Understanding Business and Management Research Methods Assignment

Understanding Business and Management Research Methods - Assignment Example Understanding Business and Management Research Methods Research methodologies generally are of two types viz. quantitative and qualitative research methodology (Cameron and Molina-Azorin 2011). When both of them are combined then it is known as mixed methodology. Although authors held the view that mixed methodology is increasingly used in the business and management circles, the use of pure form of qualitative or quantitative research methodology is more visible. Further, it is stated in the article that strong theoretical and conceptual framework, legitimating, publication, academic recognition and seminal mixed method theorists make mixed methodology legitimate in research arena. Along with this, the duo claimed that this methodology is gaining popularity in fields, like medicine, nursing, health, education, behavioural and social sciences which are very exact comment of them. Though, this method is now used by a number of researchers, an established definition has not yet been written. For example, according to Thurston, Cove & Meado ws (2008, p. 3) ‘Mixed methods studies can either combine methods from different paradigms or use multiple methods within the same paradigm, or multiple strategies within methods’. However, The Journal of Mixed Methods Research (2006) defined mixed methods as ‘research in which the investigator collects, analyses, mixes, and draws inferences from both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or a program of inquiry’.... (1950s - 1980s), Paradigm debate period (1970s - late 1990s), Procedural development period (late 1980s – 2000), and the Advocacy as a separate design period (2000+). In addition to this, the duo authors have also discussed the growing interest of the academic journals and scholars in this third method of research which increases the academic weight of academic paper (Bergman 2008). Creswell and Plano Clark’s (2007) discipline acceptance levels for mixed methods is used by the authors to show the acceptance level of this third methodological movement. There are three level of acceptance developed by Creswell and Plano Clark’s (2007) .i.e. Minimal, Moderate and Major. For every level of acceptance there are certain benchmarks being listed below (Cameron 2008). There are five benchmarks for minimal acceptance and they are awareness within the discipline of qualitative research, publication of actual mixed method studies in discipline studies, graduate students usin g mixed methods in dissertation research, discussions in journals about the need for mixed methods, and mixed methods research discussed at professional conference. There are four benchmarks for moderate acceptance i.e. leaders in the discipline advocating use of mixed methods, workshop on mixed methods research forums dedicated to the discipline, Funding companies supporting mixed methods research, methodological discussions of mixed methods in journals devoted to the discipline. There are three benchmarks for major acceptance i.e. special issues of a journal focusing on the use of mixed methods in the discipline, publication of mixed methods studies in top discipline-based journals, course on mixed methods research as part of graduate research training programs. The authors have used above discipline

Globalization Questionnaire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Globalization Questionnaire - Research Paper Example Because of globalization, international market or global market came into existence. International or global market then is composed of different countries trading products and services with each other. Companies have been going out of their home countries and starting to build their names in other countries. This is basically the reason why we see imported products being displayed in supermarkets and department stores such as wines from Italy, gadgets and cellular phones from Asia, and shoes from Germany. Some of the international trade theories that support globalization are mercantilism, free trade, comparative advantage, absolute advantage, Heckscher-Ohlin theory, the product life-cycle theory, new trade theory, and Porter’s theory or the national competitive advantage. Rugman (2009) argued that globalization has four major drivers: market, government, competition, and cost. Market globalization drivers are factors that usually affect the demand for a specific product or service such as consumers’ common preferences, increasing consumers from different countries, and global market distribution. Governments had taken the initiative to take off international trade and investment barriers and establish free trade. They also reduced trade tariffs and eliminated restrictions in the quantity of products and services to be imported or exported. Globalization is greatly influenced by competition. For instance, a company might consider establishing a satellite office in another country to deliver their products to foreign consumers. Because of this act, other competitors would also want to go global and promote their companies to diverse markets. Other examples of competitive drivers are increasing number of alliances between multinational companies and increasing globally-centered companies. Almost all companies would want to maximize profit thereby minimizing their costs. There are countries where production and

Evaluation of DHS's Ethics, Cooperation, Leadership, and Legal Research Paper

Evaluation of DHS's Ethics, Cooperation, Leadership, and Legal Decisions - Research Paper Example Investigations by the DHS are still ongoing, while other stakeholders in the incident representing the government have taken preventive measures. For example, Mungin & Brady (2013) write that Connecticut governor, Dannel Malloy signed a law increasing the number of guns banned by the state. In addition, background checks are to be conducted on all gun purchases, and schools allocated 15 million U.S dollars to improve their security. Parents of the murdered children, as well as other residents of Connecticut welcomed the law and called for tougher regulations to curb illegal gun possession (Mungin & Brady, 2013). On 16th April 2013, two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring 100 others. Two brothers were suspected of being behind the bombings and one is in custody, while the other was shot dead in a shootout with police, when the latter were looking for the suspect. According to Homeland Security (2013), Mr. McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, the two brothers appear to have received help in planning the attack. The sophistication of the devices used and the timing of the attack led to this conclusion. Accordingly, investigations into the attack cover areas outside the U.S, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan. On its part, the federal government pledged to get to the bottom of the matter, but president Obama avoided terming the attacks as â€Å"terrorism†. To the public, a day of celebrations turned tragic, especially considering that the marathoners had paid tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at the beginning of the race. According to the Center for Public Integrity’s article by Fred Schulte on â€Å"ATF’s struggle to close down firearm dealers† (2013), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) does a shoddy job inspecting dealers. Apparently, ATF inspectors may delay to inspect a dealer for as long as eight years and when they do, the inspection is not thorough enough. In cases where inspectors find dealers to have violated gun laws and revoke the dealer’s licenses, the latter usually appeals revocation. This process drags in the courts for years and meanwhile, dealers pass their business over to relatives or turn them into â€Å"personal† collection, which does not require background checks. Probably, this is the reason why people like Adam Lanza owned guns capable of killing more than 26 people in 5 minutes. There is no telling how many more people own guns illegally, and how safe the U.S citizens are. A second article by Berlow on â€Å"current gun debate may not help beleaguered ATF† addresses how the congress has played a role in ATF’s failure to control weapon use, particularly in conducting investigations. It also addresses the fact that the agency lacks funds to run operations smoothly. In addition, the current laws are too weak to recognize the role of TF in cases involving gun trafficking. Leadership influences The leadership of DHS is hierarchical in structure, headed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, who is appointed by the President, with the consent of the senate. The Deputy Secretary comes second, followed by Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries who head different departments. This style of leadership allows for the formation of mechanism to assess risks, and allocate funds for countering terrorism.

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Psychology - Essay Example These children should be in school instead of working in a brothel and being abused by men and even women who are old enough to be their parents or grandparents. The deeply rooted and widespread sex tourism industry in Thailand is primarily to blame for the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of prostitution (2005 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report). The boom in the sex tourism industry creates a huge demand for sex workers, which encourages traffickers and even parents to allow their children to take part in the industry. In most cases, the parents are given substantial amount of money as advance payments for the â€Å"labor† of their children in the brothel. The advance payments are then considered as debts which must be paid within a period of time. Since Asian children, particularly those from Thailand believe in honoring the debts of their parents, these young children are forced to work as sex workers to pay off the debts of their parents. (US Department of State Human Rights Report (2005). Throughout the duration of their bondage in the brothel, these young women and children are made to serve as sex slaves and are made to take on as many as nine customers in a day (US Department of State Human Rights Report (2005). Almost all of these women and children who work as sex slaves use drugs to keep them going through the night. For them, they simply do not have any choice but to use drugs to keep their energy up and serve more customers. Young children who are forced to work as sex workers are especially at risk of serious injuries and even death due to the abuse. The use of drugs and continued sexual abuse is inhuman to say the least. Although a lot of people are aware that prostitution in rampant in many Asian countries especially in Thailand, most of these people turn a deaf ear. Why? First of all, these people are not really aware of the extent of the hardships that these women and children

Financial Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Financial Plan - Assignment Example The essay discusses that business plan can be defined as a statement that sets forth the business goals that an individual has; the reasons that compel such an individual to believe that such goals are attainable and the steps and plans that the individual has towards that will help them attain those goals. The plan would also contain background information about the potential business and the team that will be used to help achieve the goals. The business plan has several sections the most important of which is the financial plan which details the revenue and costs forecasts of the business, the budget, the cash flows of the business, the costs requirements, the costs management plans to be applied, the sources from which the business will source its funds, the implementation plan of the business’s finances and the business’s control measures for such finances. Therefore the financial plan can be defined as a plan that shows how much revenue will be generated from the b usiness, how such revenue will allocated on various types of costs, how the surpluses shall be invested and how the deficits shall be sourced. This paper describes the type of business for which the business plan is being prepared. This section gives a brief description of what products or services the business will be offering and a brief description of the market in which the business will be operating in. The brief description of the product or service offering and the brief description of the market is used to determine the uniqueness of the business which helps it stand out from the rest of the businesses in that particular market. Finally the name of the business and the type ownership the business will assume are described in this section (McKeever 2010). i. Mission and Vision of the business The mission section of the business plan spells out the business strategy which seeks to answer the three main questions which potential customers might be having regarding the business in question. These questions are what the business does, how it does it and for whom. The vision statement on the other hand, spells what goals the entrepreneur of the business had for the business and what he/she envisioned the business to be in future (John and Harrison 2009). The mission and vision helps the customers and the general public to understand what the business is all

United Farm Workers and Mexican Americans Essay Example for Free

United Farm Workers and Mexican Americans Essay The 1960s was a turbulent decade in the American history, filled with conflict over issues brought up by many different minority groups to form the various Civil Rights Movements. In this decade, the Chicano Movement started to gain a mass following and became a dynamic force of social change. Similar to blacks, Mexican Americans were plagued by police brutality, poverty, and inequality. In the pursuit of tackling these problems, the history of Chicanos in California consisted of the convergence of multiple movements: A youth movement represented in the struggle against discrimination in schools; the farm workers movement; and the movement for political empowerment, most notably in the formation of La Raza Unida Party1. The organizing efforts and achievements in California had major impact on the fate of Mexican Americans. Improvements in barrios, farm-labor camps, school districts and politic representation, led other states to sought reform. Education has long been a primary target of Mexican American activists and reformers. The Mexican American community had the highest high school dropout rate and lowest college attendance amongst all ethnic groups. As a result of the constant underestimation of students as well as the failure to upkeep facilities, a hostile learning environment was manifested. Their goals included bilingual, bicultural education, Latino teachers and administrators, smaller class sizes, better facilities and the revision of the text books to incorporate Mexican American history. In turn, Chicano students and activists decided to make their struggle public in order to pressure school boards into compliance of their demands for education reforms. In March of 1968, thousands of students walked out of their high school in L. A. protesting racial inequality among their school district. Their effects were not wasted, as the school board recognized their efforts by recruiting and hiring more Chicano teachers and administrators2. Ultimately, this inspired high school protest across the nation. College campuses also formed groups, like the United Mexican American Students, with the purposes to enforce for more Chicano study programs, financial aid, and Mexican faculty. Activists fought for bilingual educational programs and in schools and won in 1976, their hard work created more than 50 Chicano studies program in colleges. 3 Changes were not immediately apparent in high schools; however a significant change occurred in the college recruitment of Latinos and educational programs. Though most of the demands were not met, the walkouts unified and empowered the Chicano community, which in the process became a political force. Another focus of the Chicanos had been politics. Their goals encompassed the increase of Chicano candidates in the political arena, convincing non-Chicano candidates to commit themselves to the need of Mexican American community, conducting broad-scale voter registration and community organization drives, and for more Chicanos in government offices. 4 Rather than representation within the two major political parties—democrat and republic—activists established an organization dedicated to their empowerment, the El Partido de la Raza Unida. Found in 1970 by Jose Angel Gutierrez and Mario Compean, the party became active in community organizing and electoral politics statewide, campaigned for better housing, work, and educational opportunities5. The changes they fought for was made possible by combining mass action: firing of racist teachers, protecting high school student rights, and taking advantage of federal government monies they were entitled to, but was not utilized by the previous city government. Police polices were modified as well to benefit Chicano communities. The La Raza Unida Party leaders also worked to raise the wages of school and city workers to encourage unionization6. Though La Raza Unida is no longer a registered political party in the United States, its legacy is still very much alive, affecting the lives of Mexican Americans today. One aspect of the Chicano movement highlighted the rights of the workers in the fields of California. In order to fight against harsh working conditions, low wages and discrimination of Mexican farm workers, the United Farmworkers Union Organizing Committee was established. Led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, the UFWOC accomplished its greatest victory when their strikes, boycotts, convinced the largest table grape grower, John Guimara Sr. , to only hire workers represented by the union. Despite their victory, union leaders struggled to create a union to represent all agricultural workers; As a result a three-month strike by grape workers in California began. Due to the efforts of Chavez and his union in 1975, California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act; which guaranteed farm workers’ rights to organize. 71 Although seen as an accomplishment, more restrictions were placed on the actions of unions. Today, agricultural workers in California are still being exploited, working in poor conditions with little pay and limited representation. Chicanos in California have played no small role in the social, economic, and political development of California. Not only is California home to majority of the Mexican Americans population in the United States, but also it is the scene of Chicano cultural Renaissance and has contributed to Hispanic cultural renaissance in the United States. California has also been the home of Chicano publication—including magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. 7 Although much of the problems faced by Chicanos in the 20th century had been resolved through reforms during the Civil Rights Era, many Mexican Americans are still being marked by oppression and exploitation. Not only in the field, but industries as well. They are often found working at wage jobs and poor conditions. Over the next few decades, other social reforms for Mexican Americans can be expected. Almost six decades after it began, the Chicano Movement still holds a visible impact on California. As a result of activism in politics, education, and farm work, much of the hardship faced by Chicanos in the early history of California have been resolved. The most prominent outcome of the Chicano Movement are still within academia, with the formation of numerous student centers at college campuses across the nation that aims to students of color as well as the establishment of Chicano Studies Departments and so on. The Literary and art movements of the 1970s also left an enduring mark on the Chicano community. The impact of Chicanos in California gave rise to countless Chicano communities where none existed before. Although activists today are still working on the struggles faced by Chicanos today in various fields, such as farm work, their movement in the 1960s has surely impacted California social, economic and political standing.

Personal Ethics Statement Essay Example for Free

Personal Ethics Statement Essay After taking the Ethical Lens Inventory, I have discovered that my personal lens is the Results Lens. Upon further reading I discovered how that translated into my values, strengths, weaknesses, and my blind spot as well as how to see more clearly. The key phrase for those with the Results Lens is â€Å"I make choices that are good for everyone. † The values and strengths associated with the Results lens are the core values, the classical values, and the definition of ethical behavior, the tools for analyzing problems, and the gift. Core values are autonomy over equality, and protecting individual rights, and prioritizing value of sensibility over rationality. It is better to examine each situation in its own context rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. The classical value is prudence by demonstrating wisdom, foresight, optimism, imagination, and the gift of entrepreneurship. Creating the greatest good is my lens type’s definition of ethical behavior, by seeking win-win results. Experience provides the tool for analyzing problems, by considering multiple perspectives and focusing on what is really happening to consider solutions that make many people happy. Free will is the gift associated with the Results Lens. Because of the value of autonomy, we are self-reliant and accountable. We want this freedom for each person to seek their ideal goals in life. The Results Lens also has its weaknesses such as a blind spot, expedience, risk, greed, and also failure. The blind spot for this lens type is becoming satisfied with too little good. We fail to be accountable to those that are depending on us when we exercise our free will. As long as our needs are met we can become complacent. Our temptation is expedience by not paying attention we can be tempted to base our actions on what is politic or advantageous rather than what is right. Reducing decisions to a cost-benefit analysis is this lenses biggest risk. We need to ensure that all have free will or we run the risk of reducing decisions to narrow and purely financial cost-benefit analysis. The vice for the Results Lens is becoming greedy. If we fail to exercise free will responsibly our pursuit of good for all can devolve into an excuse for taking as much for ourselves as we can get away with. Failure is this lenses major crisis. If we fail to develop the practice of mindfulness and reflection we will face failure. No one can accomplish or acquire everything, and the more you do the less satisfying it can become. Our acquisitiveness could be driving people away from us. In conclusion, in order for people who fall under the Results Lens to see clearly, we must use our head, check to see if our gut and head agree. To find a proper balance we need to explore the gifts of the other lenses such as consistency and concern for the whole community. As we learn to consider other perspectives in our decision-making process, we will live out the best of our ideals with compassion and care for others.

Business Potential of Data Solutions

Business Potential of Data Solutions 1. AUTHORISATION The project â€Å"Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market† has been done during my Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India during February to May of 2011, as a partial fulfillment of the requirement of PGPM program of IBS Kolkata. 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India was a great learning experience for me. The project was quite interesting as the telecom industry is a highly evolving industry in India with intense competition and lots of changes happening. The project would not have been a smooth run for me without the help of lots of people. I would like to mention Mr. Saugat Kumars (company guide) help at Vodafone with respect to practical exposure to the telecom industry. He had given me thorough insight into the dynamics of the telecom industry and also facilitated practical exposure through variety of activities. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Siddhartha Kars (marketing manager) guidance regarding project formulation, questionnaire designing and chalking out a plan towards effective execution of the project. Also, there were a lot of other people at Vodafone, who helped me to understand this industry and work through my project. In the academic front, I would like to mention the support of my faculty guide Prof. Bhaskar Basu and my SIP coordinator Dr. Subir Sen. They have given me constant guidance throughout my project regarding academics and SIP formalities. Most importantly, I am grateful to my family who had been always supportive and encouraging in all my endeavors. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As part of my Summer Internship Program of IBS Kolkata, I got an opportunity to do an assignment at Vodafone India. The project was â€Å"Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market†. Vodafone is one of the premier telecom companies globally and getting an opportunity to work there helped me gain a lot of exposure in the corporate world. The Telecom is a high volume industry in India with lot of competition. The Telecom industry in India is divided into 23 circles and around 14 telecom service providers are presently operating in these circles. The most prominent among the service providers are Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Communication, Tata Teleservices, BSNL, MTNL, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Uninor etc. The telecom products and services can be broadly classified into voice and data. The data solutions primarily include data cards, Blackberry services, mobile internet, internet leased line and wireline broadband. Vodafones business operations are broadly classified into business and consumer divisions. My project was in the business division and was focused into the SME market of Kolkata. For Vodafone, a SME company is typically a company with annual turnover ranging from 10 to 250 crore rupees. The SME market of Kolkata is highly diversified with companies ranging from various industries, which include manufacturing, en gineering, IT/ ITES, healthcare, education, hospitality, financial services, travel tourism, logistics, real estate, trading (whole sellers/ retailers), pharmaceuticals, etc. In the initial phase of my summer internship at Vodafone, I was required to do secondary research about the telecom industry (both national and global). From the secondary research, I learnt a great deal about the major telecom companies, telecom products services, evolution of telecom technologies and the key operational issues of the telecom industry. Next I was given exposure to field operations through tele-marketing, visiting SME clients, traveling with the sales team, visiting distributors of the company and market mapping. The field exposure helped me to get a feel of the market at the basic level. This exposure later proved to be hugely beneficial when I started doing market survey. The methodology of the project was to do a market research on a sample (consisting of SME companies in the Kolkata area). For time constraints, the sample size was kept at 65. Questionnaire was designed and market survey was conducted. Analysis was done on the data collected, ranging from SME company profiles, market size of the sample with respect to different products, client perception regarding various attributes of telecom service providers, competition among service providers and future SME market implications. From the initial analysis it was found that the SME clients are highly demanding with respect to value they are getting and the price of the products. They were highly aware of their businesss end to end operations and knew very well what kind of products would add value to their business operations. Regarding data solutions, wireless data has huge potential in the coming years. The whole project helped me to learn a lot about the telecom industry and also get exposure to the sales marketing operations of a MNC company like Vodafone. 5. INTRODUCTION The Telecom Industry has evolved a great deal over the past two decades. Advancement in communication and information technology has changed the industry structure dramatically. Earlier our communication needs were restricted to landline phones. But now almost everybody has a mobile phone connection. Mobile phones have changed our lives immensely. It has given us the power of communication anytime anywhere. At present the industry is going through tremendous transformation with the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and computer technology and thus making vast resources of information available in the palm of our hands. Wireless internet is the latest trend in the industry with the advent of 3G technology and in the long term there should be information boom, with gradual advancement towards LTE (long term evolution) and 4G. Wireless internet boom has already been experienced outside India mainly in North American, European and South East Asian markets. It has e ntered India quite late with roll out of 3G and is expected to create huge impact in our social and professional lives. This project is only concerned with the business potential of data solutions. Before going deep into the project let me give a brief idea about the telecommunication industry, telecommunication technologies, major telecom players and various products services. 5.1. TELECOM INDUSTRY: MARKET SCENARIO 5.1.1. GLOBAL SCENARI By the end of 2010, there was an approximately 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, including 940 million subscriptions to 3G services. Access to mobile networks is now available to 90% of the world population and 80% of the population living in rural areas. People are moving rapidly from 2G to 3G platforms, in both developed and developing countries. In 2010, 143 countries were offering 3G services commercially, compared to 95 in 2007. Towards 4G: a number of countries have started to offer services at even higher broadband speeds, moving to next generation wireless platforms they include Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and the United States. Mobile cellular growth is slowing worldwide. In developed countries, the mobile market is reaching saturation levels with on average 116 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2010 and a marginal growth of 1.6% from 2009-2010. At the same time, the developing world is increasing its share of mobile subscriptions from 53% of total mobile subscriptions at the end of 2005 to 73% at the end of 2010. In the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates was expected to reach 68% at the end of 2010 mainly driven by the Asia and Pacific region. India and China alone were expected to add over 300 million mobile subscriptions in 2010. In the African region, penetration rates would reach an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 (compared to 76% globally) leaving a significant potential for growth. The number of Internet users has doubled between 2005 and 2010. In 2010, the number of Internet users would surpass the two billion mark, of which 1.2 billion would be in developing countries. A number of countries, including Estonia, Finland and Spain have declared access to the Internet as a legal right for citizens. With more than 420 million Internet users, China is the largest Internet market in the world. While 71% of the population in developed countries are online, only 21% of the population in developing countries are online. By the end of 2010, Internet user penetration in Africa would reach 9.6%, far behind both the world average (30%) and the developing country average (21%). While in developing countries 72.4% of households have a TV, only 22.5% have a computer and only 15.8% have Internet access (compared to 98%, 71% and 65.6% respectively in developed countries). At the end of 2010, half a billion households worldwide (or 29.5%) would have access to the Internet. In some countries, including the Republic of Korea, Netherlands and Sweden, more than 80% of households have Internet access, almost all of them through a broadband connection. The number of people having access to the Internet at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010. There has been strong growth in fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions, in both developed and developing countries. At the end of 2010, fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions would reach an estimated 555 million globally (or 8% penetration), up from 471 million (or 6.9% penetration) a year earlier. Despite these promising trends, penetration levels in developing countries remain low: 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries. The developing worlds share of fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions is growing steadily. By the end of 2010, the developing world would account for an estimated 45% of global subscriptions (up from 42% five years earlier). Africa still lags behind when it comes to fixed (wired) broadband. Although subscriptions are increasing, a penetration rate of less than 1% illustrates the challenges that persist in increasing access to high-speed, high-capacity internet access in the region. With the rapidly increasing high-bandwidth content and applications on the Internet, there is a growing demand for higher-speed connections. For example, at the minimum broadband speed of 256 kbps, downloading a high-quality movie takes almost 1 ½ days compared to 5 minutes at a connection speed of 100 Mbps. With increase in GDP per capita, the propensity to consume increases and thus increases the availability of various services. In the above figure, GDP per capita and the penetration level of broadband services are mapped against each other. Countries like USA, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Canada have high per capita GDP and the broadband penetration is also high in these countries. South Korea has comparatively low per capita GDP but very high broadband penetration. On the other hand, UAE and Saudi Arabia have comparatively high per capita GDP, but their broadband penetration is low. Brazil, Russia and China have comparatively low per capita GDP and their broadband penetration is also low. India is nowhere in the picture in terms of broadband penetration. Data business is seeing a steady growth across global markets. In 2010, data revenue generated per subscriber is highest in US Canada followed by Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe. According to Vodafone, the future of telecom business lies in the mobile data category with majority of the revenue share being generated from there. In 2014, an estimated $337bn revenue will be generated from mobile data business, almost $138bn increase from 2010. India and China are the two emerging economies with substantial number of mobile customers and still having average mobile penetration level at 45% and 54% respectively, thus making them highly lucrative markets for mobile phone service providers. With a high GDP growth, market customers growth and potential for SIM penetration, India is a high value market. Figure: Market Share of Telecom Service Providers Globally (by number of subscribers) (www.knowledgebase-script.com) Globally, China Mobile is in the first position (522m subscribers), followed by Vodafone (333m), Telefonica (202m), America Movil (201m) and Telenor (172m). Two Indian companies Bharti Airtel (125m) and Reliance Communication (100m) are in the top 15 list. 5.1.2. INDIAN SCENARIO The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 671.69 million in Jun-10 to 723.28 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a sequential growth of 7.68% over the previous quarter as against 8.11% during the QE Jun-10. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 42.09% over the same quarter of last year. The overall tele-density in India has reached 60.99 as on 30th September 2010. Subscription in Urban Areas grew from 452.59 million in Jun-10 to 487.07 million at the end of Sep-10, taking the Urban Tele-density from 128.20 to 137.25. Rural subscription increased from 219.09 million to 236.21 million, and the Rural Tele-density increased from 26.43 to 28.42. The share of Rural subscribers has increased slightly to 32.66% in total subscription from 32.62% in Jun-10. About 66.83% of the total net additions have been in Urban areas as compared to 63.47% in the previous quarter. Rural subscription recorded a decline in rate of growth during the quarter, from 9.18% in Jun-10 to 7.81% in Sep-10. Rate of growth for Urban subscription increased marginally from 7.61% in QE Jun-10 to 7.62% in QE Sep-10. With 52.21 million net additions during the quarter, total wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base registered a growth of 8.21% over the previous quarter and increased from 635.51 million at the end of Jun-10 to 687.71 million at the end of Sep-10. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth over the same quarter of last year is 45.79%. Wireless Tele-density reached 57.99. Wireline subscriber base further declined from 36.18 million at the end of Jun-10 to 35.57 million at the end of Sep-10, bringing down the wireline Tele-density from 3.06 in Jun-10 to 3.00 end of Sep-10. Internet subscribers increased from 16.72 million at the end of Jun-10 to 17.90 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth rate of 7.02%. Top 10 ISPs together hold 95% of the total Internet subscriber base. Number of Broadband subscribers increased from 9.47 million at the end of Jun-10 to 10.30 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth of 8.79% and Y-O-Y growth of 42.93%. The growth in the number of Broadband subscribers during the quarter and also on Y-O-Y basis is more or less similar to the growth in the overall telephone subscriber base. Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased from 56.7% in Jun-10 to 57.6% in Sep-10. 86.89% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM-Full Mobility service declined by 10.16%, from Rs.122 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.110 in QE Sep- 10, with Y-O-Y decrease of 33.1%. ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 1.34%, from Rs.74 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.73 in QE Sep-10. ARPU for CDMA has declined by 17.5% on Y-O-Y basis. GSM subscription continues to grow at a faster rate. At the end of Sep-10, GSM subscribers constituted 84.12% of the wireless market. The GSM subscribers were 578.49 million at the quarter ending Sep-10 as against 527.62 million at the end of the previous quarter, showing a growth of 9.64%. Bharti with 143.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest GSM mobile operator, followed by Vodafone (115.55 million). The CDMA subscriber base increased to 109.22 million during the quarter ending Sep-10 from 107.88 million at the end of previous quarter, thereby showing a growth rate of 1.23%. Reliance with 55.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest CDMA mobile operator. However, in terms of net additions during the quarter, Sistema added the highest number of subscribers (1.54 million), followed by Tata (1.20 million), rest of the service providers recorded decline in subscribers. Figure: Market Share of Telecom Service Providers (GSM) in India (by number of subscribers in million, 2010) (www.trai.gov.in) 5.2. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY 5.2.1. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY FRAMEWORK TRAI The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator established in 1997 by the Government of India to regulate the telecommunications business in India. DoT The Telecom Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are responsiblefor policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management, administrative monitoring of PSUs, research and development and standardization/validation of equipment etc. WPC The Wireless Planning and Co-ordination (WPC) Wing of the Ministry of Communications, created in 1952, is the National Radio Regulatory Authority responsible for Frequency Spectrum Management, including licensing and caters for the needs of all wireless users (Government and Private) in the country. It exercises the statutory functions of the Central Government and issues licenses to establish, maintain and operate wireless stations. WPC is divided into major sections like Licensing and Regulation (LR), New Technology Group (NTG) and Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA). SACFA makes the recommendations on major frequency allocation issues, formulation of the frequency allocation plan, making recommendations on the various issues related to International Telecom Union (ITU), to sort out problems referred to the committee by various wireless users, etc. TDSAT TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) was set up in May 2000 by the government of India. The TDSAT was set up so that it can adjudicate over disputes that arise in the telecommunication sector. TDSAT was established with the view to protect the interest of the consumers and service providers of the telecommunication sector and also to encourage and ensure the growth of the telecommunication sector. The various functions of TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) are that it can adjudicate any disputes that arise between a group of consumers and service providers, a licensee and a licensor, and also between two or more than the service providers. 5.2.2. INDIAN TELECOM CIRCLES The Indian telecom sector is divided into 23 circles which are as follows: Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1 Soumya Santa Dwari 10BSP0611 PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar and Jharkhand Chennai Delhi NCR Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Kolkata Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Maharashtra and Goa (except Mumbai) Mumbai North East Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu (except Chennai) UP(E) UP(W) West Bengal (except Kolkata) Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1 Soumya Santa Dwari 10BSP0611 PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata (www.vodafone.in) 6. VODAFONE Vodafone Group plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the worlds largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the worlds second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of November 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately  £92 billion as of November 2010, making it the third largest company on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ. Vodafones operations are categorized in two divisions: Consumer This division caters to the B2C market and primarily operates like a FMCG company. Business This division caters to the B2B market and operates more like a corporate services company. Vodafone Indias ‘Business division is operational in 9 circles. Vodafones Business division operates through marketing sales team and service team. The marketing sales team again operates through KAM (key account manager) They give direct and highly customized service to the corporates and government and are meant for organizations having annual turnover greater than rupees 100 crores. Channel Partner CP is responsible for giving service to small organizations having annual turnover less than rupees 100 crores. 7. VODAFONE: SWOT ANALYSIS 8. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT IN BRIEF We have to explore the SME market of Kolkata region and identify client needs in terms of data solutions. We also need to compare Vodafone with its competitors in terms of product offerings in the areas of business data solutions for the SME segment. Finally, we need to evaluate the business potential of the Kolkata SME segment in terms of data solutions for Vodafone, both at present and in the near future. 9. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT To find understand the requirement of data solutions in Kolkata SME base (business sector specific data solution requirements). To estimate the market size of data solutions in the Kolkata SME base. To compare the data solutions of Vodafone with its competitors. To forecast future product/ service requirements in Kolkata SME base. 10. KOLAKATA SME MARKET The Kolkata region is largely composed of SME companies rather than large MNCs. For Vodafone, a SME would typically be a company, whose annual turnover is in the range of rupees 10 to 250 crores. Vodafone (Kolkata circle) has divided Kolkata region into 6 zones CBD 1 (central business district), CBD 2, North, South, Howrah and Hoogly. The main concentration of SME business in Kolkata is in the central business district area comprising of Dalhousie, BBD Bag, Esplanade, Central Avenue, Burrabazaar, AJC Bose Road, Chowringhee, Park Street, Park Circus, Camac Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Sarat Bose Road, Minto Park, etc. A lot of SME companies in Kolkata will also fall in the IT/ ITES category, which are mainly concentrated at Sector V, Salt Lake and Rajarhat New Town. Typical features of a SME would be: Small workforce Unorganized Will look for more value for money Less buying power compared to corporates Key decision maker would be one or two individuals for all operations 11. VODAFONE: PRODUCTS SERVICES The various products and services of Vodafone that we are dealing with are as follows: Wireless Data Solutions (2G/ 3G)  § Data Cards/ USB Dongles  § Blackberry Plans  § Vodafone Mobile Connect Fixed Line  § Voice  § Data Machine to Machine Solutions  § Telemetry Solutions  § Vehicle Tracking/ People Tracking/ Asset Tracking Solutions  § Security Solutions Bulk SMS Toll Free Numbers Audio/ Video Conferencing VPN (virtual private network) GVN (global virtual number)/ Interactive SMS 3G specialized products  § Office in a Box (1 3G simcard, 1 fixed line slot, 4 slots LAN + Wi-fi)  § Wi-mi (1 3G simcard, 5 Wi-fi connections) 12. SUMMARY OF THE WORK DONE Initially, we did secondary research on global Indian telecom market, evolution of telecom technologies, SME market, latest trends in the telecom industry (3G, 4G, Machine to Machine solutions, LTE) and various telecom products services. Next, we were given field exposure in terms of tele-marketing, traveling with FOS (Fleet on Street) team, visiting SME clients, visiting company channel partners and market mapping. Next, we designed questionnaire keeping in mind the project objectives. Finally, we conducted market survey. The learning that we achieved by doing the above tasks are of tremendous value for the execution of our project. It not only gave us an insight into how we were going to approach the project but also an invaluable ground level market exposure. From the field exposure we got a clear picture about the micro level sales operations of the telecom business, the Kolkata SME market overview and most importantly the soft skills of client handling. The learning outcomes of the activities undergone are briefly described below. Activity Learning Outcomes Secondary Research Got an overview of the telecom sector (global national) Became aware of the major telecom companies Came to know about the various telecom products services Learnt about the evolution of telecom technologies Also learnt about the latest trends in the telecom industry Got an idea of the SME sector business structure Tele Marketing Learnt the art of sales pitch Learnt about telephone etiquette Got an idea of how to communicate to a business client Learnt about how to influence a potential customer and close a deal Traveling with FOS Got an idea about the basic level sales and client handling operations of a telecom company Got practical experience of face to face business negotiations Learnt about how to keep business relationship with clients Channel Partner visits Learnt about the sales distribution of a telecom company in the B2B sector Got an idea of the operations of a channel partner Learnt about how company and channel partner operations are integrated SME client visits Got a feel of the Kolkata SME companies Became aware of the client expectations from a telecom service provider Got an idea of the clients perception of Vodafone and its products services Learnt about how to professionally handle clients and responsibly execute tasks Market Mapping Exploration of the Kolkata business areas and identification of prospective clients Business Potential of Data Solutions Business Potential of Data Solutions 1. AUTHORISATION The project â€Å"Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market† has been done during my Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India during February to May of 2011, as a partial fulfillment of the requirement of PGPM program of IBS Kolkata. 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India was a great learning experience for me. The project was quite interesting as the telecom industry is a highly evolving industry in India with intense competition and lots of changes happening. The project would not have been a smooth run for me without the help of lots of people. I would like to mention Mr. Saugat Kumars (company guide) help at Vodafone with respect to practical exposure to the telecom industry. He had given me thorough insight into the dynamics of the telecom industry and also facilitated practical exposure through variety of activities. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Siddhartha Kars (marketing manager) guidance regarding project formulation, questionnaire designing and chalking out a plan towards effective execution of the project. Also, there were a lot of other people at Vodafone, who helped me to understand this industry and work through my project. In the academic front, I would like to mention the support of my faculty guide Prof. Bhaskar Basu and my SIP coordinator Dr. Subir Sen. They have given me constant guidance throughout my project regarding academics and SIP formalities. Most importantly, I am grateful to my family who had been always supportive and encouraging in all my endeavors. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As part of my Summer Internship Program of IBS Kolkata, I got an opportunity to do an assignment at Vodafone India. The project was â€Å"Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market†. Vodafone is one of the premier telecom companies globally and getting an opportunity to work there helped me gain a lot of exposure in the corporate world. The Telecom is a high volume industry in India with lot of competition. The Telecom industry in India is divided into 23 circles and around 14 telecom service providers are presently operating in these circles. The most prominent among the service providers are Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Communication, Tata Teleservices, BSNL, MTNL, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Uninor etc. The telecom products and services can be broadly classified into voice and data. The data solutions primarily include data cards, Blackberry services, mobile internet, internet leased line and wireline broadband. Vodafones business operations are broadly classified into business and consumer divisions. My project was in the business division and was focused into the SME market of Kolkata. For Vodafone, a SME company is typically a company with annual turnover ranging from 10 to 250 crore rupees. The SME market of Kolkata is highly diversified with companies ranging from various industries, which include manufacturing, en gineering, IT/ ITES, healthcare, education, hospitality, financial services, travel tourism, logistics, real estate, trading (whole sellers/ retailers), pharmaceuticals, etc. In the initial phase of my summer internship at Vodafone, I was required to do secondary research about the telecom industry (both national and global). From the secondary research, I learnt a great deal about the major telecom companies, telecom products services, evolution of telecom technologies and the key operational issues of the telecom industry. Next I was given exposure to field operations through tele-marketing, visiting SME clients, traveling with the sales team, visiting distributors of the company and market mapping. The field exposure helped me to get a feel of the market at the basic level. This exposure later proved to be hugely beneficial when I started doing market survey. The methodology of the project was to do a market research on a sample (consisting of SME companies in the Kolkata area). For time constraints, the sample size was kept at 65. Questionnaire was designed and market survey was conducted. Analysis was done on the data collected, ranging from SME company profiles, market size of the sample with respect to different products, client perception regarding various attributes of telecom service providers, competition among service providers and future SME market implications. From the initial analysis it was found that the SME clients are highly demanding with respect to value they are getting and the price of the products. They were highly aware of their businesss end to end operations and knew very well what kind of products would add value to their business operations. Regarding data solutions, wireless data has huge potential in the coming years. The whole project helped me to learn a lot about the telecom industry and also get exposure to the sales marketing operations of a MNC company like Vodafone. 5. INTRODUCTION The Telecom Industry has evolved a great deal over the past two decades. Advancement in communication and information technology has changed the industry structure dramatically. Earlier our communication needs were restricted to landline phones. But now almost everybody has a mobile phone connection. Mobile phones have changed our lives immensely. It has given us the power of communication anytime anywhere. At present the industry is going through tremendous transformation with the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and computer technology and thus making vast resources of information available in the palm of our hands. Wireless internet is the latest trend in the industry with the advent of 3G technology and in the long term there should be information boom, with gradual advancement towards LTE (long term evolution) and 4G. Wireless internet boom has already been experienced outside India mainly in North American, European and South East Asian markets. It has e ntered India quite late with roll out of 3G and is expected to create huge impact in our social and professional lives. This project is only concerned with the business potential of data solutions. Before going deep into the project let me give a brief idea about the telecommunication industry, telecommunication technologies, major telecom players and various products services. 5.1. TELECOM INDUSTRY: MARKET SCENARIO 5.1.1. GLOBAL SCENARI By the end of 2010, there was an approximately 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, including 940 million subscriptions to 3G services. Access to mobile networks is now available to 90% of the world population and 80% of the population living in rural areas. People are moving rapidly from 2G to 3G platforms, in both developed and developing countries. In 2010, 143 countries were offering 3G services commercially, compared to 95 in 2007. Towards 4G: a number of countries have started to offer services at even higher broadband speeds, moving to next generation wireless platforms they include Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and the United States. Mobile cellular growth is slowing worldwide. In developed countries, the mobile market is reaching saturation levels with on average 116 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2010 and a marginal growth of 1.6% from 2009-2010. At the same time, the developing world is increasing its share of mobile subscriptions from 53% of total mobile subscriptions at the end of 2005 to 73% at the end of 2010. In the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates was expected to reach 68% at the end of 2010 mainly driven by the Asia and Pacific region. India and China alone were expected to add over 300 million mobile subscriptions in 2010. In the African region, penetration rates would reach an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 (compared to 76% globally) leaving a significant potential for growth. The number of Internet users has doubled between 2005 and 2010. In 2010, the number of Internet users would surpass the two billion mark, of which 1.2 billion would be in developing countries. A number of countries, including Estonia, Finland and Spain have declared access to the Internet as a legal right for citizens. With more than 420 million Internet users, China is the largest Internet market in the world. While 71% of the population in developed countries are online, only 21% of the population in developing countries are online. By the end of 2010, Internet user penetration in Africa would reach 9.6%, far behind both the world average (30%) and the developing country average (21%). While in developing countries 72.4% of households have a TV, only 22.5% have a computer and only 15.8% have Internet access (compared to 98%, 71% and 65.6% respectively in developed countries). At the end of 2010, half a billion households worldwide (or 29.5%) would have access to the Internet. In some countries, including the Republic of Korea, Netherlands and Sweden, more than 80% of households have Internet access, almost all of them through a broadband connection. The number of people having access to the Internet at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010. There has been strong growth in fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions, in both developed and developing countries. At the end of 2010, fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions would reach an estimated 555 million globally (or 8% penetration), up from 471 million (or 6.9% penetration) a year earlier. Despite these promising trends, penetration levels in developing countries remain low: 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries. The developing worlds share of fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions is growing steadily. By the end of 2010, the developing world would account for an estimated 45% of global subscriptions (up from 42% five years earlier). Africa still lags behind when it comes to fixed (wired) broadband. Although subscriptions are increasing, a penetration rate of less than 1% illustrates the challenges that persist in increasing access to high-speed, high-capacity internet access in the region. With the rapidly increasing high-bandwidth content and applications on the Internet, there is a growing demand for higher-speed connections. For example, at the minimum broadband speed of 256 kbps, downloading a high-quality movie takes almost 1 ½ days compared to 5 minutes at a connection speed of 100 Mbps. With increase in GDP per capita, the propensity to consume increases and thus increases the availability of various services. In the above figure, GDP per capita and the penetration level of broadband services are mapped against each other. Countries like USA, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Canada have high per capita GDP and the broadband penetration is also high in these countries. South Korea has comparatively low per capita GDP but very high broadband penetration. On the other hand, UAE and Saudi Arabia have comparatively high per capita GDP, but their broadband penetration is low. Brazil, Russia and China have comparatively low per capita GDP and their broadband penetration is also low. India is nowhere in the picture in terms of broadband penetration. Data business is seeing a steady growth across global markets. In 2010, data revenue generated per subscriber is highest in US Canada followed by Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe. According to Vodafone, the future of telecom business lies in the mobile data category with majority of the revenue share being generated from there. In 2014, an estimated $337bn revenue will be generated from mobile data business, almost $138bn increase from 2010. India and China are the two emerging economies with substantial number of mobile customers and still having average mobile penetration level at 45% and 54% respectively, thus making them highly lucrative markets for mobile phone service providers. With a high GDP growth, market customers growth and potential for SIM penetration, India is a high value market. Figure: Market Share of Telecom Service Providers Globally (by number of subscribers) (www.knowledgebase-script.com) Globally, China Mobile is in the first position (522m subscribers), followed by Vodafone (333m), Telefonica (202m), America Movil (201m) and Telenor (172m). Two Indian companies Bharti Airtel (125m) and Reliance Communication (100m) are in the top 15 list. 5.1.2. INDIAN SCENARIO The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 671.69 million in Jun-10 to 723.28 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a sequential growth of 7.68% over the previous quarter as against 8.11% during the QE Jun-10. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 42.09% over the same quarter of last year. The overall tele-density in India has reached 60.99 as on 30th September 2010. Subscription in Urban Areas grew from 452.59 million in Jun-10 to 487.07 million at the end of Sep-10, taking the Urban Tele-density from 128.20 to 137.25. Rural subscription increased from 219.09 million to 236.21 million, and the Rural Tele-density increased from 26.43 to 28.42. The share of Rural subscribers has increased slightly to 32.66% in total subscription from 32.62% in Jun-10. About 66.83% of the total net additions have been in Urban areas as compared to 63.47% in the previous quarter. Rural subscription recorded a decline in rate of growth during the quarter, from 9.18% in Jun-10 to 7.81% in Sep-10. Rate of growth for Urban subscription increased marginally from 7.61% in QE Jun-10 to 7.62% in QE Sep-10. With 52.21 million net additions during the quarter, total wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base registered a growth of 8.21% over the previous quarter and increased from 635.51 million at the end of Jun-10 to 687.71 million at the end of Sep-10. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth over the same quarter of last year is 45.79%. Wireless Tele-density reached 57.99. Wireline subscriber base further declined from 36.18 million at the end of Jun-10 to 35.57 million at the end of Sep-10, bringing down the wireline Tele-density from 3.06 in Jun-10 to 3.00 end of Sep-10. Internet subscribers increased from 16.72 million at the end of Jun-10 to 17.90 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth rate of 7.02%. Top 10 ISPs together hold 95% of the total Internet subscriber base. Number of Broadband subscribers increased from 9.47 million at the end of Jun-10 to 10.30 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth of 8.79% and Y-O-Y growth of 42.93%. The growth in the number of Broadband subscribers during the quarter and also on Y-O-Y basis is more or less similar to the growth in the overall telephone subscriber base. Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased from 56.7% in Jun-10 to 57.6% in Sep-10. 86.89% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM-Full Mobility service declined by 10.16%, from Rs.122 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.110 in QE Sep- 10, with Y-O-Y decrease of 33.1%. ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 1.34%, from Rs.74 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.73 in QE Sep-10. ARPU for CDMA has declined by 17.5% on Y-O-Y basis. GSM subscription continues to grow at a faster rate. At the end of Sep-10, GSM subscribers constituted 84.12% of the wireless market. The GSM subscribers were 578.49 million at the quarter ending Sep-10 as against 527.62 million at the end of the previous quarter, showing a growth of 9.64%. Bharti with 143.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest GSM mobile operator, followed by Vodafone (115.55 million). The CDMA subscriber base increased to 109.22 million during the quarter ending Sep-10 from 107.88 million at the end of previous quarter, thereby showing a growth rate of 1.23%. Reliance with 55.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest CDMA mobile operator. However, in terms of net additions during the quarter, Sistema added the highest number of subscribers (1.54 million), followed by Tata (1.20 million), rest of the service providers recorded decline in subscribers. Figure: Market Share of Telecom Service Providers (GSM) in India (by number of subscribers in million, 2010) (www.trai.gov.in) 5.2. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY 5.2.1. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY FRAMEWORK TRAI The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator established in 1997 by the Government of India to regulate the telecommunications business in India. DoT The Telecom Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are responsiblefor policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management, administrative monitoring of PSUs, research and development and standardization/validation of equipment etc. WPC The Wireless Planning and Co-ordination (WPC) Wing of the Ministry of Communications, created in 1952, is the National Radio Regulatory Authority responsible for Frequency Spectrum Management, including licensing and caters for the needs of all wireless users (Government and Private) in the country. It exercises the statutory functions of the Central Government and issues licenses to establish, maintain and operate wireless stations. WPC is divided into major sections like Licensing and Regulation (LR), New Technology Group (NTG) and Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA). SACFA makes the recommendations on major frequency allocation issues, formulation of the frequency allocation plan, making recommendations on the various issues related to International Telecom Union (ITU), to sort out problems referred to the committee by various wireless users, etc. TDSAT TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) was set up in May 2000 by the government of India. The TDSAT was set up so that it can adjudicate over disputes that arise in the telecommunication sector. TDSAT was established with the view to protect the interest of the consumers and service providers of the telecommunication sector and also to encourage and ensure the growth of the telecommunication sector. The various functions of TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) are that it can adjudicate any disputes that arise between a group of consumers and service providers, a licensee and a licensor, and also between two or more than the service providers. 5.2.2. INDIAN TELECOM CIRCLES The Indian telecom sector is divided into 23 circles which are as follows: Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1 Soumya Santa Dwari 10BSP0611 PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar and Jharkhand Chennai Delhi NCR Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Kolkata Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Maharashtra and Goa (except Mumbai) Mumbai North East Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu (except Chennai) UP(E) UP(W) West Bengal (except Kolkata) Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1 Soumya Santa Dwari 10BSP0611 PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata (www.vodafone.in) 6. VODAFONE Vodafone Group plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the worlds largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the worlds second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of November 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately  £92 billion as of November 2010, making it the third largest company on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ. Vodafones operations are categorized in two divisions: Consumer This division caters to the B2C market and primarily operates like a FMCG company. Business This division caters to the B2B market and operates more like a corporate services company. Vodafone Indias ‘Business division is operational in 9 circles. Vodafones Business division operates through marketing sales team and service team. The marketing sales team again operates through KAM (key account manager) They give direct and highly customized service to the corporates and government and are meant for organizations having annual turnover greater than rupees 100 crores. Channel Partner CP is responsible for giving service to small organizations having annual turnover less than rupees 100 crores. 7. VODAFONE: SWOT ANALYSIS 8. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT IN BRIEF We have to explore the SME market of Kolkata region and identify client needs in terms of data solutions. We also need to compare Vodafone with its competitors in terms of product offerings in the areas of business data solutions for the SME segment. Finally, we need to evaluate the business potential of the Kolkata SME segment in terms of data solutions for Vodafone, both at present and in the near future. 9. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT To find understand the requirement of data solutions in Kolkata SME base (business sector specific data solution requirements). To estimate the market size of data solutions in the Kolkata SME base. To compare the data solutions of Vodafone with its competitors. To forecast future product/ service requirements in Kolkata SME base. 10. KOLAKATA SME MARKET The Kolkata region is largely composed of SME companies rather than large MNCs. For Vodafone, a SME would typically be a company, whose annual turnover is in the range of rupees 10 to 250 crores. Vodafone (Kolkata circle) has divided Kolkata region into 6 zones CBD 1 (central business district), CBD 2, North, South, Howrah and Hoogly. The main concentration of SME business in Kolkata is in the central business district area comprising of Dalhousie, BBD Bag, Esplanade, Central Avenue, Burrabazaar, AJC Bose Road, Chowringhee, Park Street, Park Circus, Camac Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Sarat Bose Road, Minto Park, etc. A lot of SME companies in Kolkata will also fall in the IT/ ITES category, which are mainly concentrated at Sector V, Salt Lake and Rajarhat New Town. Typical features of a SME would be: Small workforce Unorganized Will look for more value for money Less buying power compared to corporates Key decision maker would be one or two individuals for all operations 11. VODAFONE: PRODUCTS SERVICES The various products and services of Vodafone that we are dealing with are as follows: Wireless Data Solutions (2G/ 3G)  § Data Cards/ USB Dongles  § Blackberry Plans  § Vodafone Mobile Connect Fixed Line  § Voice  § Data Machine to Machine Solutions  § Telemetry Solutions  § Vehicle Tracking/ People Tracking/ Asset Tracking Solutions  § Security Solutions Bulk SMS Toll Free Numbers Audio/ Video Conferencing VPN (virtual private network) GVN (global virtual number)/ Interactive SMS 3G specialized products  § Office in a Box (1 3G simcard, 1 fixed line slot, 4 slots LAN + Wi-fi)  § Wi-mi (1 3G simcard, 5 Wi-fi connections) 12. SUMMARY OF THE WORK DONE Initially, we did secondary research on global Indian telecom market, evolution of telecom technologies, SME market, latest trends in the telecom industry (3G, 4G, Machine to Machine solutions, LTE) and various telecom products services. Next, we were given field exposure in terms of tele-marketing, traveling with FOS (Fleet on Street) team, visiting SME clients, visiting company channel partners and market mapping. Next, we designed questionnaire keeping in mind the project objectives. Finally, we conducted market survey. The learning that we achieved by doing the above tasks are of tremendous value for the execution of our project. It not only gave us an insight into how we were going to approach the project but also an invaluable ground level market exposure. From the field exposure we got a clear picture about the micro level sales operations of the telecom business, the Kolkata SME market overview and most importantly the soft skills of client handling. The learning outcomes of the activities undergone are briefly described below. Activity Learning Outcomes Secondary Research Got an overview of the telecom sector (global national) Became aware of the major telecom companies Came to know about the various telecom products services Learnt about the evolution of telecom technologies Also learnt about the latest trends in the telecom industry Got an idea of the SME sector business structure Tele Marketing Learnt the art of sales pitch Learnt about telephone etiquette Got an idea of how to communicate to a business client Learnt about how to influence a potential customer and close a deal Traveling with FOS Got an idea about the basic level sales and client handling operations of a telecom company Got practical experience of face to face business negotiations Learnt about how to keep business relationship with clients Channel Partner visits Learnt about the sales distribution of a telecom company in the B2B sector Got an idea of the operations of a channel partner Learnt about how company and channel partner operations are integrated SME client visits Got a feel of the Kolkata SME companies Became aware of the client expectations from a telecom service provider Got an idea of the clients perception of Vodafone and its products services Learnt about how to professionally handle clients and responsibly execute tasks Market Mapping Exploration of the Kolkata business areas and identification of prospective clients

Rising Above a Corrupt World in Voltaires Candide Essay -- Candide Vo

Rising Above a Corrupt World in Voltaire's Candide      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Society can be, and is, corrupt in many different ways. Within our lives we are subject, but not limited to, corruptions within religion, corruptions of morals, and corruption within the government. Voltaire, the author of Candide, uses a naà ¯ve protagonist to illustrate his view of the world. Candide, surrounded by a corrupt society, and bombarded by various character defining events, is able to come to a higher understanding as to his philosophy of life.    Candide, by Voltaire, is a story about an optimistic young man who encounters various misfortunes on his search for an ideal world. Having unfortunately been kicked out of his home for the love of Lady Cunegonde, Candide suffers through many natural and unnatural catastrophes during his travels. However, holding on to his claim that all is for the best, Candide travels the world abroad with a totally naà ¯ve attitude. Constantly being reunited with many of his peers, Candide suffers the cruelty of the Bulgar army, a tempest, a shipwreck, an earthquake, and an auto da fe'.    Candide's optimism, stemming from his tutor Dr. Pangloss, keeps him totally determined to find his lost love, Lady Cunegonde, and an ideal world. However, Voltaire takes Candide around the world to discover that, contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss, all is not always for the best.    In Candide, Voltaire uses general criticisms paired with specific examples to illustrate his idea concerning the contemporary corruption of the time. It is a "grinning critique of the 18th century's excesses and cruelties" (Kanfer 1). With Candide, Voltaire tried to show the world just how unjust and cruel it was.... ...we in fact free ourselves from the constraints of "the game". It is in this choice, and freedom associated with it, that enables us (Candide, Lady Cunegonde, etc...) to live the rest of our lives content and fulfilled.    Works Cited Beck, Ervin. "Voltaire's Candide." Explicator 57 (Summer99). Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000. Bell, Ian A. "Candide: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature 2nd ed. (1995). 5 Nov. 2001 Kanfer, Stefan. "Barnum meets Voltaire." New Leader 80 (1997). Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000. Mason, Hayden. "Voltaire: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature 2nd ed. (1995). 5 Nov. 2001 Voltaire. Candide. 1759. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1991. Wade, Ira O. "Voltaire's Quarrel with Science." Bucknell Review VIII.4 (1959): 287?298. 5 Nov. 2001

The Invention of the World Essay -- Literary Analysis, Jack Hodgins

In The Invention of the World, Jack Hodgins invites us to consider an alternative dystopia in which fantasy and reality converge to create sense and constance in an otherwise chaotic existence. Unleashing an arsenal of characters in two parallel worlds, Hodgins attempts to uncover the mysteries of people, and he delves into the paradoxical genre of magic realism, a term coined by Franz Roh in 1925, to achieve this. Focussing on characterization, The Invention of the World offers sufficient surrealism to provide fictional entertainment, whilst cleverly grounding his mythical tale in a relatable reality inspired by history and realism. Specifically, Hodgins offers a lens into the lives of a number of characters. Arguably, Maggie Kyle and Wade Powers achieve contentment on their pilgrimage to Ireland through self-reflection and internal enlightenment; conversely, Kineally and Becker, seek to achieve their constance through the manipulation, exploitation and dependence on other people in their lives. Hodgin’s novel traces the journey of these characters and evokes consideration of the effects of our choices on the long-term equilibrium of our existence and self-enlightenment. From the beginning of the tale, the motif of travel predominates. As Becker â€Å"[waves] your car down the ramp onto the government ferry...† (vii) we are not only introduced to the setting, but also the idea that Becker has a certain authority and inclination to control that journey. As Becker researches, documents and attempts to quantify the tale of Donal Keneally and his rise as founder of the â€Å"Colony of the Revelation of Truth†, we learn of his dissonance and inability to find contentment. Becker’s energy on the pilgrimage â€Å"[was] wild with trying to take eve... ...17). With Wade’s turbulent waters eventually settled by Maggie, this resonating re-birth enables both characters to realize a happiness that can only be found within. To conclude, Hodgins’s entrancing tale merges fact with fiction, magic with reality, and chaos with romance. While Becker and Keneally ultimately fail in their attempts to create, using pride and ambition as fuel towards constancy, Hodgins creates a poetic final scene in which Wade and Maggie Powers symbolically unite in matrimony, ironically wed by Horseman, Wade’s sagely nemesis, amongst the chaos of thrown insults, wielded chainsaws, food fights and terrible music, Maggie is, significantly, able to â€Å"[stand up, beside her husband, ready† (353). Through the magic of myth, Hodgins teaches us to find a place where we can be satisfied, enjoy who we are, and appreciate the important people around us.

Great Wall Of China Report Essay example -- essays research papers fc

The Great Wall of China   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Wall of China is truly one of the greatest architectural achievements in recorded history. The longest structure ever built, it is about 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles) long and made entirely by hand. This wall is said to be visible from the moon. It crosses Northern China, from the East coast to Central China (Karls, 1). This massive wall is not only one of the ancient wonders of the world, but it also has been the inspiration of many writers and artists. With a history of more than 2,000 years, some of the sections of the Great Wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world, because of its architectural greatness and historical significance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Wall's construction began in 221 BC under the emperor Meng Tien, of the Chin Dynasty (Twitchett, 2). Continual invasions and wars from the barbarians to the North drove the emperor to order its construction to protect the newly unified China. It started at Lintao and extended to Liaotung, reaching a distance of more than 10,000 Li. After crossing the Yellow River, it wound northward, touching the Yang Mountains (Twitchett, 2). Although the wall is considered to be well under 10,000 Li (one Li is approximately a third of a mile) it was truly an amazing accomplishment (Twitchett, 2). Meng Tien employed some 300,000 men in the creation of the original section of the wall. The building of such a massive wall would definitely be a huge task. A wall that stretches through the wilderness is not easily accessed by supply lines, unlike a highway that creates its own supply line (Delahoye, 3). There was also a massive loss of lives during the construction of the wall, due to widespread disease and injury (Delahoye, 3). In fact it is an Ancient Chinese myth, that each stone in the wall stands for a life lost in the wall's construction (Delahoye, 3). It is recorded that Meng Tien's section of the wall took only ten years to build, but it is believed that it actually took a substantially greater amount of time (Delahoye, 3). After Meng Tien's original construction the wall was far from completed. Other walls were added to and encompassed within The Great Wall. The last major work on the wall was completed during the Ming Dynasty around 1500 (D... ...s last name and the number represents the source number on my bibliography. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA By: Jeff Beland Due Date: April 26, 2004 Class: History 162 Section 1 Professor: T. Teng Assignment: Formal Paper Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Karls, Robert. 10,000-li Great Wall. New York, Crabtree Publishing Company, 1958. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Twitchett, Denis and Loewe, Michael. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England, 1986; 61- 63. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Delahoye, H.. Drege, J.P. Wilson, Dick. Zewen, Lou. The Great Wall. New York: Warwick Press, 1987. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ledoux, Trish. Ancient Civilizations: San Francisco, Mixx publishers, 1984. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Forbes, Geraldine. Asian Studies. New York, Mifflin Company, 1993. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muyaka, Ho Chin, Huang River: New York, Penguin Publishers, 1994. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kalman, Bobbie. China the Land. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1989. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Advantages and Cost of Adoption in Australia of International Financial Reporting Standards Essay

The issue of adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRSS) in Australia has been controversial issue since the first time Australian Financial Reporting council (FRC) announced the policy in 2002. Many believe that IFRSS adoption will lead to great advantages such as enhance financial report comparability, improve quality of financial reporting, attract more foreign investor, and other significant advantages. However, some also believe that the adoption merely result in disadvantages and cost for Australian business, accounting profession and even Australian government. Before deciding to fully adopt IFRSS, in 1996, the AASB issued Policy Statement 6 International Harmonization Policy with objective to ‘pursue the development of an internationally accepted set of accounting standards which can be adapted in Australia’. There were several considerations why government decided to do so: 1. ‘The existing arrangements for accounting standard setting are confusing, inefficient and not conductive to stakeholder participation 2. There is duplication between the AASB and PSASB 3. Australian Accounting Standards are not understood in, and are out of step with, the major capital markets in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and Europe, resulting in higher costs of capital for Australian Business 4. The standards setting process is perceived to be dominated by the accounting profession and there is no real accountability to its users 5. Accounting standards do not reflect modern business practice, being too prescriptive and overly technical that imposing excessive costs on business 6. The process involved in standard setting have failed to attract broad input and the necessary level of financial support, with the result that accounting standards are not meeting the demands of constituents’ (CLERP 1997, pp. 11-12, cited from Pickeet. al, 2006). Despite those reasons, IFRSS adoption is promoted because several claimed benefits potentially arising from the policy especially for Australian Business. The most claimed benefit is attracting foreign investors due to lowering cost of capital. Cost of capital can be decreased because IFRSS adoption can diminish ‘premiums associated with the risk of not fully understanding the financial report’ (Collet et. al, 2001, cited from Gerhardy, P. G. , n. d. ). Another hypothesis is that IFRSS adoption can reduce ‘home bias’ that discourage investors from making cross border investment. One of factors contributing to home bias itself is the expensive cost of information about foreign investment (Kang and Stulsz, 1997 cited from Cofrig,V. M. , Defond, M. L. , & Hung, M. , 2007). By adopting IFRSS, it is hoped that information about foreign investment can be easily obtained and understood because it is generated from universal standards that are more familiar for investors. In addition, high accounting quality, transparency and comparability are commonly associated with financial reporting produced based on IFRSS that is internationally recognized and represent worldwide best practices. Those attributes alleviate ‘information asymmetries between managers and outside investors, thus increasing liquidity and ultimately lowering the required rate of return’ (Diamond and Verrecchia, 1991, cited from Daske, Holger, 2006). Association between higher accounting quality and IAS/IFRSS itself has been examined by Barth,M. E. , Landsman, W. R. , & Lang, Mark H. in 2008. They investigate firms from 21 countries that applied IAS and found that those firms generally ‘evidence less earnings management, more timely loss recognition and more value relevance of accounting amounts’. It has been suggested that IFRSS adoption benefits Australian business trough saving in reporting costs. This benefit especially applies for Australian Business that wants to list their stocks in other countries’ stock exchanges. It is obligation for companies to fulfill specific different requirement regarding financial reporting of each countries where the companies are listed. By adopting IFRSS, companies do not need to generate more than one set of financial reports to comply different requirement and regulation. It is also easier for multinational companies to consolidate their financial statement, thus it saves time and money. Beside easy consolidation, IFRSS adoption also simplifies appraisal process of companies to takeover or merger with overseas enterprises and improves management control due to increased comparability internal management report between different segments or branches. For multinational companies, it will ease transfer of accounting staff across countries as well (Uddin, M. S. , 2005). Furthermore, a reduction in audit cost might be experienced by companies, because adoption of global standards (IFRSS) merely require global audit tandards, tools or systems that usually cheaper than specific products or services. This audit commoditization will close the expertise gap between the big five and force them to reduce audit fee. (Perera et. al, 2003,cited from Gerhardy, P. G. , n. d. ). For Australian government, fully adopting IFRSS is highly likely result in cost saving because the government does not need to spend money for AASB. It is evidence that Australian government spent huge amount of money for domestic accounting standards formulation. Another advantage is that the government can ‘distance itself from any future corporate collapses, which tend to raise questions about the role of accounting and the quality of accounting standards in such incidents’ (ibid). Take example of HIH collapse. Furthermore, it can avoid miscalculation of investors’ tax liability, particularly tax related to income from overseas sources accepted by multinational companies (Uddin, M. S. , 2005) (global acceptance). Despite cost saving, IFRSS adoption might also increase overseas companies listing in the ASX (Haswell & McKinnon, 2003, cited from Gerhardy, P.G. , n. d. ). It also retains Australian companies listed on ASX. It is argument of Stoddart (1999, cited from McCombie, K. ,n. d. ) that ASX’s rigorous support on full adoption of IFRS is due to ASX’s ambition to become ‘the main exchange in the Pacific Rim’. Despite those enormous advantages, it has been argued that IFRSS adoption lead to significant costs. The main argument is that IFRSs do not consider local needs and priorities as every country has their own ‘business environment, legal systems, cultures, language and political environment’ (Henderson and Peirson, 2000 cited from Malthus, S. 2004). However, to overcome this problem, IASB can accommodate flexible reporting standards that enable companies to choose alternatives that are more suitable for their external condition. It is opinion of some opponents of IFRS adoption that IAS is ‘insufficiently detailed’ (Uddin,M. S. , 2005, p. 4) that require accountants’ and auditorâ€℠¢ professional judgment. However, overly detail might be contra productive and not flexible in anticipating every changes and differences. Education for stakeholders related to changes in financial statement is considered as significant as well. In a way, companies have obligation to ensure these users understand the changes. Companies also need to provide education and training for staff to adapt changes from preparing account using national standards to international standards. Since changes not only affect external reporting system, but also internal reporting such as budgeting system, this training might require huge amount of money. Often, companies need external experts in anticipating the changes such as actuaries and valuation experts that also need a lot of spending. However, this transition cost is only initial investment that is short term; the cost will be diminishing once companies have already been stable with the new systems. Learning from UK, based on a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, majority companies in the UK suggested that transition from local accounting standards to international standards would not require high costs (Malthus, S. , 2004). Coming to the accounting profession, it has been argued that IFRS adoption also bear costs due to the policy. Those costs might come from the need to re educate members of the accounting profession itself. However, this argument is questionable because as a profession, accountants should improve their capabilities by ongoing training and education no matter what. Negative impacts of adoption of IFRS on rule makers such as Federal government and AASB have been public’s concern as well. Regarding federal government, it is argued that support devoted by federal government for IFRS adoption (Brown and Tarca, 2005) might put government ‘under political pressure not to impose rules on Australian companies that are inconsistent with those applied to companies in other countries’. In term of AASB, adoption of IFRSs raised questions about the role of the body. By adopting IFRS that replace local standards, AASB might lose its status and role. This loss arguably hurt nation’s sovereignty because Australia somehow is ‘one of the world’s leading authorities on accounting’ (Haswell and McKinnon, 2003 cited from Gerhardy, P. G. , n. d. , p. 24). AASB might also have limited influence on the standards formulation process under IASB, thus Australia’s interest and relevant environment might not be covered by international standards. However, this costs can be diminished as suggested by Carrol (2003d, cited from Gerhardy, P. G. , n. d. , p. 75) ‘that if Australia is to ensure that future standards developed by the IASB are relevant to the Australian environment it is necessary that Australia is positioned ‘as an influential leader in the international business environment’’. Having considered both advantages and costs, I would argue that benefit arising from IFRS adoption will be in the longer term worth the effort. The main reason for that is huge economic benefit arises from the IFRS adoption. On the surface, economic benefit is merely enjoyed by multinational companies and investors. However, it will trigger Australian economy development because multinational companies represent greater percentage of Australian economy sources that absorb high number of employment. Small medium companies (SME) that is argued might become parties bearing most cost will benefit from multinational companies as a business partners such as supplier, particularly if Australia promote specific regulation to encourage the mutual partnership. This will be domino effect that boost another sectors, thus benefit whole community. In addition, education cost that is claimed as significant cost only borne for short term and will be diminished in the long term. Education and training itself is inseparable part of accounting as a profession that need ongoing training to enhance capability and professionalism. The last reason is that IFRS adoption might be inevitable due to globalization that diminish border across nations and increase interdependency between nations.

Prohibition of Fast Food Essay

Nowadays, one of the biggest industries in the whole world today is fast food chains, lots of cities around the world are full of fast food restaurants more than ever. Therefore, a lot of people eat fast food because it’s cheap, especially during this moment of crisis that we’re facing. So, would it be productive if such food was banned? There are some advantages and disadvantages about banning fast food restaurants because of various reasons. Let’s look into it and see for ourselves if it is really worth the while. On the one hand, if new fast food restaurant openings are banned, I think that it might not have much of an effect. However, it would be more productive for the city to provide incentives for supermarkets in order to make healthy food within reach of local residents. Moreover, almost everybody is aware that these fast food chains serve menus with a high calorie content and, consequently, this causes problems of obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and other heart related issues. On the other hand, as I said previously, a lot of people eat this kind of food because it is cheap or because the lack of time to cook at home that they have. Furthermore, fast food chains are improving their menus by releasing lower calorie food. What we cannot do is to forbid people from going to these places to eat or suddenly prohibit selling this kind of food in the supermarkets. If people want to eat fast food it is up to them, however they should be aware of the problems eating this junk food implies. As a conclusion, I would say that people cannot ban something that is widely accepted and patronized. Maybe a recommendation can be made but still, fast food chains are too much powerful, so it would be impossible to ban them especially when money is a primary concern.