various CSR activities which were aimed at improving the relationship with its employees. It put in place programs that would help it to respect it employees.The political environment was also changing and the company has to change with it. In this regard there were several rules and laws that were coming in place that were not there before. As a result the company had to adjust its operation and its workforce relations. There have been polices that have been put in place in order to give employees more rights and therefore the company has been forced to rhyme with the changes. Political a and legal changes in the further are likely to impact on the operations of the company in the future as the world moves to more converged world. There have also been environmental factors that have forced the company to enforce several changes in its operation in this regard there has been increasing attention that has been paid on the environment and therefore the company has been adjusting its operation in order to come up with policies that are expected to give respect to the environment. The company has been implementing several eco programs that are aimed at going with the demands on the changes in the

Thats Life in the Big City Essay Example for Free

Thats Life in the Big City Essay An implied warranty of habitability is a warranty set forth by law in respect to all residential leases in a way to ensure that the premises are fit and conducive for human habitation. In addition the warranty is aimed at ensuring that the condition of the premise remains fit and habitable throughout the duration of the lease. The landlord- tenant law in regard to warranty of habitability is very useful because it imposes certain duties that are supposed to be adhered to by the two parties. Such obligations on the part of the landlord include maintenance of the premises in habitable conditions such as providing adequate weather proofing, available heat, water, electricity, and clean sanitary condition (Bright Gilbert, 1995). If these conditions are not met the tenant can seek for legal intervention justification as defined by the tenant defensive act. Even though there are no definite rules regarding to how the landlord was supposed to carry out the maintenance, the landlord should have been responsible for repair of any defects in the rental unit and comply with state and local building health regulations. Being a residential lease between a landlord and a tenant the landlord should have ensured that the he leased property is fit to live in. This means that the leased property should be safe and sanitary for other human being and also to the people who are leaving in that premise. The conditions that violate the implied warranty of habitability vary depending on the nature of the violation and the cause of the violation. In this case, the landlord had violated the implied warranty of habitability by failing to provide timely repair on faulty air conditioning and heating system. As required by the law, when a tenant identifies existence of uninhabitable conditions he is supposed to notify the landlord in time an act which Bill and Ted did. However, the problem comes in the part failure of the landlord to carry out these repairs in time. Therefore it was unreasonable for the landlord to take more than one month to repair the defect. In this case, the landlord did not put into consideration the uninhabitable conditions a factor which could have necessitated for specific actions to be taken by the tenants. For example the tenants can decide to move out and terminate the lease or repair and deduct the cost incurred in the process of repairing the inhabitable conditions from their rent (Koster, 2006). The tenant can also decide to sue for the damages or either sues to force the landlord make the repairs. Therefore landlords should consider the importance of the warranty of habitability and its application to its property. Since Bill and Ted have rented an apartment and they have paid the landlord a security deposit, the landlord should take up any issues responding to the property management and ensure that Bill and Ted are living well under his property. Any issue that arises as a result of the property management should be regarded considered with urgency and possible measures be carried out. In this case, the landlord does not play his role in property management and he fails to take any meaningful measures or either look upon complains of these tenants in time. Since Bill and Ted had notified the landlord and the superintendent had assured them of a timely repair, they had every reason to believe his word. However, the repair took more than necessary time. The landlord should have compensated them for the disturbances the incurred when they moved out yet they had paid for the apartment. The landlord portrays neglect on his part since he knew that the weather was worsening yet he failed to provide fans for them. In essence the landlord never responded to their request. This is seen when the temperatures fell and the water boiler broke down as well as the pipes froze and the two were left without water. Therefore, according to the warranty of habitability, the rental property is supposed to be safe on the dwelling for human beings. In such a case Bill and Ted should file for a breach of implied warranty of habitability. In case of the uninhabitable conditions such as the one that Bill and Ted faced, after the landlord has been notified immediately about the uninhabitable condition, it is the responsibility of the landlord to respond by making changes within the next thirty days or within a reasonable time given to him depending on the nature of defect. As for Ted and Bill, if the landlord does not respond to the changes of the uninhabitable conditions then they are allowed to move out and terminate the lease. This is because the landlord is unable to make the repairs within a reasonable time. They have a liberty of deciding to move out and terminate the lease. They are also allowed to repair and deduct there repair cost from the next months rent but they should consider on the amount it would cost (Nandorf Nassif, 2008). This is possible especially when the damaged property would not cost much to repair compared to the house rent. Therefore, before the tenant repairs the damages considering the value and the cost of repairing s very important, the tents might also decide to move out the house and terminate the lease. In either case the tenants may also decide to sue the landlord for the damages from the date of the landlord’s acknowledged of the poor condition. They can also decide to sue and force the landlord to make repairs through a court order which would force the landlord to make the repairs. Even though the court is capable of utilizing this option, it is an expensive task because it requires court supervision to ensure the repairs are carried out. The implied warranty of habitability cannot be waived and since the landlord was notified about the extent of the uninhabitable condition on the rented house and no action were taken immediately. Therefore, Bill and Ted should take immediate actions on the landlord’s inactivity. A legal action against the landlord is one of the remedial actions that the tenants should which would see him compelled by the court to repair the damages that have occurred. In summary, Bill and Ted may decide to sue for the damages incurred since the day that the landlord was notified about the breach of warranty of habitability. This is on the basis that the inhabitable condition reduces the value and comfort of the rented premises on fair market rental values. Since the landlord has not responded to the issues regarding the damages from the tenants, the tenants may also consider repairing and deducting the cost from the next month’s rent.This is one of the easiest methods because the landlord had overlooked the duty of repairing the damaged property. References Bright, S and Gilbert, G. (1995). Landlord and Tenant Law: The nature of Tenancies. Oxford: Clarendron press Koster, K. (2006). The Landlord- Tenant Law: General obligations of Landlords and Tenants. Retrieved on 9 July 2010 from http://ago. mo. gov/publications/landlordtenant. htm Nondorf, K and Nassif, T (2008). Tenant Remedies. Retrieved on 9 July 2010 from http://images. jw. com/com/publications/963. pdf

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions Purpose The primary objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that depicts the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions on employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative methodology that comprises of a comprehensive literature review of both academic researches and industry reports. Findings Evidences from the extant literatures have suggested that effective implementations of the four dimensions of CRM (Customer Orientation, CRM Organization, Knowledge Management and Technology Based CRM) will positively effect employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Research limitations/implications Given that this paper is based on qualitative approach, there is need to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the conceptual model presented. Practical implications The paper suggest that to achieve operational efficiency together with employee job satisfaction, there is need for customer contact centers to integrate CRM dimensions into its operations and measurement practices. Originality/value This paper primarily conceptualize a measurement model that would assist in determining the impacts of CRM on employee job satisfaction and performance within the contact centers. It generally provides contact center Executives with CRM focus, by complementing recent works that have been conducted on the role of CRM constructs in improving employee job satisfactions and organizational performances. It concluded by proposing a model for future testing. Keywords Customer Relationship Management (CRM), contact centers, call centers, employee job satisfaction, caller/customer satisfaction, service quality Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as referred is a concept that derives its popularity since 1990s. It is said to offer a long term changes and benefits to businesses that chose to adopt it. CRM has been argued to enable companies to successfully interact with their customers in a dynamic and profitable manner (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; Sin et al, 2005). However, many scholars still debate over what should exactly constitute CRM; some says CRM are nothing more than mere software, while others says it is a modern means of satisfying customers requirement at profit (Soon 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; and Eric et al, 2006). CRM was also defined by Nguyen et al (2007) as information system that allows organizations to track customers interactions with their firms and allows employees to instantly pull up information about the customers such as past sales, service records, outstanding records and unresolved problem calls. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a unit of a bigger Marketing Management which is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction (Dean, 2007, Eid, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; and Fox and Stead, 2001). McNally (2007) defines CRM as a system which allows both internal and external customers of an organization to critical information through the integration of companys telephone system, Chat groups, Interactive voice response, facsimile transmission, electronic data interchange, Voice over internet, Web sites and e-mail touch points that will result in satisfying customer self services for new product purchases, assist in up-selling and cross selling and creating customer loyalty, value and profitability. While different researchers believed that there is no one correct definition of CRM, this research would like to define CRM as Organizations ability to efficiently integrate people, process, and technology in maximizing positive relationships with both current and potential customers. Authors such as Sin et al (2005) argued that CRM is a strategic business process that involves an efficient management of detailed information about current and potential customers channeled through a carefully arranged customer touch points that assist in maximizing customer loyalty and minimizing costs. Other scholarly arguments have also established that the cost implications in CRM implementations are double sided, from one from the company and the other from the customers (McNally, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005, Yim et al., 2005). On one hand, the customer is able to reduce the cost of traveling to the respective companies to get what they need, while the companies are able to save cost on both their human resources, processes and promotions (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). To strengthen their arguments, Sin et al (2005) explained that whatever orientation that an organization might have put in place, the primary role of marketing management is to create a positive relationship with customers. Exploring CRM literatures Findings from recent researches have been indicating the enormous opportunities CRM is availing employees of several organizations in getting detailed customer information to make quick and intelligent business decisions that will resolve issues and provide efficient service to the customers (Soon, 2007; Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Yim et al., 2005; Adam and Michael, 2005). Similarly are arguments from both academic literatures and industry reports which have established the importance of customer relationship management in marketing activities, specifically in the customer contact centers where it has helped in digitalizing staffs knowledge about organizations customers through computer telephony integration, fax, email, web chatting etc (Dean, 2009; 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Roland and Werner, 2005). While this current study cannot disconfirm the available arguments in favor of CRM applications on employee job satisfactions and performance, there are reliable data that shows a range of major issues that is globally affecting contact centers such as shortage of skilled employees, high abandonment rate, high average speed of answer, employee job dissatisfaction, high attrition rate, high cost of operations, and customer dissatisfaction (Chen eta l., 2010; Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; McNally, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005). The model that is created from the literature review From the findings in the extant literature reviews, below is the proposed conceptual model. Relevant literatures in support of each constructs are detailed under the elements of each variable. + + + + Figure 1: CRM Dimensions and Employee Job Satisfaction Model Independent Variables: CRM Dimensions Based on the review of past related literatures on CRM and detail interview with some selected CRM managers, Sin et al (2005) hypothesized that the concept of CRM is a multi dimensional construct which consist of four broad behavioral components in every implementing organizations: key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Sin et al, 2005). They argued that their findings is in accordance with the general notion that a successful CRM is primarily designed to address four key areas in the implementing organization: corporate strategy; people; technology; and processes (Sin et al, 2005; Fox and Stead 2001), and that it is only when all these four components works according to target that a company will experience a superior customer related capability. It was equally argued that for a company to be able to maximize its long term performance in metrics such as customer satisfaction, employees trust, satisfaction and commitment, and return on investment, such a company must build, maintain, and do everything possible to establish the four dimensions of CRM (McNally, 2007; Bang, 2006; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Customer Orientations Evidences from marketing literatures, IT literatures and Industry practices agreed to the fact that customer centric focus is a pre-requisite to any successful CRM Projects, particularly in shaping the minds and actions of the employees in becoming customer oriented (Dean, 2007; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Callcenter.net, 2003). Looking at it from the contact center perspective, Dean (2002) defined customer Orientation as the degree to which an organization emphasizes on meeting customer needs and expectations for service quality. Dean (2004) went further to argue that customer orientation should incorporate commitment to customer needs and utilizing the available resources in gathering and efficiently managing customer feedback for effective decision making by the employees. Over the last twenty years, the concept of customer orientation have started to be very critical in the field of marketing management practices and theories, with apparent conclusions in support of the statement that any organization that adopts customer orientation approach are more likely to establish the required customer quality, increase its employee and customer satisfactions, and able to achieve the desired organizational objectives more efficiently than its competitors (Chen et al., 2010; Dean, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Brady and Cronin, 2001; Lukas and Ferrell, 2000; Narver and Slater, 1990). To Sin et al (2005), they argued that although it is observed that most empirical studies have been concentrating on the degree and measurements of the concepts, but the extant literatures have long neglected the variations in the customer orientation dimensions or the features of the concepts as exhibited by each organizations (Sin et al., 2005). Therefore the general literatures on customer orientation could be argued as not been widely practiced specifically by the contact center professionals in the manner advocated by Sin et al (2005) and supported in other literatures such as Roland and Werner (2005) and Dean (2007) were they all have empirically established a positive linkages between customer orientation, perceived service quality, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Similarly are previous researches such as Kohli et al (1993) and Berry (1995) that cites several empirical studies that have suggest a linkage between the customer orientation and customer satisf action. Sources from other extant literatures have suggested that customer orientation (CO) is positively related to CRM adoption and customer relationships outcomes (Dean, 2007 and 2002; Eid 2007; James 2004). Customer orientation is said to reflect a companys culture on customers focus, needs and feedbacks (Dean 2007). In a very developed customer oriented approach, it is argued that there should be a continuous ongoing information collection and dissemination about customer and competitor for better decision making process by the employees (Kohli and Jaworski, 1993). The culture of customer orientation in a firm is considered to be very significant in the successful adoption, implementation and acceptance of CRM technology by its employees (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Several other studies have also emphasized that there exist a stronger relationship between customer orientation and employee satisfaction, especially in the service industries where employees are the firs t contact with the customers and taking into consideration the length of time employees spend with customers in the contact center industry (Bhimrao and Janardan., 2008; McNally, 2007; Soon, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sarah and Meredith., 2006; Roland and Werner., 2005; Feinberg et al, 2002). Given the aforementioned evidences and many more empirical findings that have establish customer orientation as an important antecedent of competitive advantage and business profitability (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Narver and Slater, 1990), probing and measuring the impact of this orientation on employee job satisfaction is said to have captured the attentions of researchers (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2006). This research postulates that: H1: Customer Orientation of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. CRM Organizations CRM organization has been argued as an essential means through which fundamental changes in terms of how firms organized and conduct its business processes around employees and customers can be actualized (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Implementing firms are encouraged to pay necessary attentions to the inherent organizational challenges in the CRM initiatives (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Adam and Michael, 2005). Both Wang et al (2006), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have all empirically tested and established that there exist a positive relationship between CRM organization and customer satisfaction, with serious emphasis on the positive roles of the employees. They argued further that the key considerations for any successful CRM to be implemented within the whole firm are organizational structures, the organization wide commitment of available resources, human resource management policies and employee job satisfaction that positively worked together t o influence customer satisfaction (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005., Yim et al., 2005). By organizational structure means that CRM applications requires that the entire strategic business units in such firms be design to jointly work together towards achieving a common goal in terms of building a strong long-term customer relationships (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). For better efficiency of such organizational structure, it was advised that firms should incorporate productive process teams, cross discipline segment groups and customer focused departments (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). All the aforementioned structural designs are said to require a strong inter-functional coordination between the different departments, a statement that further confirms the existence of a positive relationship between CRM organization and employee job satisfaction and performance (Rajshekhar et al., 2006). Due to the high cost involvement of CRM applications, Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) conceptualized and established the importance of organizations wide commitment of resources to the intended design of CRM structures as having a positive relationship with employee satisfaction, performance and customer satisfaction. Also very important in their findings are the argument in favor of CRM organization as the established link between the human resources and the marketing interface (McNally, 2007; Sin et al., 2005). Also relevant in this area of studies are literatures such as Dean (2007) and Roland and Werner (2005) that empirically established that there exist a positive relationships between CRM dimensions (specifically customer orientation), employee job satisfaction, perceived service quality and customer satisfactions. Dean (2007), Roland and Werner (2005), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) all empirically argued that this is a stage where firms need to logically instill in its customer service representatives the utmost importance of the CRM dimensions in order to positively influence employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfaction and organization overall performance. In their concluding remarks they emphasized on four significant firms internal marketing processes, which includes employee empowerment, effective internal communications, standard reward systems, and employee involvement as efficient means of actualizing CRM organizations on employee job satisfaction and performance (Sin et al., 2005). In view of this, this research Hypothesize that: H2: CRM Organization of the customer contact is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction Knowledge Management With reference to the knowledge based view theory of the firm, it states and I quote that the primary reason for any companys existence is to possess the ability to create, transfer, and efficiently utilize its available knowledge (Acedo et al, 2006; Meso and Smith, 2000; Miller and Shamsie, 1996). Whereas, looking at this from the angle of CRM concept in Marketing, knowledge can be describe as whatever a company or individual has learnt from experience/practice or any empirical study of consumer data (Nguyen et al., 2007; Sin et al., 2005). This will bring us to the key facets of knowledge management dimension which includes a companys knowledge learning and generation, its knowledge dissemination and sharing, and finally knowledge responsiveness (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). As previously discussed that Knowledge about key customers in a company is important for a successful CRM application (Rajshekhar et al., 2006), because it could be use as a master plan to developing a learning relationship between the employees and companys current and potential customers (Nguyen et al., 2007) and thereby availing each organization the opportunity to a successful establishment of a stronger competitive strength in the market through employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Roland and Werner, 2005; Dean, 2004). It is premised on these arguments that both Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have conceptualized and empirically established a positive relationship between employee knowledge acquisition and usage, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Also very important under this heading is Customer information, such as customers needs and preferences which may be captured by both directly or indirectly, via a two way communications in the compa nys interactive feedback system (Sin et al., 2005). As argued that the primary reason of knowledge generation is for affording a 360 degree customer view, through an appropriate business intelligence tools such as data mining, data warehouse, and data mart all which could assist a company to incorporate a customer information into its strategic business intelligence (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). Therefore, it became very important for organizations to develop a sound mechanism for sharing the existing customer knowledge that will facilitate the concerted actions that could positively influence employee knowledge, satisfaction and performance in all the strategic business units of every organization (Sin et al., 2005). Finally it is arguable that marketing is now more concerned with better means of responding to customer demand, with the general believes that actions taken in a prompt manner not only enhance service quality, but also foster positive long-term relationships with both employees and the customers (Dean, 2007; Roland Werner, 2005; Antonio et al., 2005; and Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). This leads to the following Hypothesis: H3: Knowledge management of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Technology Based CRM Although it has been established that consumers do complained about the time and efforts that is required in getting their individual questions or problems solved whenever they interact with contact centers (SQM, 2007; Call Centre.net, 2003), but equally important are arguments in favor of careful implementations of CRM Screen Pop-Up as an effective means of improving customer service representative satisfaction and performance, first call resolution, and caller satisfactions while simultaneously reducing the contact center processing costs (SQM, 2007; Yim et al., 2005; Call Centre.net, 2003). This is because most of the findings in the existing literatures and industry reports aptly depict that the major cost of running a call centre is the labor cost (Levin, 2007a), a strong need why every organizations must efficiently link is technological applications to its employee acceptance, satisfaction and performance (McNally, 2007). Meanwhile, not only within the contact centers that CRM technologies and systems are beneficial (McNally, 2007), there are enormous evidence in support of CRM systems as complements to other systems such as enterprise research planning systems etc (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Evidence from existing contact center literatures shows that several authors have argued in favor of FCR technology enablers through intelligent skill based routing as a good means of achieving FCR, employee job satisfaction and caller satisfaction (SQM, 2007; Callcentre.net, 2003). This is because through the application of CRM technologies such as first call resolution enablers, contact centers can match their customers and/or their call types with the appropriate customer service representatives knowledge and skills (SQM, 2007). Equally observed in the extant literatures is the suggestion that there are two aspects of CRM systems integration that are pertinent to the adoption of this technology. Eid (2007) describes the first part as integration into the existing organizational systems and applications, while the second integration is done across other functional customer contact touch points. Part of the available evidence as identified by this research is that it is widely possible for researchers and practitioners to determine if an organization has put in place CRM technologies, but the major issues starts from measuring the effectiveness of CRM technology utilization in terms of user acceptance, and the desired operational performance which is argued to have since been neglected and has been confirmed as very vital to the success of the implementing firm (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Ravipa and Mark, 2004). The existing academic and practitioner literatures on CRM are mostly in the areas of cust omer database, contact centers, online chatting systems, e-mails, Internets and some organizational group support systems, further creating a vacuum for future research in determining the impact of CRM technology on employee job satisfaction (McNally, 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; James, 2004). Furthermore, some literatures contend that a companys ability to link the CRM system to different strategic business units such as marketing, finance, distribution, operations, and human resources will provide additional value to both internal and external users, and more importantly to the achievement of both employee and customers satisfactions (Aihie and Az-Eddine, 2007; Coltman, 2007; Nguyen et al 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). If efficiently managed, CRM system is argued as having the capacity to assist organizations in handling customer queries and complaints more professionally with both accurate and timely information that would assist in reducing employee role stress, attrition rate and subsequently increasing employee job satisfaction, first call resolution and customer satisfaction (McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; 2005). Also very important in this area of research is the a benefit inherent in the integration of every unit of the customer contact centers whether inbound, outbound or web enabled via CRM technology that provides a great opportunity for seamless and transparent services in customer touch points (Yim et al., 2005). In relation to the above, the extent of a companys CRM integration will strengthen its ability to resolving customers request in the first call resolution, and also give opportunity for achieving both employee and customer satisfactions (Dean, 2007; SQM, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). The above has led this research into hypothesizing that: H4: Technology based CRM of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Dependent Variable: Employee Job Satisfaction Issues on employee satisfaction are very much available in several studies, in which the majority postulates a positive relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Florian et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; Bernard and Stephen, 2004; Gummesson, 2004). These are so because employee and customer satisfaction are often measured in different ways by marketing researchers, where the majority has stated that employee job satisfaction has a clear effect on customer satisfaction (Eric et al, 2006; Coltman, 2007; Christian, 2005; Gummesson, 2004). Evidences from other recent researches have also confirmed that the relationship between employee satisfaction and performance could be strengthened if there is a high frequency of customer interaction with the employees (Dean, 2007; Florian et al, 2007; Christian, 2005; and Kode et al 2001). Whereas two major existing literatures in the contact center industry by Roland and Werner (2005) and McNally (2007) have empirically established that there exist a positive relationship between customer orientation, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. In Roland and Werner (2005), they argued, tested and established that employee job satisfaction positively mediate the link between customer orientation and customer satisfaction of the contact center industry. A critical look at the foregoing information shows that all the above conditions currently exist in the customer contact centers. Because customer contact center employees enjoys a high level of customer interaction and the existing services within the contact centers shows that there is integration between external factors and the service delivery processes. A review of the reasons behind the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction is often argued on the premise that the positive effects on every customer satisfaction are mediated by an existing positive effect on working performance (Florian et al, 2007). Importantly, the service marketing literatures have shown that there exist a positive effect of employee satisfaction on employees working performance and perceived service quality (Sarah and Meredith, 2006; Rodoula, 2005; Zeithaml et al, 1985). With evidences from the above extant literatures, this research supposes that employee job satisfaction positively goes along with the psychological state of organization customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology based CRM. Conclusion, limitations and directions for future research Despite increasing acknowledgement of CRM importance, disappointedly very little studies have focused on the impacts of CRM dimensions on customer contact center performances (Soon, 2007; Bang, 2006; Yim et al., 2005). In support of the above emphasis are ample of evidences provided by several sources on the severe employee job dissatisfactions and customer dissatisfactions with contact centre systems and services across the globe (Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; SQM, 2007; Feinberg et al., 2002; 2000; Miciak and Desmarais 2001), and that the major problems are stemming from factors such as lack of established customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Chen et al., 2010; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005), The findings in this research indicate that there is strong reason to modifying the existing CRM implementations and organization performance measurements within the contact center in dustry. More importantly in areas such as measuring employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Beyond these findings is a main limitation in the qualitative approach that was applied in this research, a strong factor that is limiting the ability to generalize its findings and recommendations to all industries and countries. Importantly, suggestions from this research are not quantitatively backed by empirical data and appropriate statistical analysis that could validate the proposed theoretical linkages that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, thereby further limiting its diagnostic power of predictions. To rectify the observed limitations, this research suggests that there is need for future study to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the proposed model. However, as could be noted that this research has conducted a detailed literature review to establish the positive relationships that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, it is important for future researchers to conceptualize and if possible determine other construct s for measuring employee job satisfaction within the contact centers, specifically the inbound call centers.

The Introduction Of Mamee Double Decker

The Introduction Of Mamee Double Decker Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhad is a unique brand of good taste and fine quality. The company is recently listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchang (KLSE). The company manufactures many products which are Mamee Monster, Mamee Instant and Sllrrrp Noodles, Mister Potato Chips, Mister Potato Crisps and so on. All this products are already household names. The most famous product of the company is Mamee Monster. Mamee Monster is something like noodles with a pack of seasoning powder. This product consists of two flavours which are chicken and barbeque. Besides these two flavours, there is another new flavor like satay flavor. Between these three flavours, barbeque is the tastiest and many kids like it including us. Mamee Monster consists of jumbo pack; the jumbo packs are a new product and it is include two flavours like barbeque and the new one- curry flavour. These two flavours can stimulate our taste buds. Besides this honored, the company also promote a new product which is Mister Potato Rice Crisps. This new product can competes with others brand as well like Jacker and Pringles. Why do I say so? It is because this Mister Potato Rice Crisps is low fat and healthier compared with others potato chips. Jacker is good taste but salty and same goes to Pringles. This new product consists of four flavours such as, original, flame grilled bbq, hot and spicy as well as sour cream and onion. For people who likes chili can try hot and spicy flavor. For those who do not like heavy flavour can try original flavour. In an addition, Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhad also has a product which is instant noodles-Mamee Sllrrrp. For this instant noodles have a variety of flavours such as ayam kampung, asam laksa, kari berapi and kari extra pedas. Any of the flavours will make people sllrrrp, sllrrp, sllrrrp when eating. Overall, Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhad is a good quality brand and no doubt it can win the heart of the public range from kids and adults to old folks. This company is a very successful company and earns much profit from previous until now. Mamee Lekor After a thorough consideration, we as Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhads corporate finance advisors had decided to increase their shareholders wealth by introducing a new product keropok lekor. What is keropok lekor? This is it. The easiest way to describe Keropok Lekor is to call it as fish sausage. Its main ingredients are fish (Ikan Parang/Kembong/Selayang), sago flour, salt and water. We named our new product (keropok lekor) as Mamee Lekor. It can be served in crispy type or soft chewy type according to preferences.D:New folderMmuGamma 1st SemBBF 2124 FM 2keropok_lekor.jpgD:New folderMmuGamma 1st SemBBF 2124 FM 211.jpg Keropok lekor is originated from Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia and it is a popular and most visible fried snack in Terengganu. Lots of local there know how to make this keropok lekor. Therefore, there are many stalls in Malaysia that sells keropok lekor. However, there is none in hypermarket, cinemas and petrol station. This keropok lekor become very popular that we can find it in other states of Malaysia such as Johor and Melaka. Perhaps, we could not find this type of snacks in country other than Malaysia because keropok lekor is a local Malay delicacy and specialty of Malaysia. Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhad introduces Mamee Lekor in two forms. First, the mini ball sized fried keropok lekor which packaging in a small plastic bag like Mamee Monster. Another one is raw keropok lekor. D:New folderMmuGamma 1st SemBBF 2124 FM 2keropak_lekor.jpg The fried keropok lekor in mini packing contains 10 mini balls of keropok lekor which sells RM1.50 per pack. The above picture is for illustration purpose only. To be more attrative, we will shape it into mini balls to attract customers. We also produce raw keropok lekor in 700g per pack which sells at RM10. This fried mini keropok lekor will expire in 4 to 5 days after production. How we are going to handle this situation? We will follow the Gardenias distribution strategy. We will send our workers to send new keropok lekor and collect back the expired one. Our workers are going to the retail store and supermarkets to send and collect Mamee Lekor 2 times per week. This is to ensure that our products are fresh before reaches to our customers and consumers. Also, we produce raw keropok lekor to fulfill some households demands. They can cut it into the thickness they prefer and fry or steam it. The main difference between the raw and ready fried mini packed keropok lekor is that the raw keropok lekor can keep for longer period. On the other hand, the ready fried mini packed keropok lekor can only last within 5 days. Some household may buy the raw keropok lekor and kept in their freezer and fried it whenever they want to eat. Since raw keropok lekor can be kept in a long period which is around one year, we plan to export it to other countries. We plan to export 700g of raw keropok lekor per pack to other countries selling at RM12 each. The selling price is slightly higher than in Malaysia because it already included the cost that related to export activities. We decided to export to Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. We export more to Australia because it is the largest and fastest growing export market compared to other countries. It ha s highest export rate of snack and confectionary from Mamee-Double Decker. We also export to Singapore and Hong Kong because we want to introduce Mamee Lekor to Western and Asian countries as well. Why we produce keropok lekor? This is because it is a local traditional delicacy which not available in other countries. It is a specialty to foreigners because their countries do not have this food. So, we can monopolize Mamee Lekor in other countries. Besides, according to research, Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad s snacks and confectionery occupied the highest demand compared to other catrgories. So we produce Mamee Lekor which is a kind of snacks to boost the demand. We will start our project by reaching out the children because no children dislike snacks and they like to try on new things. So, we decided to distribute Mamee Lekor to school canteens. It is packed in a mini package same as Mamee Monster. It is cute and can attract children to try it. It is also convenient to consume. Moreover, in order to expand new market, we will distribute our Mamee Lekor to all cinemas such as Golden Screen Cinemas and MBO Cinemas. Most of the people will carry a packet of snacks or a big box of popcorn into the theatre. As our Mamee Lekor is also a kind of snacks, we believe that the demand will be higher in cinemas. Also, Mamee Lekor can be a substitute good for those who do not like popcorn or other snacks for health conscious. As Our Mamee Lekor is made from fish and fried with unsaturated oil, it is high protein, monosodium glutamate (MSG)-free and less oily. Why we want to promote healthy lifestyle? It is to follow Mamee-Double Decker (M) Berhads step. The company wants to produce products that are MSG-free, artificial colouring-free and oil-free. We produce keropok lekor in a healthy way to help consumers to consume without worries while maintaining a balance and healthy lifestyle. Initial Investment When we wanted to produce the Keropok Lekor, we used 3 types of machine like cartridge system, frying machine and packaging machine. The machines and the usages are shown below: Cartridge system is used to blend the filled up fish with some ingredients. This machine is the key in making Keropok Lekor and was the first step to produce the better product. The retail price of this type of machine is RM 15,000 each. It is a franchised system, so the price is fixed. We prepare keropok lekor from fish meat grounded with sago and salt; these are then rolled and made into the shape of long tubes similar to sausages by this machine.C:UsersPublicPicturesSample Picturesmoto_0117.jpg The frying machine is used to fry Keropok Lekor after it was shaped into mini size by our labours. This machine has many functions such as continuous fines removal for increased oil life and automatic oil level control. It is easy to clean. Its superior oil temperature control helps to maintain fryer quality stability. The cost of purchasing the machine is RM 6,000 each.http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/432764/3809036/0/1181816403/Gas_Frying_Machine.jpghttp://i03.i.aliimg.com/photo/104903103/Horizontal_Packaging_Machine_v0.jpg As shown the horizontal packaging machine. After the Keropok Lekor had been steam and fried, the packaging and leballing process happen. It is to keep keropok lekor last longer and maintain the taste. This machine costs RM 13,000 each. How many factories we have? We are going share some spaces in the existing Mamee-Double Decker factories rather than building extra factories. We choose to share capacity with factories in Selangor, Perak, Johor and Sarawak. This is the strategic location as we can cater the demands of North, East, West, and South of Malaysia. There are 2 cartridge system, 2 frying machines and 1 packaging machine in each factory. We use 2 catridge machine because one machine is not big enough to blend big amount of filled fish and other ingredient. When we use two of them together, the maintenance cost will become lower when some of the parts broken. Timing on processing will also reduce 20% compare to big cartridge machine. Other than that, we use 2 frying machines because we need to save cost especially in introducing the new product. The bigger and more technologically advance machine will cost higher. So we use 2 cartridge system and frying machine instead of the sophisticated one. The machines we use are expected to be able to serve large amount of production. Lastly, for an newly introduced project, we expect that 1 packaging machine is enough to cater our production. It produces around 70 to 100 packs of keropok lekor per hour. With one packaging machine only, we can save our budget and consume less space. We are going to promote our new product by advertising on The Star  [1]  newspaper. Why we choose to advertise on The Star rather than other newspapers? According to Audit Bureau of Circulations from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, The Star newspaper is the most famous newspaper in Malaysia in term of readership. It has between 290,000 to 300,000 readers. Moreover, The Star newspaper is an English-language newspaper which is readable for all races, for instance Malays, Chinese, Indian and others, in Malaysia. Additionally, we need to buy new vans to implement our distribution network strategy. Each second hand van would cost us RM 80,000 each. We plan to buy 2 vans for each factory. We will hire driver to run our distribution network to distribute and collect back our keropok lekor. Year 1 In first year, we expect to sell 1,200 packs of Mini ball keropok lekor and raw keropok lekor each day. That means each factory has to produce 300 packs of Mini keropok lekor and raw keropok lekor respectively. Total quantity produce of mini and raw keropok lekor = 300 packs per day x 4 factories x 30 days per month x 12 months per year = 432,000 packs repectively. Sales Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Cash inflow in year 1 Unit selling price RM 1.50 RM 10.00 Quantity produce 432,000 432,000 Sales volume RM 648,000 RM 4,320,000 RM 4,968,000 The main ingredients of keropok lekor are ikan parang/kembong/selayang, sago flour, salt and water. The ingredient costs of mini and raw keropok lekor are RM 0.80 and RM 5.00 each while the packaging costs are RM 0.20 and RM 0.10 respectively. Packaging cost of mini keropok lekor is higher than raw keropok lekor because the packaging design will be more colourful and attractive. Also, we need labours to help us shape mini keropok lekor and fry it. Each labour cost is RM 800 per month. Each driver will have to travel 2 times per week to distribute and collect mini keropok lekor. Each trip will cost RM 150 including petrol cost. So, each driver costs us RM 150 x 2 times per week x 4 times per month x 12 months x 4 factories = RM 57,600. Costs Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Ingredient + packaging (RM0.80+RM0.20) x 432,000= RM 432,000 (RM5+RM0.10) x 432,000 = RM 2,203,200 Labor 6 labours X RM 800 X 12 months x 4 factories = RM 230,400 Driver 2 drivers x RM 57,600 = RM 115,200 Cash outflow (RM 432,000 + RM 2,203,200 + RM 230,400 + RM 115,200=RM 2,980,800 Net operating cash flow in year 1 = RM 4,968,000 RM 2,980,800 = RM 1,987,200 Year 2 Year 2, we estimate that our production will increase 5% as demand increases. Since first years production is 864,000 units (432,000 units for mini and raw keropok lekor respectively), year 2 our productions will be 907,200 units (864,000 + 5%). That means production for each type is 453,600 units. Besides, as Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad generated about 30% of its sales from the export markets which cover more than 80 countries across all continents, we plan to expand market and export raw keropok lekor to other countries. Each pack of raw keropok lekor, we will charge RM 12 which slightly higher than RM 10 to cover any expenses incur in export activities. In this year, we will export 100,000 units to Australia, 60,000 units to Hong Kong and 36,000 units to Singapore. In other words, we will export 25000, 15000 and 9000 units to these 3 countries in every 3 months. Why do we export more products to Australia? As Australia is the largest and fastest growing export market which contributed 18% of the total export sales in financial year 2009, we decided to export more products to the country. Other than Western country, we also export to Asian country such as Hong Kong. It not only helps to expand our market, but also introduce keropok lekor such a traditional cuisine to both Western and Asian countries. Besides, Singapore is our neighbour country and knows our cultures more as well as it contributed 9% of total export, so we choose to export to Singapore rather than other countries. Sales Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export raw keropok lekor Cash inflow in year 2 Unit selling price RM 1.50 RM 10.00 RM 12.00 Quantity produce 453,600 453,600 196,000 Sales volume RM 680,400 RM 4,536,000 RM 2,352,000 RM 7,568,400 Due to increase in production, we have to add in additional 2 labours, 1 driver, 1 cartridge system, 1 packaging machine and 1 frying machine in each factory. Costs Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export (raw keropok lekor Ingredient + packaging (RM0.80+RM0.20) x 453,600 = RM 453,600 (RM5+RM0.10) x 453,600 = RM 2,313,360 (RM7+RM0.10)x 196,000 = RM 1,391,600 Labor 8 labours X RM 800 X 12 months x 4 factories = RM 307,200 Driver 3 drivers x RM 57,600 = RM 172,800 Cartridge system RM 15,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 60,000 Packing machine RM 13,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 52,000 Frying machine RM 6,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 24,000 Cash outflow RM 453,600+ RM 2,313,360+ RM 1,391,600+ RM 307,200+ RM 172,800+ RM 60,000+ RM 52,000+ RM 24,000 =RM 4,774,560 Net operating cash flow in year 2 = RM 7,568,400 RM 4,774,560 = RM 2,793,840 Year 3 We estimate that our sales in this year keep increasing and probably reach maturity. Our expected production excluding export will increases from 907,200 to 950,400 units which increases around 5 % of year 2s production. In other words, production for mini and raw keropok lekor is 475,200 units respectively. Additionally, we expect export rate of keropok lekor will increase 4 %, which is from 196,000 to 204,000 units. In this year, we have to add in more technologically advance machine to cater the increase in production. We will purchase more innovative cartridge system, packing machine and frying machine to improve productivity. We also hire 2 more labours and 1 more driver to help us run our business smoother. The additional driver can help us widen our distribution network to other places. We expect that the cost of labour will become slightly higher which is from RM 800 to RM900. It is to increase their motivation to work and maybe due to inflation. Sales Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export raw keropok lekor Cash inflow in year 3 Unit selling price RM 1.50 RM 10.00 RM 12.00 Quantity produce 475,200 475,200 204,000 Sales volume RM 712,800 RM 4,752,000 RM 2,448,000 RM 7,912,800 Costs Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export (raw keropok lekor Ingredient + packaging (RM0.80+RM0.20) x 475,200 = RM 475,200 (RM5+RM0.10) x 475,200 = RM 2,423,520 (RM7+RM0.10)x 204,000 = RM 1,448,400 Labor 10 labours X RM 900 X 12 months x 4 factories = RM 432,000 Driver 4 drivers x RM 57,600 = RM 230,400 Cartridge system RM 20,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 80,000 Packing machine RM 20,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 80,000 Frying machine RM 10,000 x 1 unit x 4 factories = RM 40,000 Cash outflow RM 475,200+ RM 2,423,520+ RM 1,448,400+ RM 432,000+ RM 230,400+ RM 80,000+ RM 80,000+ RM 40,000 =RM 5,209,520 Net operating cash flow in year 3 = RM 7,912,800 RM 5,209,520 = RM 2,703,280 This year, although expected sales increases, net operating cash flow decreases. This is because we plan to do expansion by adding more technologically advance machines. This is logic as whenever a firm manages to cover up their initial investment, what they might do is to do expansion. Year 4 Out of expectation, probably the demand for our keropok lekor might go down. Perhaps there is new competitors exist in market. Who knows they envy of our high sales volume and might want to compete with us? With our 3 years brand recognition, perhaps our sales would not drop too badly. So, our expected production will be 920,000 units which are 3% less than previous year. Production of mini and raw keropok lekor will be 460,000 units respectively. As production decreases, we do not have to hire much driver for distribution network. We will cut down 1 driver to cut expense of RM 57,600. However, we will remain our existing labours. As we believe that, whenever there is an obstacle, we will find out a way to curb it and boost future sales as well as production. Thus, we do not want to loss any well- trained and loyal labour. Still, in order to handle any possible changes in future, we have a pessimistic view that the cost of ingredient will increase. We predict that the unit cost of mi ni keropok lekor will increase from RM0.80 to RM0.90 while raw keropok lekor will increase from RM5 to RM 5.50. On the other hand, our export rate will keep on increasing. We expect our production will be 210,000 units which is 3% higher than in year 3. Why do we forecast that the export rate will increase? Why not decrease? Because, even if foreign competitor wants to compete with us, they might need some times to figure out how to produce such a Malay local cuisine which is available in Malaysia only. This is our local special food, so of course there is some recipe that other countries do not know. Also, since there is a decrease in Malaysias sales and an increase of export rate, we do not have to add in any new machine. Sales Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export raw keropok lekor Cash inflow in year 4 Unit selling price RM 1.50 RM 10.00 RM 12.00 Quantity produce 460,000 460,000 210,000 Sales volume RM 690,000 RM 4,600,000 RM 2,520,000 RM 7,810,000 Costs Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export (raw keropok lekor Ingredient + packaging (RM0.90+RM0.20) x 460,000 = RM 506,000 (RM5.50+RM0.10) x 460,000 = RM 2,576,000 (RM7.50+RM0.10)x 210,000 = RM 1,596,000 Labor 10 labours X RM 900 X 12 months x 4 factories = RM 432,000 Driver 3 drivers x RM 57,600 = RM 172,800 Cash outflow RM 506,000 + RM 2,576,000 + RM 1,596,000 + RM 432,000 + RM 172,800 = RM 5,282,800 Net operating cash flow in year 4 = RM 7,810,000 RM 5,282,800 = RM 2,527,200 Year 5 Assume that there is a drop in sales, of course we will take some actions to increase the sales back. In this year, we plan to open kiosk in hypermarket. Together there will be one kiosk in Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru respectively. Rental of each kiosk is expected to be RM 800. We will hire 2 workers to help us operate the kiosk. Since we sell freshly cooked keropok lekor on the spot, we will need to purchase one frying machine for each kiosk. We also need some budgets for setup cost. With the above strategy, we believe that we able to boost our sales for at least 2%. Our expected production will be 940,000 units which is 470,000 units for each type of keropok lekor. Furthermore, we predict that our export rate of keropok lekor will grow at a decreasing rate which is 1% only. Our expected export rate will be 212,000 units. We are going to hire 2 more labours to help us to run our business to avoid supply shortage and to employ any future strategy. We need 1 more driver to widen our distribution network, and send raw keropok lekor to our kiosk to ensure there is no shortage problem. No additional machine is required as we already added in technologically advance machines in previous year which able to cater higher production. Sales Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export raw keropok lekor Cash inflow in year 5 Unit selling price RM 1.50 RM 10.00 RM 12.00 Quantity produce 470,000 470,000 212,000 Sales volume RM 705,000 RM 4,700,000 RM 2,544,000 RM 7,949,000 Costs Mini keropok lekor Raw keropok lekor Export (raw keropok lekor Ingredient + packaging (RM0.90+RM0.20) x 470,000 = RM 517,000 (RM5.50+RM0.10) x 470,000 = RM 2,632,000 (RM7.50+RM0.10)x 212,000 = RM 1,611,200 Labor 12 labours X RM 900 X 12 months x 4 factories = RM 518,400 Driver 4 drivers x RM 57,600 = RM 230,400 4 Kiosk Expenses Calculations Total Rental RM 800 x 4 kiosks x 12months RM 38,400 Workers RM 800 x 2workers x 4 kiosks x 12 months RM 76,800 Frying machine RM 3000 x 4 kiosks RM 12,000 Setup RM 1,500 x 4 kioks RM 6,000 Total expenses for kiosks RM 133,200 Cash outflow in year 5 RM 517,000 + RM 2,632,000 + RM 1,611,200 + RM 518,400 + RM 230,400 + RM 133,200 = RM 5,642,200 Net Operating cash flow in year 5 = RM 7,949,000 RM 5,642,200 = RM 2,306,800 Although expected sales increases, net operating cash flow slightly decreases, it is due to the investment in kiosks. Yet, we believe that next years sales and net operating cash flow will increase simultaneously. RM 1,987,200 RM 2,793,840 RM 2,703,280 RM 2,527,200 RM 2,306,800 o 1 2 3 4 5 year RM 1,140,000 The time line above depicts the conventional cash flow of our project. There is only one cash outflow for initial investment in year 0. From year 2 to 5, there is positive net operating cash flow. The net cash flow rises from year 1 to 2 because we export raw keropok lekor to other countries and increase revenues. In year 3, the sales keep on increasing but net cash flows drop as we do expansion by purchasing additional machines for technology advancement. During year 4, we predict that there will be new competitors exist to compete with us. Our sales drop slightly but net cash flow increases, because we try to cut cost and do not need to add in new capital. The next year, we employ a new strategy which is to open kiosk in hypermarket to sell freshly fried keropok lekor. We predict that our sales will increase slightly. But why net cash flow descend? Because we need some costs on operating the kioks. In short, our net cash flow thoroughout the year is up and down, but we manage to ke ep it at positive level. From other point of view, there will be up and down, because when any unfavourable things incur, we try to solve it and up the net cash flow again. Cost of Capital The cost of capital acts as a link between Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad s long term investment decisions (keropok lekor project) and the wealth of their owners as determined by investors in the marketplace. It is the magic number that is used to decide whether a proposed investment will increase or decrease the firms stock price. The cost of capital is the rate of return that Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad must earn on the keropok lekor project in which it invests to maintain the market value of its stock. In this project, we will use Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhads retained earnings to cover our new project. Cost of retained earnings is a cost of internally generated funds. It is an imputed or opportunity cost or the dividends given up by the common stockholders. It is the rate that investors can earn elsewhere on investments of comparable risk. Why we choose to use cost of retained earnings rather than issuing new shares or bonds? The main reason is that we notice Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad is proposing share buy-back. According to research, they plan to buy back the shares by using their retained earnings. So, why do we still want to use its retained earnings to support our new project? This is because we cannot issue additional shares or bonds to raise capital. Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad proposed share buy-back is to reduce number of shares outstanding and increase their share price. So, we do not want to do the opposite way. Moreover, Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad is very strong. It holds RM 43,457,000 cash, deposit and bank balances without borrowing any long term debt. It finances itself with cash only. That is why we do not want to raise capital by issuing bond which is a type of long term debt. Although tax is deductible when we issue bonds/debts/loans, we do not want to break the rules and rise their financ ial risk. They do not finance themselves with any debt, perhaps they want to reduce their risk for no need to pay out coupon payment and principal to their debtors. Besides, we choose to raise capital by using retained earnings because our initial investment only takes 9% of their overall retaining earnings. Their retained earnings in financial year 2009 are RM 83,977,000 while our initial investment is RM 1,140,000. Our payback period shows that we could cover it up within 1 year. Yet, without being over optimistic, there is always something unfavourable happen, so we predict that we could cover up the initial investment within 2 years. Cost of retained earnings= D1 / P0 + g The dividend per share from year 2000 to 2009 is shown below: Year Dividend per share Year Dividend per share 2000 5.5 cents 2005 14 cents 2001 5.5 cents 2006 20 cents 2002 5.5 cents 2007 25 cents 2003 6.0 cents 2008 5 cents 2004 10 cents 2009 7 cents Input Function -5.5 PV 7.0 FV 9 N Growth of dividends = 2.71% (by using financial calculator) According to Bloomberg Businessweek  [2]  , expected dividend in 2010 is RM 0.10 while share price of Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad is RM 3.70. Cost of retained earnings = (RM 0.10 / RM 3.70) + 2.71% = 5.41 % In short, our cost of raising capital by using Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhads retained earnings is 5.41%. The cost of capital will be applied when calculating NPV of the company. Payback Period Payback period can be defined as the amount of time required for a firm to recover its initial investment in a project, as calculated from cash flow. Payback period which also calculated as: Payback period = RM 1,140,000 / RM 1,987,000 = 0.57 years Basically, payback period is used by small firms to evaluate most projects or small projects in larger firms. The computation is simple and easy to apply. By measuring how quickly the firms get to recover from its initial investment, payback period gives implicit consideration to the timing of cash flows. Many firms use payback period as a decision criterion to other decision as it can be viewed as a measure of risk exposure. The longer the firm must wait to recover its invested fund, the greater the possibility of a calamity. So, the shorter the payback period, the lower the firms exposure to such risk. Payback period cannot be specified in light of wealth maximization goal because it is not based on discounting cash flows to determine whether they add to the firms value. Payback period is viewed as an unsophisticated capital budgeting technique because it does not explicitly consider the time value of money. The calculation above shows that payback period for our new project is one year. Why is it so short? It is because our cash inflow in year 1 which is RM 1,987,200 is higher than the initial investment which is RM1,140,000. So, we get to cover back our initial investment and have an extra of RM 847,200 of revenue in year one. We should be glad that we able to pay back the initial investment within one year but please do not forget that it does ignore the time value of money. In finance, we always mention time value of money. But, do we really know what does it mean? Well,