Monotheism Is The Most Important And Foundational Concept

Monotheism is the belief in one God, who is the most important and foundational concept in Islam. Muslims believe in one God who created the universe and has power over everything within it. He is unique and noble above everything he creates, and his greatness cannot be compared to anything he created. â€Å"You worship one other than God who has no power to help or to harm you. It is God Who is all-hearing and Who knows the state of all of creation (Mobeen 112). Muslims often refer to God as Allah. His name is related to the Aramaic and Hebrew names for God, Allah and Elohim. Muslims believe in angels, unseen beings who worship God and carry out God s orders throughout the universe. The angel Gabriel brought the divine revelation to the prophets. Muslims believe that God s guidance has been revealed to humankind through specially appointed messengers, or prophets, throughout history, beginning with the first man, Adam, who is considered the first prophet. Twenty-five of these p rophets are mentioned by name in the Quran, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last in this line of prophets, sent for all humankind with the message of Islam. Allah is simply the Arabic name for God which confirms that he is one remarkable God with no partners or equals. Muslims continue to use this original Arabic name for God since it perfectly expresses his unique qualities. The primary pillar of Islamic belief clearly states that there is nothingShow MoreRelatedIslam Studies Jahiliyyah1539 Words   |  7 PagesThe essay shall explore the concept of the jahiliyyah and demonstrate the importance and impact it has to understand the origins and development of Islam. The Jahiliyyah is a core and critical part of the foundations of Islam, that certain elements of the jahiliyyah were borrowed, adopted and developed; whilst other elements were discarded as Islam evolved. It is important as aspects of the jahiliyyah period continues to hav e an influence after the advent of Islam. Elements of the jahiliyyah suchRead MoreMs Paul2146 Words   |  9 PagesNear East of that time with the development of the Bible. This is done by an in-depth analysis of the underlying beliefs inherent in mythology and the Biblical text. Of primary significance is the authors portrayal of the Biblical insistence on monotheism and divine transcendence compared to the polytheistic underpinnings of mythology. The author compares the ethically based Biblical view of the divine/human relationship with the ritualistic and magical view of that relationship found in mythologyRead MoreThe Bible Among The Myths3214 Words   |  13 PagesWorld The first chapter addresses the Bible in the connection of its surroundings and its commitment to society. Oswalt expresses that there are numerous commitments to the way the Western world perceives reality. The Bible, be that as it may, is the most essential contributor. The Greeks brought a type of feeling that had a significant effect on society. Three of their greatest commitments were: the belief in a universe rather than a polyverse, simple cause and effect, and non-contradictionsRead MoreEssay about Book Summary The Bible Among the Myths2835 Words   |  12 Pagescontingent upon the trustworthiness of the historical claims. CHAPTER ONE THE BIBLE IN ITS WORLD In the first chapter it is told that there are many contributors that the Western world has of looking at reality. The Bible is the single most important of these contributors. The Greeks brought a type of thinking that had an impact on society. Three of their significant contributions were: the belief in a â€Å"universe† instead of a â€Å"polyverse,† simple cause and effect, and non-contradiction. Read MoreBig Geography And The Peopling Of The Earth2489 Words   |  10 PagesName: _____Elizabeth Tilley______ Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E Key Concept 1.1. Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth TERM Definition Significance Paleolithic Period The first period of the Stone Age During this period, humans first figured out how to use stones as tools, and hunter-gatherers grouped together to form small bands. They migrated from East Africa, and the tools they used changed as they adapted to the different climates. The majorityRead MoreA Critical Thinking Exercise : The Role Of Religion During World Civilizations3861 Words   |  16 Pagestoday s market at 50 million dollars.....that along with many, many more ornate objects of great variety and value too numerous to mention here. †¢ Discuss the nature of Hebrew monotheism and the development of Judaism. In particular, discuss the role of â€Å"keeping the law† in Jewish life. 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Christianity Christianity’s approach to law and justice is partially based off of common teachings with Judaism contained in the Old Testament. Most notably the Ten Commandments handed down by God to Moses, who then recited them on Mount Saini to the Israelites. The black and white nature of the Ten Commandments underpins an important and strong sense of distinction between moral rights and wrongs in Christianity. However, this strong sense of right and wrong is juxtaposed with the centralRead MoreQuran And Woman By Amina Wadud3067 Words   |  13 Pagesfemale-inclusive hermeneutical approach to reading the Qur’an. She refrained from both the traditional and the reactive approaches that have yielded patriarchal Qur’anic interpretations of women, relying instead on a holistic model based on tawhid (absolute monotheism). By using a â€Å"tawhidic paradigm† to interpret gender, she rethinks the legal, ethical, and spiritual relations between women and men on the basis of their singular appointment as God’s moral agent (khalifah) on earth. Advancing the tawhidic paradigmRead MoreReligion Persuasive Essay5051 Words   |  21 PagesComposition | | Richard Laugel | 4/16/2012 | | Abstract A look at religion, its beliefs and fallacies that throughout history have continued to have negative effects on contemporary society. The usefulness of religion is in the past, and its foundational books are fables. It is a man-made imposition which has been an enemy of science and inquiry. Religion has subsisted largely on lies and fears, and been the accomplice of ignorance and guilt as well as of slavery, genocide, racism, and tyranny

Influence of the Roman Theater on Cicero’s Oration Pro...

Influence of the Roman Theater on Cicero’s Oration Pro Caelia By Cicero’s oration in defense of M. Caelius Rufus shows many substantive and stylistic borrowings from the Roman Theater, particularly the comedies of the 2nd century b.c.e. This would scarcely seem remarkable to Cicero, to employ such devices is only to make use of the tools of his trade, as a practical and practicing rhetorician. In this case using the theater as a framing device to guide his audience’s response. So too would the judgments and emotions existing in the cultural reservoir of Greco-Roman, or Attic-Latin stage have met his division of purpose as he considered the permanent written speech, he would set down in the wake of the trial, however it was decided.†¦show more content†¦Cicero, by example of his own life takes a broad inclusive approach to Oratory. In a earlier statement we encounter words which probably reflect his own view closely: But the fact of the matter is that oratory is a much more considerable activity and depends on a far wider range of different arts and branches of study, than people imagine (Cicero, Orator I 4,16).Particularly Cicero seems interested in holding on to the orator’s special sphere - the third branch of Philosophy life and behavior of human beings which is to say, human nature (Cicero, Orator I 15, 69). We hear of the orator’s special strength - to rouse men’s hearts to anger, hatred, and indignation (Cicero, Orator I 12,53), a not dissimilar goal to that of the dramatist. We find that a speaker’s job is to ensure that the feelings of his audience are affected just the way he wants them to be (19, 87). His Five Tasks of the orator (and to keep within the dignity of the theme) (Cicero, Orator I 38, 142-44) given in a following paragraph, are suitable instructions for any playwright or actor. Even at the beginning of On the Orator Cicero has one of his characters observe approvingly of the benefits to be gained from the less serious art on regulation of expression, voice and movement of body. Cicero has his character Antonius make an observation that the chief distinction between an actor speaking and an orator is that the actor has more leeway. He is excused if he has

Surprises and difficulties Free Essays

Life has always been filled with surprises and difficulties. Oftentimes, we are left to face these challenges alone. We then begin to think how much education has contributed much to the success of others. We will write a custom essay sample on Surprises and difficulties or any similar topic only for you Order Now For this, I believe that my education as a young child has contributed much to who I am today. I believe that English was one of the many subjects that have helped shaped my future. At first, taking English classes served as a barrier at first, but then I have realized that the little things thought in English courses were important to one’s success. The course focused on topics, such as descriptive and narrative essays, comparing and contrasting, argumentations, and summarizations. I found the class to be well organized, with each subject planned carefully by the professors. I must admit that I was hesitant at first, for I thought that I would have a hard time learning the topics. I was wrong. It turned out to be relatively easy, although some topics were confusing. The progress I had with regards to learning the topics was surprising. I was able to learn how to express my feelings, emotions, and my opinions about things around me through writing. The use of different words was taught to us, which were clear descriptions of how we felt at a particular time. In addition to this, I have also learned how to be more confident about myself. I know at first, I found it difficult to neither stand in front of a big crowd, nor talk to people I was unfamiliar with. How to cite Surprises and difficulties, Papers

Auditors Report of ABC Learning Centre †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Downfall of the ABC Learning Centre. Answer: Introduction The ASA701 Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditors Report, is a new standard that has been developed by the IAASB, it deals with the duties of the auditor to comment on key important matters of the financial statements that focuss on the assumption of going concern. It applies to all audits of the general purpose financial statements of all the listed companies. Whnever the auditor is required to communicate the key audit matters to the important entities that ask for the same, or when the auditor does it on voluntary basis, the auditor needs to follow this standard. It applies to the audit of the financial statements for the period ending on or after December 15,2016. It ahs been one of the biggest changes in the overall standards of auditing, since it was first developed in 2004. The main reason behind this change was to help the investors and provide the shareholders of the companya snapshot of the overall audit so that they can comment on important matters in the lieu of the same. This is main reason that this standard was developed. But the first initiation that was taken to develop this standard occurred when the global crisis occurred with the downfall of the ABC learning center. This led to the need of developing a standard that can help the investors in getting an insight into the financial of the company and also with the auditors stating their take on the key audit matters , it helps in development of the effectiveness of the overall report. Thus these standards are very important and it is important that the auditor follows the same to the best of his ability. In cases if he fails to amke his report on the basis of these standards than the auditor will be held liable by the government and can be penalised for the same. The downfall of the ABC learning centre was the major reason that led to the development of this stanadard and we will analyse the overall effect it had on the functioning of the company. And what if the auditors h ad followed the standard before the crisis, would the global crisis would have been prevented or not(Abbott et al., 2016). Analysis Downfall of the ABC Learning Centre The ABC learning centre was founded in 1988. By 1996, the company had around 18 childcare centres and was one of the biggest players of the private childcare centre in Australia. By 2201, the company was listed on the Australian Stock exchange and by 2007; the overall market capitalisation of the company grew to about a$2.5 billion. The company reported an after tax profit of A$143.1 million and revenues of A$1.7 billion. However, post that the business was not functioning well and the company had to incur a lot of debt, which led to the delisting of the company from the stock exchange and the went into liquidation. Because of all these, the investors who had invested in the company had to suffer a lot, there was a decline in the share price of the company from the highest bid of A$8.62, to as low as A$0.54. This showed how badly the investor had suffered because of the delisting of the company and its failure to continue as a going concern(Burke Clark, 2016). Many factors led to th e downfall of the company that included the bad business model, regressive accounting policies, large capital expenditures, and poor acquisition policies, low advantage levels all that in combination led to the downfall of the company and had affected the investors of the company. After the collapse of the company, the investors found that the business model of the company was very hard to decipher and the overall operations that the company undertook was very opaque that was where the company failed. If the accounts of the company were properly audited and the key matters were included, then such loopholes would have been identified and that would have helped the investors of the company in taking important decisions and could have saved them from such major losses(Brannen, 2016). The major accounting issues that were involved in the downfall of the company involved the need of recognition of certain items in the auditors report as key audit matters. The first was the huge flaws in the intangible assets of the company and the same was not even recognising by the stock exchange on which the company had its account listed. The company had a large number of intangible assets in its financial statements, like goodwill, derivatives, and other biological assets that were hard to value and accounted for. Most of these assets were because of the companys aggressive acquisition policy rather than the basic operational business model. The problems was not there just in the functioning of the company , but the auditors that were appointed also failed to do their task with diligence. Since 2003, the company had appointed Pitcher Partners Brisbane firm, to audit its account, and the auditor happily obliged with the view of the management and issued unqualified audit report . They failed to identify that the overall payments from the loss making centres were shown as normal revenues and hid the fact that these institutions were merely El Dorado for ABC Learning shareholders. The Pitcher partner supported the same, and this led to the accumulation of millions worth intangible assets on the financial report of the company that was not valued properly and was neither accounted for. Many experts described the situation as the failure of the accounting and regulatory processes and deviation from the standard laws and methods. When the new auditor Ernst Young's took over from the previous auditor, and started the overall auditing process, it found that there were many loopholes in the overall accounting process of the company. It took over the audit from the year ending 2007, and it took seven weeks for the company to provide them with their interim reports. When the new auditor tried to reconcile their findings with those of the previous year, they found that there were many issues involved. When they asked the management of the company to make the requisite changes, the management found that if they inculcate all that the new auditors are telling in their books of account, it would lead to a lot of chaos on part of the management. The Ernst Young's audit was able to provide a clearer and true picture of the position of the company apart from what the previous auditor presented that was more of an illusion than a reality. Because of the deadlock of opinion between the two auditors, a third party was rop ed in to comment on the overall financials of the company. However, as per reports, KPMG was not successful in proving any of the auditors wrong. This raises a very important question to where is this process of auditing heading and what is something that the investors can believe that can help them in taking decisions. The main points that were concluded were that there elitists an audit expectation gap, a spar which people expect that the auditor goes through everything, every small details related to the business and comments on the proximity of the business. The company appoints the auditors, to check the accounts to have an assurance that the accounts of the company are OK. When they find matters that are fishy, than they look deep into the matter and probe the same, just as the EY team did in case of the ABC(Jones, 2017). It is very well stated that the work of the auditor of the company is to just express an opinion and not certify or justify anything. There are guidelines that have been prescribed to the auditors, but as the we see in the case of ABC that there is many divergent opinions that might affect the overall audit statements and reports. So the main question is whom the investors should rely on and what should be there taking if the audit is not done with the conviction that is requ ired. It has been said that such standards must be developed that helps the accountants and the auditors of the company to give their opinion on unique matters that are related to accompany rather than strict standards that allows them to try to cover everything and fail. Hence, the need for such strong auditing standards have raised that has led to the development of the ASA 701 Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditors Report(Guragai et al., 2017). Features of the ASA 701 The main features of the standards includes that it asks the auditors to comment of the key matters of governance and make an opinion on the same. It is applicable to all the listed companies so that it provides some help to the investors that depends on these reports for their decisions. The auditor has the right to decide the key audit matters. The auditor can determine the same, by mandating the matters with those charged with governance and making an opinion on the matters that they feel require special attentions. They must take matters that are more prone to risk, like the intangibles, acquisition, revenue and taxes. These areas will include significant auditors judgment, management judgment, and specific event and transaction that will affect the same The auditor describes each of the KAM with utmost precision and proper scrutiny must be done before stating the same in the reports. Proper description with regard to each matter must be given and how is it affecting the overall profit of the company. Specific circumstances, in which the matters related to the KAM, cannot be included in the auditors report. The audit documentation must be related to the key audit matters. In addition, all the documents must be properly stored by the auditor and used as audit evidences(Knechel Salterio, 2016). Effect of the ASA 701 on the ABC crisis If these standards were developed before the crisis took place, it would have helped the auditors of the company and the auditors those were at fault had to comment on the key matters that were important. Because these standard was not there, the Pitcher Partner firm very easily stated that it still stands with all the opinion that is framed on the financials of the company, and the application and interpretation of the accounting standards is subject to the overall personal judgement and understanding. Hence making it clear that it possible that two auditors can have different opinion on the same company, because there is no specific standards that can ask the auditor to comment on certain specified matters. The auditors will check the accounts or their own assurance that they are ok, and in cases when they find discrepancies, they will probe further. Hence, it allowed the previous auditor to make use of major loophole in the auditing standards(Sonu et al., 2017). If this standard w as there beforehand, the company had to include proper details regarding many matters that included the intangibles and the overall revenues from the loss making units. Because of this downfall of the ABC learning centre the need for the new standards has raised so that the investors who are dependent on the audit report, who cannot have an insight in the financials of the company can easily take important decisions. In addition, it also makes the auditor more responsible and they cannot foray into wrongdoing with ease. They have to comment effectively and give their opinion and the management has to provide support to the auditors of the company in whichever very possible(Raiborn et al., 2016). Conclusion Hence through the above discussion and analysis we saw how important it is that the audit report that the company is providing to the investors and the auditors who are authenticating and forming the same, must do their work with utmost effectiveness and precision. It is very important that the investors who are relying on these reports gets the facts that can help them in taking important decisions with regard to the company they are investing their money in. In case of the ABC Company, the investor has to face a huge loss because as per the auditor, the company was doing well, had large revenues, and was a going concern entity. However, in reality most of the revenue that was shown was dud, and the company was incurring huge losses(DeZoort Harrison, 2016). So when suddenly the company went into liquidation, these investors were very terribly affected. This again emphasises the importance of audit and preparation of the financial statements of the company to best of ones ability, s o that all the stakeholders including the investors, government, public, who depends on these reports to take important decisions are able to benefit with the same. The issued new standard will help in solving a large number of issues, it is one of the biggest changes in the accounting standards since 2004, and will give power to the auditor with the abolition of many loopholes that was previously there in the system(Lefkowitz, 2017). References Abbott, L.J., Daugherty, B., Parker, S. Peters, G.F., 2016. INTERNAL AUDIT QUALITY AND FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY: THE JOINT IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENCE AND COMPETENCE. Journal of Accounting Research, 54(1), pp.3-40. Brannen, J., 2016. Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. NY: Ashgate Publishing. Burke, J.J. Clark, C.E., 2016. The business case for integrated reporting: Insights from leading practitioners, regulators, and academics. Business Horizons, 59(3), pp.273-83. DeZoort, F.T. Harrison, P.D., 2016. Understanding Auditors sense of Responsibility for detecting fraud within organization. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-18. Guragai, B., Hunt, N.C., Neri, M.P. Taylor, E.Z., 2017. Accounting Information Systems and Ethics Research: Review, Synthesis, and the Future. Journal of Information Systems: Summer 2017, 31(2), pp.65-81. Jones, P., 2017. Statistical Sampling and Risk Analysis in Auditing. NY: Routledge. Knechel, W.B. Salterio, S.E., 2016. Auditing:Assurance and Risk. 4th ed. New York: Routledge. Lefkowitz, J., 2017. Ethics and Values in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Second Edition. 2nd ed. NY: Routledge. Raiborn, C., Butler, J.B. Martin, K., 2016. The internal audit function: A prerequisite for Good Governance. Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, 28(2), pp.10-21. Sonu, C.H., Ahn, H. Choi, A., 2017. Audit fee pressure and audit risk: evidence from the financial crisis of 2008. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting Economics , 24(1-2), pp.127-44.

Weighted Average Cost of Capital and Single Hurdle Rate free essay sample

How does Teletech Corporation currently use the hurdle rate? Currently Teletech uses a single hurdle rate for both their Telecommunications Services and Products and Services divisions. The hurdle rate is the cost of capital based on an estimate of the corporation’s WACC. 2. Please estimate the segment WACCs for Teletech (see the worksheet in case Exhibit 1). As you do this, carefully note the points of judgment in the calculation. CorporateTelecommunicationsProducts Systems MV asset weights100%75%25% Bond ratingA-/BBB+ABB Pretax cost of debt5. 88%5. 74%7. 7% Tax rate40%40%40% After-tax cost of debt3. 53%3. 44%4. 48% Equity beta1. 151. 04 1. 36 Rf4. 62%4. 62%4. 62% RM10. 12%10. 12%10. 12% RM-Rf5. 50%5. 50%5. 50% Cost of equity10. 95%10. 36%12. 11% Weight of debt22. 20%27. 1%9. 2% Weight of equity77. 80%72. 9%90. 8% WACC9. 30%8. 49%11. 41% 3. Interpret Rick Phillips’s graph (see Figure 2 in the case). How does the choice of constant versus risk-adjusted hurdle rates affect the evaluation of Teletech’s two segments? What are the implications for Teletech’s resource-allocation strategy? Telecommunications Services, which can earn 9. 0% on capital on a risk-adjusted hurdle rate is profitable but a corporate hurdle rate determines it is not. We will write a custom essay sample on Weighted Average Cost of Capital and Single Hurdle Rate or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The opposite is true for Products and Services. If each segment in the company had a different hurdle rate, the costs of various forms of capital would remain the same. 4. Do you agree that â€Å"all money is green†? What are the implications of that view? What are the arguments in favor? What are the arguments against it? All money is green, in the sense that all segments of a business need to be performing above the corporate hurdle rate, thereby creating economic value. You could argue that each segment could be viewed independently, but this could lead to a firm overinvesting in under performing divisions, over divisions that could earn a higher rate of return. 5. Is Helen Buono right that management would destroy value if all the firm’s assets were redeployed into only the telecommunications business segment? Why or why not? Please prepare a numerical example to support your view. Helen Buono is right. In doing so, the firm would increase the overall risk to the firm by focusing only in the telecom business. Risk overall is reduced when it is spread across multiple areas reducing the overall risk. Historically, financial economic value is greater when returned are the average weighted value of two or more items. The same applies to the firm as stated by Helen Buono; at the end of the day, investors cannot look inside the four walls of the organization and only care about the overall return of the business. The WACC calculation demonstrates the fact that risk is reduced when Teletech remains with businesses in both telecommunication, and products and systems. 6. Has Products and Systems (P+S) destroyed value? What evidence or illustrations can you give to support your opinion? Yes, -$19 Million. See table below: Telecom Combined Product Services Mix of Segments: Telecomm. 100%75%0% Products Systems0%25%100% in millions Invested Capital $11,400 $16,000 $4,600 Avg. Return on Capital9. 10%9. 58%11. 00% NOPAT $1,037 $1,532 $506 WACC8. 49%9. 30%11. 41% Value of Enterprise $12,221 $16,473 $4,436 Economic Value $70 $44 $(19) 7. What should Teletech say in response to Victor Yossarian? This company is getting rid of the division that is not generating enough return and is not adding value. This company should also continue using one hurdle rate for the entire corporation. This firm borrows money as an overall firm and not as a division.

Analysis Into the Vertical Integration Across the Value Chain of Sony Essays

Analysis Into the Vertical Integration Across the Value Chain of Sony Essays Analysis Into the Vertical Integration Across the Value Chain of Sony Paper Analysis Into the Vertical Integration Across the Value Chain of Sony Paper â€Å"The greater a firm? s ownership extends over successive stages of the value chain for its product, the greater the degree of vertical integration† (Grant, 2010, pp354). The consumer electronics industry value chain is depicted below: Thus a firm can be said to be vertically integrated if it owns and operates each of these stages of the value chain. The consumer electronics industry has many players who produce goods for purposes such as entertainment, communication and work. There are many determinants of success, including technical innovation, price competitiveness and brand awareness. The degree of integration in the value chain can influence success within the industry. Examples of firms who manage the value chain differently include Apple, who integrates their product design and retailing, but outsources the manufacturing assembly of their products, whereas Dell keeps its product design and assembly in-house, whilst using market contracts for component manufacturing and retailing. This report focuses on the consumer electronics division of Sony, a well-known brand in the industry, whose five different stages of the value chain (same as above chart) is analysed in more depth below. 1. Product Design The first stage of the value chain is Product Design, which Sony keeps in-house. The company emphasises on â€Å"building high-performance, easy-to-use and beautiful products with a distinctive Sony flair† (Sony, 20111). Within the consumer electronics value chain, there are numerous benefits of the vertical integration of product design. Evidence suggests there is strong correlation between the launch of new products and market performance (Souder and Sherman, 2004). Consequently, new designs and products can capture and retain market shares and increase profitability (Tidd et al. , 2001). Thus by having ownership over the product design and innovation stage, Sony can maintain complete control in creating its own competitive advantages to have an edge in the market. Due to the nature of product design, outsourcing would be unrealistic; Sony is likely to have Proprietary product technology unique to the firm e. g. their 3D technology. Consequently, there is incentive for the contracted company to behave opportunistically (Williamson, 1973), such as expropriating the technology and maybe even leaking it to rivals (Rao Novelli, 2010; Business Week, 2009), and so contracts of vast complexity would need to be written and agreed to prevent such opportunism, which is expensive (Williamson, 1973). Also, for the contractors to be incentivised to come up with the best technology or design, the contracts will have to be designed in such a way that the agency fees that the contractors will receive will be correlated to the market performance of the designed product, and this is extremely hard to measure or enforce in contract. Thus, the potential transaction costs (Coase, 1991), risks and complexity associated with Product Design far outweigh than the administrative and labour costs of vertical integration which makes outsourcing an unfavourable option. However, there are risks associated with keeping the product design process in-house. Most significantly, there is the risk of not having the flexibility, skills and capability to come up with groundbreaking technology and therefore fall behind your competitors. For instance, Sony failed to anticipate the trend towards mp3 technology which led to loss of market share in the portable music devices market in the early 21st century (Uggla and Verick, 2008). Further, the administrative costs of product design in-house are high, with Sonys investment in R activities amounting to JPY432 billion ($4. billion) in FY2010 (Datamonitor, 20111). On balance, vertical integration with respect to Product Design is the best strategy for Sony to adopt. Innovation within the technology industry is the key to success, and so Sony need to keep complete control over this process. 2. Manufacturing Assembly Sony uses both in-house production and outsourcing for the manufacturing and assembly stage of thei r value chain (see Appendix A). In 2009, 50% of their total annual production was in their in-house factories in Japan, with 60% of this production destined for export to other regions (Datamonitor, 20111). There are some benefits of maintaining vertical integration in manufacturing. First and foremost, vertical integration will help with control and coordination throughout Sony? s value chain. By owning production factories and operating its own logistics, it is readily able to respond to changes in consumer demand or market trends, with no reliance on external suppliers. That is, it has full control over its operations. Further, Sony has „trade secrets? which it wishes to protect from its rivals. In an industry which is shaped by technological advancement, keeping such trade ecrets is therefore of great importance. Not adopting an inhouse manufacturing strategy will always bear the risk of these secrets being expropriated by others. Also, if Sony were to outsource, it may require its manufacturers to make transaction-specific investments (Grant, 2010). There is a need for trust and a strong relationship, as well as rigid contractual agreements, thus making the transaction costs potentially high. Therefore it can be seen that manufacturing in house could avoid a lot of complexity. However, keeping manufacturing vertically integrated poses several issues especially with a big part of their operations being based in Japan. Firstly, the average hourly wage rate in Japan is ? 5. 86 (Ministry of Health, Labour Welfare, 2011), compared to countries like China which the rate is only ? 1. 28 (BBC, 2011). This has significant implications on operation overheads, and so the administrative costs associated with vertical integration. Secondly, the appreciating Yen has further raised overhead costs and has driven up the price of exports in recent years and therefore has made Sony? products less price competitive (Euromonitor, 2010). Finally, Japan is prone to natural disasters, with the Tsunami in March 2011 causing a significant disruption in component production, resulting in reduced device volume sales of its smartphones by 1. 5m in the three months to June 30 (Financial Times, 2011). Thus, â€Å"vertical integration represents a compounding of risk insofar, as proble ms at any one stage of production threaten production and profitability at all the other stages† (Grant, 2010 pp358). A further disadvantage that Sony has through integrating manufacturing in their value chain is that it tends to lead to higher overall costs because you need extra layers of management to coordinate all the activities (Kennedy cited in Business Week, 2009). This money could be invested instead in product design which is the fundamental key to success for companies like Sony. Also, there are limited incentives for in house manufacturing to minimise costs or to respond promptly to internal requests or queries (Grant, 2010 pp357), which will affect efficiency in production. The current manufacturing strategy might have to be reviewed as the risks seem to far outweigh the advantages. 3. Distribution Distribution is another aspect of Sony? s value chain, which involves taking the finished product from its manufacturing bases to retailing outlets worldwide. With regard to its current distribution policy, Sony can be seen as being vertically integrated, with logistics principally handled by Sony Supply Chain Solutions, Inc, a subsidiary founded and owned by the Sony Group. (SCSS) (Sony, 20112) There are a number of benefits of remaining vertically integrated in the operation of this part of the business. Firstly, it enables Sony to have control over the process. They are able to avoid time delays which potentially could arise if they were to contract with an external company. Related to this is flexibility, whereby they can ensure they have a full lorry before sending out the shipment, which will allow for efficiency. For example, SCSS in Shanghai is utilising a combination of milk round routes and round trip trucks run to increase transportation efficiency, which is also contributing to reduced CO2 emissions (Sony, 20112). As they produce such a large volume of products every year, it is better to avoid the transaction costs associated with contracting out to another logistics company as the minimum optimal scale is reached (Grant, 2010). As the frequency of transactions are high i. e. there will be a large number of shipments per week, the variable transaction costs will be high, and this could be avoided by keeping it vertically integrated. However, there are disadvantages associated with vertical integration in distribution. Essentially, it is another part of the business to manage, and so can give rise to increased administrative costs through extra managerial levels, increased co-ordination across the business†¦ etc. If they were to outsource, such costs could be avoided. An external contractor is likely to offer a significant discount as they ship large volumes of goods, thereby reducing the transaction costs. As for Sony, it is important to ensure the timely and accurate delivery of their products in order to maintain a good relationship with retailers. Moreover, the scale of their distribution is large enough to make vertically integration a cost-effective option. In fact, they are profiting from their distribution subsidiary as they utilise their remaining capability to serve other companies. Thus vertical integration is the preferential strategy for Sony. 4. Marketing Sony? s marketing department prepares the marketing strategies in-house and then employs a number of advertising agencies to develop communication plans for each product genre. For example, the 2011 global TV ad campaign for Bravia, by Grey London, aims to drive awareness of Sony? s 3D TV and the Qriocity streaming service for musics, TV and films (Owen and Brownsell, 2011). However, the company does not just rely on the advertising campaign to build up its brand value, it also resort to public relations by appointing leading PR agencies to create and implement PR strategies to promote the Sony products and the brand, and handle the social media, press office and experiential PR (Sony Electronics, 2011). By employing the professional agencies and not creating/executing the campaigns themselves, Sony can utilise the marketing and PR expertise of the agencies that would be too expensive for Sony to develop themselves and too small part of the business for Sony to reach the optimal scale of efficiency (Grant, 2010, pp356). The transaction costs associated with outsourcing would be worthwhile. 5. Retailing Sony runs its retail operation with three types of vertical relationships: franchise agreements, direct-channel retail stores and partnership with other retailers. Sony provides extensive support to the franchisee on the store concept and operational issues such as staff training and marketing (FranchisePlus, 2007). The benefit of adopting a franchising model for Sony is cost savings as the franchisees bears the investment and fixed costs for their franchises (Carney and Gedajlovi, 1991). Also, as the franchisees ultimately own the businesses, they will be naturally motivated to manage their business well (Rao Novelli, 2010, pp238). However, a disadvantage of franchising is that Sony does not have control over the quality of the operation of the retail stores, which could potentially lead to a negative impact on the brand image if the franchisee although motivated, „gets it wrong?. Indeed, Sonex Communications, a company who operates Sony franchises across UK, recently went into administration (Donnelly, 2011). Also, with a franchising strategy, Sony could obtain little feedback on how their products are perceived by their customers, and this would hinder their research and development and product design processes. Lastly, there would be a loss of managerial expertise if most of Sony? s retail outlets are franchised and therefore managed by non-employees (Carney and Gedajlovi, 1991). Sony also directly owns and manages their online shop and some of its retail stores. Williamson (1979) pointed out the major benefit for companies to own its own retail outlets is that â€Å"adaptations can be made in a sequential way without the need to consult, complete, or revise inter-firm agreements†. For example, Sony has closed nefifth of its direct retail stores (TGDaily, 2011) and replaced them with its new flagship Sony Stores in March 2010 to improve customer experience. This level of flexibility could only be achieved if Sony owns their retail outlets. Also, through interacting with the customers in stores, Sony can receive customers? feedback on its product features and shopping experience directly, which would be useful to future product designs and developments. However, owning their retail st ores can incur high administrative costs which include management costs, overheads and wages. Additionally, Sony distributes its products through other retailers such as Currys, Argos, Wal-mart†¦etc. Sony could benefit from a wider distribution by selling their products through other retailers. The obvious setback of such a strategy is that with retailers also wanting to make a profit, Sony? s profit levels would be further decreased. However, the transaction costs associated with this are completely acceptable as Sony will be losing out a huge market if they give up on partnering with other retailers to sell their products. Appendix B shows that only 18% of people buy their computer straight from manufacturers. Therefore, providing that Sony continue to use reputable firms such as Currys to do so, there is no need to make changes to this aspect of their retailing strategy. It is difficult to judge which the best strategy out of these three is. However, market research has shown that recent trends suggest that less people are going to other retailers to buy their computers (Mintel, 2011). Taking this into account, and also the setbacks of the franchising strategy, the future for Sony on their retailing operations probably lies into owning more of their own retail outlets. Suggestions Analysis of Sony? current value-chain indicates that changes can be made to their manufacturing and retailing. Manufacturing Assembly Firstly, Sony should move most of their manufacturing away from Japan to other countries. Since it is expensive and extremely complex to set up their own factories in other countries, the best option for Sony will be to vertically de-integrate and outsource its manufacturing to c ompanies in lower cost manufacturing countries such as China. By doing so they will avoid the high employee wages in Japan and thus have a positive impact on their cost structure and allow them to be more price competitive in the market. Further, â€Å"dispersing production activities to various locations around the globe where each activity can be performed most efficiently can lower costs† (Rao Novelli, 2010, pp281). If they were to base their production sites in a variety of geographic locations, they minimise the risk of production hold-ups through factors such as natural disasters, diversify the risks of currency fluctuations as well as being closer to their customers and so reducing transportation and distribution costs. Further, there is an extensive global demand for their products, which lowers the minimum efficient scale of production, and so it would be economical to manufacture their goods in several locations. An ideal decision will be to reduce the manufacturing in Japan to the level just satisfying domestic demand (currently 60% of the production in Japan are exported), and to also keep the manufacturing of the innovative products in-house in Japan to minimise the risk of intellectual rights infringements. Also, by de-integrating manufacturing from their value chain, they will be able to focus on their core competence of Product Design. Extensive outsourcing has been a key feature of fast-cycle product development throughout the electronics sector (Grant, 2010, pp358). Costs savings will arise through a reduction in the co-ordination and control of sub units within the business, and so fewer management levels, as well as the fixed costs of manufacture. Sony will be able to invest money saved into Product Design whilst simultaneously being price competitive against other companies such as Apple. In fact, it is consensus that the blame for Sony? s poor performance in recent years is largely down to them not being able to keep up with their competitors in terms of product design and innovation. However, there are risks and disadvantages with adopting this strategy. By outsourcing the manufacturing process, Sony will be outsourcing the „know-how? of its products; its proprietary product technology which is unique to Sony. There is risk that the supplier will expropriate the technology for their own use or that they will sell it on to Sony? s competitors (Rao Novelli, 2010, pp294), which would lead to a loss of competitive advantage in the product design stage of the value chain. However, Sony can apply for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to minimise this risk. By being legally protected, Sony can ensure their property is protected, with the existence of an IPR acting as a deterrent to the outsourcing company of opportunistic behaviour. However, there will be legal costs incurred throughout this process, which is a form of transaction cost. Further, there could be the problem of asset specificity which makes it unfavourable to outsource. If Sony develops some groundbreaking technology whereby in the manufacturing process an investment in specialised equipment is required, the supplier that they outsource the manufacturing to may have to invest in specialised assets to produce their goods, which increases transaction-specific spending. Mutual dependency between the supplier and Sony is created, where each party might fear that the other will abuse the relationship by seeking more favourable terms. It may be difficult to find a supplier who is willing to invest in the technology to manufacture products which are specific to Sony, as they may feel they are becoming reliant on Sony as a source of income, which could act as an inhibitor of trust between the two parties. Further, the supplier will know that Sony is dependent on them and so there is an incentive to charge a higher price and act opportunistically. Thus Sony will need to ensure that they have contractual agreements in place to inhibit opportunistic behaviour, which increases transaction costs. However, where closer supplier-customer ties are needed – particularly when one or both parties need to make transaction-specific investments – then a longer term contract can help avoid opportunism and provide the security needed to make the necessary investment (Grant, 2010, pp363). Thus Sony should establish long term contracts with the outsourced companies. However, the setting up of long term contracts will be a form of transaction cost incurred. A final problem of outsourcing is hold ups. This could be eliminated by contracts that fully specify prices, quality, quantities, and other terms of supply under all possible circumstances (Grant, 2010, pp356), but yet this also contributes to transaction costs. It can be seen that transaction costs are always worrying yet inevitable for companies looking to de-integrate. However, to look at it from a positive perspective, the transaction costs of outsourcing in this industry is relatively ow. This is because that most products in this industry is standardised (Financial Times 2005), and many other players in the electronics market outsource their manufacturing, such as Apple, suggests that there are many potential companies who have the capabilities to manufacture Sony? s products. Setting aside the potential possibility of the asset specificity problem, the existence of many buyers and selle rs in the market, with a number of alternatives, reduces the transaction costs and switching costs (Grant 2010). Retailing In the short term, Sony should continue with the structure that it adopts i. e. a mixture of franchises, ownmanaged retail stores and other retailers. However, once their brand recognition and reputation improves after a few years, they should reduce the number of franchises, and instead increase the number of retail outlets they own (especially in developing countries). The reason that immediate change in the retail ownership is not needed is because brand reputation and recognition is extremely important in determining if retail outlets will succeed. Brands like Apple with outstanding brand recognition could afford to own and open their own retail outlets, while as for example for less well-known brands like Alba, it will be really risky to operate their own retail stores. Therefore, it is recommended that Sony spend a few years on improving its product design and innovation and therefore improving its brand recognition before owning more retail outlets. As stated previously, the existence of a feedback loop is the main incentive for Sony to own their retail stores as opposed to franchises. To compete at the very top level, Sony ought to be cutting the edge in product design and innovation, and the feedback loop could really be of great help. Also, Sony needs to be opening more retail outlets in the developing countries to strengthen their established presence in the market, as Sony has a better brand recognition in those countries. For instance, in 2010, Sony? s sales in India grew faster than the market (Sony, 20113). Also, by having control over the continual investment in opening retail outlets, it will contribute towards increasing Sony? market share and ensure that the direction the brand is going is defined according to their plans rather than the franchisees?. They will be able to monitor the quality of the stores and react quicker to changes in consumer tastes, something which they have less control over if they were to continue store expansion through franchise agreements. Further, Grant (2010) said â€Å"not only do manufacturing and retailing require very d ifferent organisational capabilities; they also require different strategic planning systems, different approaches to control and human resource management, and different top management styles and skills. Therefore, if Sony were to de-integrate the manufacturing process in the value chain, they can focus on Product design and Retailing, adopting a suitable organisational structure like Apple, who display a robust financial position the companys total revenue increased to $65,225 million in FY2010 from $19,315 million in 2006, representing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36% (Datamonitor, 20112). Their growth in the market is attributable to a strong brand image of technical innovation, which Sony is capable of too. The risks of reducing and eventually phasing out the franchise agreements are that there will be increased administrative costs of integration. There will be a need for more managers to control the process. However, the greater the operation i. e. the number of retail stores they manage themselves, the lower the minimum efficiency scale. Thus as they expand the number of stores they operate themselves, they will become more efficient, and so reduce the fixed costs of vertical integration. Also, it is worth mentioning that the main focus for Sony? future development is product design and innovation, so as long as owning more retail stores could help in this aspect, the transaction costs could be negligible. Conclusion Suggestions made to the current value chain of Sony are to serve for one sole purpose, which is to increase the profitability and market share of Sony. This is going to be achieved with a focus on improving product design and innovation, something which Sony has been fal ling behind their competitors in recent years. Therefore, by outsourcing more manufacturing and owning more retail shops, Sony? investment capital, managerial expertise and strategy focus could be reshuffled and used on product design and innovation, which hopefully will see Sony catch up with its competitors and reach the heights they previously were in the late 20th century. References BBC, 2011. China minimum wage up by 21. 7% despite economic cooling [online]. Available from: bbc. co. uk/news/business-15456509. [Accessed: 29 November 2011]. Business Week 2009. Can Outsourcing Save Sony? [online]. Available from: businessweek. om/globalbiz/content/jan2009/gb20090130_697510. htm. [Accessed 28 November 2011] Carney and Gedajlovi, 1991. Vertical Integration in Franchise Systems: Agency Theory and Resource. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, No. 8 (Nov. , 1991), pp. 607-629 Datamonitor 20111. Sony Corporation [online]. Available from: http://360. datamonitor. com. ezp1. bath. a c. uk/Product? pid=881B16EF-3BEC-4BDD-B10A-26FAB18DEC3B [Accessed 26 November 2011]. Datamonitor 20112. Apple Inc [online]. Available from: http://360. datamonitor. com. zp1. bath. ac. uk/Product? pid=5B0A0C20-9BB6-4284-A575AC0F2261F45Cview=SWOTAnalysis. [Accessed 30 November 2011] Donnelly, C. , 2011. Sony Centre owner calls in administrators [online]. Available from: channelweb. co. uk/crn-uk/news/2112104/sony-centre-owner-calls-administrators. [Accessed 30 November 2011] Euromonitor International 2010. Sony Corporation [online]. Available from: portal. euromonitor. com. ezp2. bath. ac. uk/Portal/Pages/Analysis/AnalysisPage. aspx. [Accessed 26 November 2011]. Financial Times 2005. Severe pressure on prices, missed opportunities, the need to buy big components and the threat of new format wars are making life difficult for a consumer products group that has lost some of its proprietary grip, writes Michiyo Nakamoto Financial Times:London Financial Times 2011. Sony Ericsson blames loss on Japanese earthquake; Mobile Telecoms. Financial Times: London. FranchisePlus, 2007. [online]. Success Story-The Dividend From Dedication, Jan Feb Issue, 2007 (Vol 3. Issue 6. ) Available from: ranchise-plus. com/success230107. asp[Accessed 29 November 2011]. Grant, R. , 2010. Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases. 7th ed. Wiley Htlounge, 2010. Sony fighting against Apple by opening its own retail stores [Online]. Available from htlounge. net/art/11050/sony-fighting-against-apple-by-opening-its-own-retail-stores. html. [Accessed 28 November 2011] Hobbs, J. , 1996. A Transaction Cost Approach to Supply Chain Management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 1 Issue: 2, pp. 5 – 27. IPR, 2011. What is Intellectual Property? [online]. Available from: ipr. co. uk/intellectual_property_guide/what_is_intellectual_property. html. [Accessed: 29 November 2011] Kay, J. , 1993. Foundations of Corporate Success: How business strategies add value. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ministry of Health, Labour Welfare, 2011. Minimum wage [online]. Available from:http://statsjapan. com/t/kiji/11521. [Accessed: 29 November 2011]. Mintel, 2011. Desktop, Laptop and Tablet Computers UK August

Project management Thesis Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project management - Thesis Proposal Example This argument is particularly important in consideration of the fact that there are authors in the extant literature on research methodologies who explain that both of these methods could be at odds with each other, suggesting a degree of inefficacy (i.e. Poggie, DeWalt and Dressler, 1992, pp. 132). However, this researcher agrees with Flick’s position and further argues that effective features of each model should be adopted and reconciled so that identified research approaches from both paradigms complement each other, resulting to a more effective method of investigation. Naturally, the hybrid model proposed would mean that this study will utilize a number of research tools and techniques. For instance, data will be gathered using interviews, surveys and secondary sources and they will be presented as empirical data in the research discussion and analysis. The structure of the research is a logical flow of stages that incorporate qualitative and quantitative techniques. This is depicted in Fig. 1. It shows how the study would begin with interviewing resource persons. The focus group technique can prove to be invaluable at this stage. Once, approved, this researcher will devise a structured interview at once involving three to five stakeholders or industry resource persons. The purpose is to gain a significant knowledge and first-hand data on specific issues that would provide the insights necessary in developing a more effective questionnaire and research techniques. In the focus group interview, participants will be asked to respond to questions and allowed to respond to each other’s answers as well. Secondary sources will complement the data from the focus group interview. This will not only inform the next step in the study but also provide collaborative evidences and sources for comparative analysis. These