Tzinga: Applications of Marketing Management Concepts

Motivation behind selecting Tagging comes on the purview that It Is the only Energy Drink of Indian origin tit an Intensive growth profile for a relatively young Industry. The prime objective was to understand and recommend marketing strategies for Tagging. Focus was laid on accessing market opportunities, customer value addition, analysis of consumer market, evaluation of competitive dynamics and branding. The initial secondary research revealed the current segmentation, targeting, positioning, communication and branding strategies of Tagging.It also uncovered the energy market trends and competition patterns. Low cost being Taiga's unique selling point drove It to a relative dominance In the market In a short period of time. Further, primary research constituted blind test, market survey, interviews with retailers, distributors and co-founder of hector beverages. The procedure exposed the product strength of Tagging, reaffirmed the positioning appropriateness and unveiled the neces sity of improvements in terms of price- positioning trade off, communication, distribution and brand building.Indian-news of the product and Its low price can be exploited for promotion apart from Increasing The global beverage market is growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CARR) of 4. 6% and is expected to hit $1. 3 trillion by the year 2017 . And the most dynamic sector which is leading this growth is the global Energy Drink Market. Ever since the launch of Red Bull in 1987, this market has flourished at an astonishing rate, generating revenues to the tunes of billions of dollars. But in a country like India with a huge base of prospective customers, this market has not been tapped to its fullest.International players like Red Bull and Storage still dominate the equation, though a lot of new players are trying to enter this zone. In such a competitive environment, one drink which stands out and seems to have a promising future is Tagging. It is a product by Hector Beverages Put Ltd. , an Indian start up dreamt by two young management graduates – Nearer Kara and James Natal . Based in Surgeon, the company came into existence in 2011 and since then has sky-rocketed into the energy drink segment.The company now sells about a million units each month across 45 cities in India . It has a deep market penetration in Delhi, Bangor, Ago and the north eastern states and is trying to gain ground in other regions as well. The main reason for this stupendous growth can be attributed to its price, which is almost 70% less than its main competitors. It also comes with a unique packaging which is one of its USPs as per the creators. We plan to do a comprehensive study determining all the factors behind this growth story keeping our main focus on marketing.The main motive behind choosing this project is to study the inspiring growth trajectory of Tagging. It provides an excellent opportunity to understand the nuances of consumer choices and sales pattern in Ind ia. By experimenting in the relatively unexplored arena of Energy drink sector in the country, we hope to build a strong foundation of core marketing concepts which will help us throughout our professional lives. To evaluate the current segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies of Tagging and to recommend strategies for its branding and promotion.To identify and match the positioning statement of Tagging and to evaluate the necessity of change ; To define the target market, focal value elements and price- value relationship with respect to Customer Value Proposition ; To understand competitive dynamics of brand image and hence to come up with Branding and Communication strategy for Tagging ; To understand the product preferences, consumers' taste preferences and Taiga's brand perception through primary search, blind test and interviews and hence to estimate the growth prospects 1.Constraints in Primary Research: Energy drink market is a subset of the larger beverage industr y and therefore has a consumer base with limited age group, lifestyle patterns and popularity, of which Tagging is a relatively new product and is less popular. This was a challenge in terms of conducting primary surveys as it involved identifying appropriate target groups. 2. Limited area coverage: The campus comprises an eclectic mix of students from various parts of the country and thus provides a comprehensive group to conduct this study.Therefore, the scope of this project has been limited to MUM Bangor and the neighborhood of Bantamweight region. 3. Frame of Reference: This study has been conducted from an external frame of reference in the sense that, with no actual experience and Judgment of the energy drinks product market. This might have resulted in assumptions and indications slightly different from the actual energy drink market environment. 4. Market Dynamics: It is a fact that the market dynamics are dispersed and varied.Regional influence of substitutes and competito rs on consumer preferences is diverse. This makes the study subjective and strictly adherent to specificities of research environment leading to biases in perception. 5. Consumer Behavioral Dynamics: Change in consumer preferences, tastes and behavior, relative to market dynamics and self-actuation is a major instigator of limitations of this report The key parameters responsible for the success of any project are planning and execution.Adhering to this idea, a detailed methodology was followed during the entire course of this report, and the same is described below: We started by defining the precise ‘marketing decision problem' to ensure that we don't deviate from our main objective. The next part included extensive research about Tagging, its parent company – Hector Beverages and the energy drink market in general. A variety of resources like newspapers, magazines and Journals were referred, with internet emerging as the main contributor of information.The company we bsite provided major insights about Tagging, whereas research papers from online forums namely ‘OBESE' and ‘Sarcasm' formed the foundation of our literature review. Having performed significant secondary research through the aforementioned sources, we set out to corroborate these findings. This analysis was done based on various marketing models and frameworks. SOOT analysis evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of Tagging meanwhile also listing down the numerous opportunities and threats for Hector Beverages.Market forces were evaluated based on Porter's five forces and growth strategies were proposed using Nations Market-product Grid. This study helped us understand Tagging as a product, its production techniques, prevalent supply chain, operating challenges, organization structure and overall financial health. It also gave us headway on Taiga's competitors, their strategies and arrest share.The primary research is the most detailed aspect of this report and was condu cted in the following ways: a) Blind Test: 10 students of MIM-B were asked online survey was conducted and carefully monitored to restrict the respondents to I'M-B and nearby region as clearly specified in the scope and limitations. C) Retailer Survey: Shop owners of ‘Mom n pop' stores like ‘Ethical' and supermarkets like ‘Inklings' were interviewed to understand Taiga's distribution channels and existing markets in depth. D) Personal Interview with the co-founder: Mr..Squash Miser, the Co-founder and Director of Hector Beverages obliged us by providing the management's insights on Taiga's current and future strategies. A large amount of first-hand data obtained through these tests and interviews was analyzed in detail. Explanations were provided with the help of graphs and other statistical tools for better understanding. After brainstorming on the problems faced by Tagging, the team recommended certain solutions aimed at improving Taiga's branding and communicati on strategy.We extended these proposals by designing print and video advertisement campaigns for Tagging, thus concluding our report. LITERATURE REVIEW When Nearer Kara and Squash Miser, both ex-employees of Coca-Cola , came up with the idea to start a company, they were in search of a â€Å"magic† formula that would provide an affordable energy drink for the Indian market. Their main focus was to create a perfect blend of taste, price and packaging and these efforts finally yielded results in the form of a fruit flavored drink with natural ingredients.According to Kara, energy drinks in India are projected as premium products and consumed mostly by athletes, gym enthusiasts, students and socialites-rarely the average destine. They are costly, primarily due to high import duties. For example, Red Bull, which occupies a major share of the energy drink market in India, costs around RSI. 95 for a mill can. However, Tagging, on the other hand is priced a lot cheaper at RSI. 25 fo r the same quantity.Banking on its Customer Value propositioning, the company has grown tremendously in the past two years and is already a market leader in Ago and the north eastern states. The company has its manufacturing unit at Amnesia, near Surgeon and another larger production unit is coming up in Moser by October, 2013. According to the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment , stress, sleep, disturbances, anxiety and depression are among the top five threats to academic performance among college students.Researchers have indicated that within the current regulatory void, energy drinks, if aggressively marketed will appeal particularly to the niche of young males seeking performance enhancement and other stimulation related effects. The popular energy drinks, namely Red Bull, Monster etc. Include active ingredients like carbohydrates, terrine, acculturation and caffeine. They have several benefits like increased attention, emotional states, e ndurance and physical performance.The target consumers of Tagging are profiled as follows: a) Geographic segmentation : The major demand for energy drinks comes from Tier-I cities where people lead a stressful life owing to their working environment. The population has been segmented as per their background, either rural or urban. B) Demographic segmentation (Age, Gender, Income): a-Tithe target market of 16-30 years can be further classified into the following groups: (I) Age 16-24: The school/college population which requires energy drinks mainly because they are involved in sports.Age 24-30: The young working refashions who use energy drink requirement is to combat their stressful work life. (iii) Gender based: While the current market share is dominated primarily by the male population, recent trends of energy drink consumption show female segment is also on the rise. (v) Income – Aspirants & Seekers: While premium energy drinks like Red bull target the higher end custome rs, Tagging reaches out to a larger group that comprises of the Aspirants and Seekers c) Chirography's segmentation: It is suited to the lifestyle of students and young working professionals working late night for long hours. ) Behavioral segmentation: Tagging is currently manufactured in mill pack for both light and heavy users even though heavy users account for a high percentage of total consumption. Also the segments are clearly demarcated on the basis of awareness and response to the product. Strategy is value for money. It is also positioned as a healthy energy drink made of natural extracts; without any artificial chemicals and zero side effects. The product tries to build up a youthful and cool image in the minds of consumers. Its promotion campaigns such as â€Å"conquer the night† and â€Å"you are a sum of your obsessions† validate the above claims.Another noteworthy point is the environmental-friendly stance maintained by Tagging through its unique â€Å"l ow-material† packaging and increased emphasis of â€Å"No littering† as clearly mentioned on their website. Building on the above discussion, Taiga's ‘Points of Differentiation' and ‘Points of Parity have been identified below: ;Points of Differentiation: The two main attributes of Tagging which consumers like and find unique are: Low price 0 Packaging Points of Parity: Few attributes which have become increasingly common in the energy drink market and ensure a minimum equivalence with competitors are: 0Category points-of-parity: Instant Energy 0 Competitive points-of-parity: Natural flavors (Organic drink market) CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITIONING: The following is the value proposition currently adopted by Tagging: Value Proposition Tagging relevant composition/ attribute Benefits for consumers Favorable points of difference Resonating Focus Real Stuff is good stuff Real lemon, Real Guarani, Real ginseng Lesser caffeine and fruit extracts is a health add on Caf feine content- MGM/ mill as against MGM/ mill Mixed fruit Juice content- 1. % as against 0% of the market leader Could improve the percentage of fruit extract and hence could emphasize this value proposition This Energy Drink Works Contains Guarani instead of raw caffeine, Ginseng, Vitamin B Guarani does the same Job with no negative effects, Ginseng has anti-carcinogenic and anti-oxidant properties, Vitamin B that helps break carbohydrates Claiming Energy boosting through natural ingredients and promotion through actual communication of product values The effect of all ingredients is not brought out in promotion and packaging.Green is not Just the color Packaging appeal Tagging stands out from the clutter on the store shelf. It is a good choice for the environment. Customer's unstated need is fulfilled It allows Tagging to claim customers' value for money.Tagging could evaluate methods to reuse packaging and also offer smaller quantities, may be 1 ml or mill packets BRAND IDENTITY: The brand identity is reflected by the positioning strategy adopted by Tagging as depicted below: Ingredients Real mixed fruit Juice concentrate (from pear, pineapple, mandarin, apple, passion fruit and lemon) , Terrine, Vitamins, Omission, Ginseng, Guarani, Caffeine Tagging has natural components as compared to its competitors which make it healthy Variants Available in three flavors- Lemon Mint,Tropical Trip Mango, Strawberry Provides consumers with variety to choose from refreshing options Popularity Backbone likes -529525 Twitter followers- 836 Within a Caffeine Level 258. Pump- Tagging has comparatively less caffeine content and focuses on natural elements like Guarani. This reduces the ill-effects on health Packaging Daypack- A packaging innovation compared to usual metal cans. Attractive packaging Price RSI. 25 for mill. The price is about 4 times less than its chief competitor ‘e.This mantra chosen by Tagging satisfies the three criteria for an effective brand mantra: 1. Communicate: The words Wake up! ‘ clearly communicate Taiga's promise of energize people at any time of the night. They also have a very positive annotation. 2. Simplify: The world today is cluttered place with a person being exposed to more than 100 promotions on an average each day. And in such a situation, this message stands out from the crowd. It is short, crisp and hence memorable. 3.Inspire: In spite of being simplistic and brief, the mantra holds a lot of meaning and relevance to the target audience. It symbolizes the spirit of â€Å"Rise and shine†, thus establishing a much deeper, an emotional connection with the customer. Strengths Pricing: At RSI. 5 for 250 ml, it is the most inexpensive drink available ; Packaging: Its unique packaging is environment friendly and is easier to carry around. Flavors: It comes in three exciting flavors – Lemon Mint, Tropical Trip and Mango Strawberry, of which Tropical Trip is the most favored among youth ; Natural Ingredients: It uses natural ingredients like lemon, ginseng, Guarani etc. Weaknesses No Aggressive Marketing: Lacks aggressive marketing techniques like celebrity endorsements, sponsorships, television campaigns, college promotions etc. Availability of the product: Not easily available in all the cities ; Awareness: Due to or marketing, many people in India are unaware of this brand ; Manufacturing Units: Currently only one manufacturing unit in Amnesia near Surgeon and an upcoming plant in Moser Opportunities Availability of the product: Being an energy drink, opportunities can be explored in universities and colleges around the country ; Demographic Opportunity: India, with immense opportunity for growth. Tie-ups: Tie-ups with major sporting events can help boost the sale of the product. ; Target Markets: Only the youth is targeted currently. Since the product is natural, the targets can be expanded to include adults also ; Tier II Cities: Aggressive marketing in Tier II cities a nd rural areas Threats Misconception: Energy drinks are closely associated with alcoholic beverages. In a country with strong values and traditions it might seem a deterrent. ;Competition: The main competitor, Redouble is the biggest player globally and enjoys a huge financial clout.Micro segmentation: Once the brand is firmly established, the product can be customized to cater to micro-segments like children, housewives and the working class. ; New Product Range: Apart from energy drinks, the company can also come up with related products like â€Å"Energy candies† and â€Å"Energy bars† to attract more customers. 4. Diversification: At the current stage, Tagging does not have many options to diversify. But certainly with growth, the parent company Hector Beverages can consider Concentric and Horizontal diversification.As mentioned in the methodology earlier, the primary research has been divided into our parts – Blind test, Consumer survey, Retailer survey and an exclusive interview with the company's Co-founder/Director. The reason for adopting this four-step approach is to understand the product and its strategies from the perspective of all its stakeholders. It will provide us an all inclusive view to help us decide the branding/communication strategies and recommended measures. I) Blind Test: Strong Product As Redouble is seen as the main market leader, the blind test was conducted to compare it with Tagging and evaluate both the drinks on accounts of taste and mildness. Ten individuals hailing from different geographical and demographical segments were chosen to have a heterogeneous mix. They were then given samples of both the drinks, and asked to rate the two on various parameters. Following is the summary of the results: ;-1 The test clearly indicates that Tagging is a strong product with superior rating in both taste and mildness.Two other key findings from the test are summarized below: a) While 7 out of 10 respondents rated Ta gging better than Redouble, 6 out 10 did not even know about Tagging. And among the remaining 4, none had ever seen any Tagging advertisement. If we compare this to Redouble, all 10 were well aware of the brand and its strategies. B) The average price that one was ready to pay for Tagging came out to Tagging is only RSI. 25, this difference of RSI. 20 in the prices is nothing but the Consumer Surplus. On the other hand, Redouble charges way more than the average price one is ready to pay for it.Thus, we reiterate the fact that Tagging is a stronger product compared to its competitors. Even without enough brand awareness, it made its mark on the audience and therefore, effective promotional strategies can take it to an entirely different level. It) Interview with the Co-founder/Director, Hector Beverages The project demanded us to take a holistic view of the problem and hence, it was imperative to know the management's viewpoint and future plans about Tagging. We tried contacting the company HER in multiple ways and finally succeeded when Mr..Squash Miser, the Co-founder and Director of Hector Beverages Put. Ltd agreed to be interviewed. He is an alumnus of I'M-C and currently heads the marketing division of Tagging, Bangor in addition to his other roles. This made the talk more relevant to our study. His viewpoints in the form of key excerpts are scribed below: 1 . Advertisement and Promotion: Tagging focuses on Backbone and Twitter for mass promotion of the product. Being an energy drink, the targeted audience is the youth. Hence there are points of sale in multiple colleges, IT companies and Boos.Increased availability in these areas and colorful posters ensure that students and professionals are attracted to this product. Tagging is also looking into precision marketing through the digital medium. 2. To tackle lack of awareness: Increased promotion activities through Backbone and Twitter ensure that the youth of today are aware of this product and its benef its. The Backbone page has over 5 lake followers and the promoters make it highly interactive by answering their queries. Points of sale in colleges and various companies also help in spreading awareness. 3.Major Markets: Currently, the major markets futzing include Delhi, Bangor, North East and Ago. 4. Distribution Network: A direct distribution pattern is followed in Bangor. The retail stores are serviced directly. Biggest volume contributors include college canteens, offices and retail outlets like Afterworld and Reliance. 5. Future Plans: The immediate plan futzing is to be a 100 cry brand by next financial year. Iii) Retailer Survey: Mom n Pop Store: The approximate sale of Tagging is around 24 packets per week and is preferred by sportsperson whereas students still prefer Redouble.The vendor visits weekly to monitor sales and replenish stocks. ‘Tropical Trip' is the most popular flavor among customers. As far as profit margins are concerned, Tagging scores above Redouble and is a natural choice for retailers. However, the immense popularity of Redouble forces them to provide it more visibility. Supermarket: The scenario is quite different with Storage (Pepsico) enjoying the highest share in the energy drink segment, although no specific consumption pattern was noted by the shopkeeper.The distribution network is quite formalized with an elaborate list of -?150-200 vendors competing to supply. The re-purchase cycle occurs every 3-4 days and approve. 120 Tagging packets are sold in this duration. Again talking about profit margins, Storage gives a constant 16% whereas in Taiga's case it varies from 14-17%. Redouble offers a minimal and is thus the least preferred brand by the shop. (iv) Market Research – Questionnaire Based on the results of the blind test, we have directed our questionnaire and

theories of international trade

No: 1 BPO – BANE OR BOON ? Answers: 1. Which of the theories of international trade can help Indian services providers gain competitive edge over their competitors? 1. Suggested Theory to gain dynamism and competitiveness   in Operation A. Developing executive leadership at three levels †¢ top team, †¢ the personal development of individual executives as leaders and †¢ the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) B.Success Brand Development and Brand Strategy : An effective  brand strategy  will create a unique identity that will differentiate from the competition. That is why it's often deemed as the heart of a competitive strategy C. Strategies for Working : Work avoidance is one of the major paradoxes, Making a complete Plan to work, setting a quota for a week or month and making them to execute will increase the overall growth D.Achieve learning through knowledge management: Knowledge Management efforts typically focus on organizational  objectives  such as i mproved  performance,  competitive advantage,  innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and  continuous improvement  of the  organization. Knowledge Management efforts overlap with  organizational learning, and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. E.Achieve supply chain excellence : â€Å" The basis of competition for winning companies in today’s economy is supply-chain superiority,† â€Å" These companies understand that value-chain performance translates to productivity and market-share leadership. They also understand that supply-chain leadership means more than just low costs and efficiency, it requires a superior ability to shape and respond to shifts in demand with innovative products and services. 2. Productivity for   Ã‚  INTERNATION   TRADE   Competitiveness:The rapid changes in the context of the process of economic reform, globalization and liberalization have created greater compulsions for India to be productive and competitive than ever before. With rapid advancement in technology as well as Management Theory and Practice, the concept & techniques of productivity have undergone a change over time, thereby creating a need for devising fresh approaches, coining new message and adopting a new idiom to spread the message to the stakeholders.There is an urgent need to redefine and re-structure the Productivity Movement in such a way that it becomes a self perpetuating process, more so, because the general environment earlier was not very congenial for the desired productivity growth as lots of non-productive barriers & protective walls surrounded our economic system for a very long time. All these protective walls have come crashing down and now competition is the name of the Game.Keeping in view the stage at which it stands on the road to economic progress, promotion of productivity, i ts awareness creation and benefitable implementation should be the corner stone of productivity movement. Productivity in its new manifestation, as a culture of accepting and bringing about continuous change through teamwork having continued focus on the customer-need is an inescapable imperative. These Concepts have come to acquire greater significance in the current context of changes economic environment. 3. BUILDING   Brand India's Need Perspectives   STRATEGY: Need to move up the value chain- better R&D †¢ Need to project greater ROI on investment – better profitability †¢ Need to remove revenue dependence on any single resource such as human capital †¢ Need to carve a niche – IPR and Licensing †¢ Need for technological prowess and market knowledge – focused domain expertise †¢ Need to brand products and services – better marketing Every organization has its own distinctive approach towards development. Connecting these i nitiatives, there should be a commitment to enlarge the scope of innovation and to create environment conducive to Productivity.Productivity may be the outcome of techno-managerial practices, but eventually is the result of a mindset. Basic to this approach is the conviction that there is no limit to improvement. Even the best can be improved. The crucial ingredient is the preparedness of the human mind to change. Therefore, workers, managers, policy makers and others should be ready to continuously and collectively work for productivity improvement, not only in every economic activity, but also in every human endeavor for the development of the society as well as the country.Needless to mention, as we graduate further into knowledge era, traditional methods and principles will become increasingly ineffective and we will have to innovatively augment productivity both at micro as well as macro level to realize a global competitive edge. 2. Pick up some Indian services providers. With the help of Michael Porter’s diamond, analyses their strengths and weaknesses as active players in BPO. The Diamond Model of Michael Porter for the competitive advantage of Nations offers a model that can help understand the comparative position of a nation in global competition.The model can also be used for major geographic regions. Traditional country advantages : Traditionally, economic theory mentions the following factors for comparative advantage for regions or countries: 1. Land 2. Location 3. Natural resources (minerals, energy) 4. Labor, and 5. Local population size. Because these 5 factors can hardly be influenced, this fits in a rather passive (inherited) view regarding national economic opportunity. Porter says that sustained industrial growth has hardly ever been built on above mentioned basic inherited factors.Abundance of such factors may actually undermine competitive advantage! He introduces a concept called â€Å"clusters† or groups of interconnecte d firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions,that arise in certain locations. Porter Diamond Nations: According to Porter, as a rule competitive advantage of nations is the outcome of 4 interlinked advanced factors and activities in and between companies in these clusters. These can be influenced in a pro-active way by government.PORTER   Ã‚  argued   that   a   nation   can create new   advanced   factor endowments   such as   skilled   labor, a   strong technology   and  knowledge base, government   support, and culture. PORTER used   a   diamond   shaped   diagram   as a   basis   of   Ã‚  a   framework to illustrate   the   determinants   Ã‚  of   national   advantage. The   diamond represents   Ã‚  the   Ã‚  national playing   Ã‚  field   that   the countries   establish   for their  industries. The points of the diamond are described as follows FACTOR CONDITIONS: †¢ a country creates its own important factors such as skilled resources and technological base. these factors are upgraded / deployed over time to meet the demand. †¢ local disadvantges force innovations. new methods and hence comparative advantage. DEMAND CONDITIONS: †¢ a more demanding local market leads to national advantage. †¢ a strong trend setting local market helps local firms anticipate global trends. RELATED AND SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES: †¢ local competition creates innovations and cost effectiveness. †¢ this also puts pressure on local suppliers to lift their game. FIRM STRATEGY , STRUCTURE AND RIVALRY. local conditions affect firm strategy. †¢ local rivalry forces firm to move beyond basic advantages. THE DIAMOND AS A SYSTEM †¢ the effect of one point depends on the others. †¢ it is a self-reinforcing system. THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THIS MODEL †¢ to encourage †¢ to stimulate †¢ to help to create †¢ growth in industries. †¢ In Terms and Conditions Let us take the organization â€Å"TCS†' 1. BPO/ KPO Business BPO is established and is on development stage. KPO is on Threshold of Growth The Passive Analysis of The Active/Proactive Analysis ofFACTOR CONDITIONS: †¢ TCS has created its own important factors such as skilled resources and technological base for expanding BPOs / KPOs †¢ TCS is upgrading / deploying resources over time to meet the demand. †¢ New innovations. New methods has given the local industry the comparative advantage. DEMAND CONDITIONS: †¢ a more demanding local/ global market has given ‘TCS' the international / national advantage. †¢ a strong trend setting local market has helped local firms anticipate global trends.RELATED AND SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES: †¢ local competition has created innovations and cost effectiveness for the TCS . †¢ this has also put the pressure on local suppliers to lift their game. FIRM STRATEGY , STRUCTURE AND RIVALRY: à ¢â‚¬ ¢ local conditions have affected TCS various strategy. †¢ local rivalry have forced TCS to move beyond basic advantages. THE ROLE OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT IN THIS MODEL: †¢ INDIAN GOVERNMENT is encouraging more TCS . †¢ INDIAN GOVERNMENT is stimulating with paperwork reforms. INDIAN GOVERNMENT is helping to create more skilled labors. †¢ INDIAN GOVERNMENT is providing infrastructures to attract more industries. 3. Compare this case with the case given at the beginning of this chapter. What similarities and dissimilarities do you notice? Your analysis should be based on the theories explained. †¢ If you’re not faster than your competitor, you’re in a tenuous position, and if you’re only half as fast, you’re terminal. †¢ The idea is to concentrate our strength against our competitor’s relative weakness. The opportunities and threats existing in any situation always exceed the resources needed to exploit the opportun ities or avoid the threats. Thus, strategy is essentially a problem of allocating resources. If strategy is to be successful, it must allocate superior resources against a decisive opportunity. †¢ It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. †¢ Organizations pursue strategies that will disrupt the normal course of industry events and forge new industry

Impact of Corporate Governance on Firm Performance

Impact of Corporate Governance on Firm Performance—an Empirical investigation from the Insurance Industry of Pakistan Hafiz Muhammad Raheel Arif* [email  protected] com 00923216190575 *COMSATS Institute of Information Technology and Science Lahore, Pakistan Abstract The study is devoted to check the impact of corporate governance (CG) on the firm performance (FP) of the insurance industry of Pakistan. Four measures have been used in the paper to check the firm performance being affected by the corporate governance. These measures are Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Market to Book ratio and Price Earnings ratio.Data of 24 insurance companies is taken from websites of the companies and Karachi Stock Exchange website for the years 2007-2011 making up 107 observations excluding the missing observations. Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS) regression technique is used to regress the data. Findings of this study conclude that Institutional Shareholding ratio, B oard Size and Independent Directors’ ratio affect firm performance in the positive way whereas, CEO duality, Firm size, and Leverage have negative impact on firm performance overall when firm performance measured through four different measures.In future, the study may be extended to more corporate governance variables and increased sample size so that more generalized results may be achieved. Key words: Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, Insurance Industry, Pakistan. Introduction C orporate governance has now gained very much importance in the corporate world. Almost in all the countries around the globe corporate governance has become mandatory and is regulated by the concerning bodies. Like in Pakistan, this is mandatory for the corporations to comply with the best practices according to the Code of Corporate Governance [*].Various studies have attempted to probe into the relationship of corporate governance with the firm performance in the corporate world across vari ous countries. The study strives to investigate the impact of corporate governance on firm performance in the Insurance industry of Pakistan. The study basically extends the findings of Naser Najjar (2012), in his study; Naser * Code of corporate governance is included in the Regulation No. 37 for the listing regulations of Karachi Stock Exchange to ensure the best practices of corporate governance in Pakistan.Najjar (2012) investigated the relationship of corporate governance with firm performance by empirically examining this relationship of CG and firm performance in the insurance industry of the Behrain. In his study Naser Najjar (2012) used only Return on Equity as a measure of the financial performance. This study employs more financial performance measuring variables like Return on Assets, Market to Book ratios, and Price Earnings ratios by controlling firm size and the leverage ratio.Naser Najjar (2012) found a positive association between firm size and the performance of th e insurance companies suggesting that as the size increases the assets are more with the firms in the form of insurance policies and firms efficiently manage things to an ultimate gain. In their study Ming-Cheng Wu, Hsin-Chiang Lin, I-Cheng Lin, and Chun-Feng Lai found the positive relationship of firm size with the performance when measured by Return on Assets.Board size showed a negative relation in the past studies as in the study of Ming-Cheng Wu, Hsin-Chiang Lin, I-Cheng Lin, and Chun-Feng Lai; they found that board size is negatively associated with the firm performance due to the reason of board’s composition of inside as well as outside directors, and inside directors would have relatively high level of information regarding company’s internal affairs than outside directors and inside directors would work in their own interest and may confiscate the rights of shareholders and as the number of inside directors increases it makes the performance down.While anothe r study, Bacon (1973) gave a different opinion that larger board size positively affects the performance justifying in a way that larger board usually comes with a diversified background and qualifications which generates different viewpoints and hence increases quality of managerial decisions. One another very important way to control corporate bodies by reducing agency issues is to separate the CEO from Chairman (William et al. 2003).If these two characters are performed by a single individual, is known as CEO Duality. This situation if exists, reduces firm performance as there would be no one to â€Å"watch the watchers† (Zubaidah 2009). Independency of directors yet another variable to reduce confiscation of shareholders’ rights as independent directors would work in the best interest of the shareholders. The more the independent directors in the board, higher will be the performance of the firm (Zubaidah 2009).Upcoming sections are composed as; Next section review s the literature regarding the variables of corporate governance and performance measure. Then there comes the methodology section followed by the findings and results with conclusion at the end. Review of Literature Enormous studies empirically investigated the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance regarding various types of industries and across the world. Insurance industry is one of the financial sectors of any economy and it continuously gaining importance in Pakistan.Likewise, the issues of governing corporate bodies are raised during practices, the reason the study intends to check impact of corporate governance on the firm performance in the insurance industry of Pakistan. A number of studies used ROE and ROA as a measure of performance while checking for the impact of corporate governance on these variables. Naser Najjar (2012) found that there does not exist any significant association between CEO Duality as a measure of corporate governance and Re turn on Equity (ROE) as a performance measure.Masood Fooladi Chaghadari (2011) found negative relation between CEO Duality and firm performance which tells about the fact that if a single person acts as CEO and Chairman of the board it will reduce the performance of a firm. The study of Sanjai Bhagat & Brian Bolton (2007) also suggests the same results; the separation of CEO and Chairman of the board is positively and significantly associated to the firm performance. Anthony Kyereboah-Coleman (International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets) in his study found that CEO duality has negatively relationship with the firm performance.Sanjai Bhagat & Brian Bolton (2007) found very interestingly the negative relationship of board independence with operating performance and made it relevant that with respect to the board independence which received corporate governance listing requirement from NYSE and NASDAQ. Masood Fooladi Chaghadari (2011) found negative relation of leverage with ROA and positive relation of the same variable with ROE. Anthony Kyereboah-Coleman (International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets) also found negative relation of leverage with Return on Assets. Methodology I. Sample DataThe study initially undertook data of randomly selected 27 insurance companies of Pakistan from 2007-2011 making up 135 observations out of which 3 companies showed incomplete information due to which they were excluded from the study and 13 observations were missing in the data. The study then includes 107 observations. Data is collected from Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and websites of insurance companies. Current study has used Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS) regression method to regress the data collected to fulfill the objective of measuring impact of corporate governance on firm performance. II.Models In order to measure the firm performance the current study uses 4 different measures viz. Return on Assets (ROA), Retur n on Equity (ROE), Market to Book ratio (MB ratio), and Price Earnings ratio (PE ratio) and variables Board Size (BS), Institutional Shareholding ratio (ISH ratio), CEO duality (CEOD) and Board Independence as corporate governance variables while Leverage ratio (LEV) and Firm Size (FS) are controlled and included in the models as follow:- Perf(ROA) jit = ? 0 + BS jit? 1 + ISH jit? 2 + CEODjit? 3 + IDjit? 4 + LEVjit? 5 + FSjit? 6 + ? Perf(ROE) jit = ? 0 + BSjit? 1 + ISHjit? 2 + CEODjit? + IDjit? 4 + LEVjit? 5 + FSjit? 6 + ? Perf(MB) jit = ? 0 + BSjit? 1 + ISHjit? 2 + CEODjit? 3 + IDjit? 4 + LEVjit? 5 + FSjit? 6 + ? Perf(PE)jit = ? 0 + BSjit? 1 + ISHjit? 2 + CEODjit? 3 + IDjit? 4 + LEVjit? 5 + FSjit? 6 + ? Where: Perfjit= Firm Performance measured by ROA, ROE, MB, and PE ratios form firm j, ith observation at time t. ?0= the intercept. BS = Board Size ISH = Institutional Shareholding CEOD = CEO Duality ID= Independent Directors LEV = Leverage Ratio FS = Firm Size ? = Stochastic distur bance term, and all the betas are coefficients of change rate in the variables against one unit increase.III. Variables Definition Table 1 AcronymVariable NameProxies Dependent Variables ROAReturn on AssetsProfit Before Tax/Total Assets ROEReturn on EquityEarnings Available to Stockholder/Total Equity MBMarket to Book ratioMarket price Per Share/Book value Per Share PEPrice Earnings ratioMarket price Per Share/Earning Per Share Independent Variables BSBoard SizeNumber of Directors in the Board of Directors ISHInstitutional ShareholdingPercentage shares held by Institutional Investors CEODCEO DualityDummy variable, equals to 1 if CEO and Chairman is the same person or 0 otherwise.IDIndependent DirectorsThe ratio of No. of Independent Directors/Total Number of Directors in the Board of Directors LEVLeverage ratioTotal Debt/Total Assets FSFirm SizeNatural Log of Total Assets Results Table 2 discusses the descriptive statistics of all the variables including dependent variables Return o n Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Market to Book ratio (MB), and Price Earnings ratio (PE). The mean value of PE 5. 134 is less as compared to the other dependent variables which denote the lower earnings gained by insurance companies as compared to the mean value of ROE which is 12. 91 which is almost double and depicts the picture that insurance companies earn more on equity. BS mean value 10. 654 shows that on average nearly 11 numbers of directors is part of the board having a standard deviation of 1. 108. On the average 40. 489% of all the issued share of an insurance company are held by institutional investors with a standard deviation of 6. 333%. The ratio of CEOD in the insurance industry of Pakistan is 0. 477 which expresses that on the average there are 47. 7% companies where CEO and Chairman is the same individual.The mean value of ID, 0. 425 tells about the average ratio of board independence in an insurance company in Pakistan. Leverage value of 0. 581 shows that on average an insurance company employs 58. 1% debt in the capital structure ratio. Table 2 Descriptive Statistics MeanMinimumMaximumStd. Deviation ROA9. 631-25. 63852. 78320. 035 ROE12. 791-53. 85989. 36936. 980 MB5. 1343. 427. 781. 456 PE10. 3428. 716. 62. 059 BS10. 6549121. 108 FS16. 72916. 17917. 2130. 288 ISH40. 48931. 23053. 9306. 333 CEOD0. 477010. 502 ID0. 4250. 2220. 6670. 091 LEV0. 5810. 3990. 6930. 073Table 3 models summary tells about the R-Square(s), Adjusted R-Square(s) and the Durbin-Watson values which tell about the fact that is there any auto-correlation problem? The calculated values for the models individually tell that there is not auto-correlation problem as all the values are in the range 1. 5-2. 5. Adjusted R-Square of model 4(PE) is largest 0. 897 which tells that all the covariates explain the model by 89. 7%, while the Adjusted R-Squared value of model 3 is smallest 0. 722 which explains about 72. 2% of the model. Table 3 Models Summary ModelRR SquareAdjus ted R SquareStd.Error of the EstimateDurbin-Watson 1 (ROA)0. 9370. 8770. 8707. 22601. 913 2 (ROE)0. 8620. 7430. 72819. 3001. 982 3 (MB)0. 8590. 7380. 7220. 7681. 907 4 (PE)0. 9500. 9020. 8970. 6622. 257 Table 4 tells about the individual significance of the four models used in the study. The F-value of model ROA is 119. 139 and p-value is 0. 000 which tells that the model is significant, while the F-value for model ROE is 48. 189 and p-value is 0. 000 which is significant. F-value of model MB is 48. 863 and p-value is 0. 000 which is again significant and the model PE is also significant as the p-value for that model is 0. 00. All the models are significant at 5% level of significance. Table 4 ANOVA Model Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig. 1 (ROA)Regression37325. 50766220. 918119. 1390. 000 Residual5221. 53310052. 215 Total42547. 040106 2 (ROE)Regression107706. 536617951. 08948. 1890. 000 Residual37250. 738100372. 507 Total144957. 274106 3 (MB)Regression165. 773627. 62946. 8630. 000 R esidual58. 9571000. 590 Total224. 730106 4 (PE)Regression405. 554667. 592154. 0760. 000 Residual43. 8701000. 439 Total449. 424106 Table 5 narrates the Pearson correlation coefficients for the model 1 where the dependent variable is ROA.Institutional Shareholding has the largest coefficient 0. 845 which means that it has a strong positive relationship with Return on Assets. Firm size also has significantly positive relation with the return on assets. Board size unexpectedly showed a very weak relationship with the return on assets, the coefficient is 0. 048. CEO duality is another case which has a weak positive relationship with ROA, the coefficient of CEOD and ROA is 0. 034. The empirical evidence shows that there is negative relation between firm size, institutional shareholding, leverage and board size either the relations among these variables are not strong.Leverage also have negative but near to zero relation to the firm size. Board independence (ID) is also negatively associat ed to the institutional shareholding. Table 5 Pearson Correlation ROABSFSISHCEODIDLEV ROA1 BS0. 0481 FS0. 556-0. 0451 ISH0. 845-0. 2130. 3911 CEOD0. 0340. 2140. 0360. 0921 ID0. 2360. 0750. 707-0. 097-0. 0301 LEV0. 441-0. 010-0. 0010. 425-0. 321-0. 1531 Table 6 discusses the regression coefficients when the dependent variable is ROA. The results show that all the coefficients are significant except the firm size and CEO duality.Firm size has negative relation with the return on assets which is consistent with the literature. CEOD has negative impact on the firm performance when it is measured by ROA; the results are not significant but support the literature. While, Board Size (BS), Institutional Shareholding (ISH), Independent Directors (ID), and Leverage has positive impact on firm performance. There is no multi-collinearity problem with the variables as suggested by the VIF values. Table 6 Coefficients ModelVariablesUnstandardized Coefficients Standardized CoefficientstSig.Colline arity Statistics BetaStd. ErrorBeta ToleranceVIF 1(Constant)-179. 18670. 247 -2. 5510. 012** BS4. 1100. 6870. 2275. 9850. 000*0. 8501. 176 FS-0. 8464. 625-0. 012-0. 1830. 8550. 2783. 595 ISH2. 8300. 1730. 89516. 4020. 000*0. 4132. 424 CEOD-2. 2511. 620-0. 056-1. 3900. 168***0. 7461. 341 ID71. 95713. 3210. 3275. 4020. 000*0. 3342. 993 LEV26. 02312. 1630. 0952. 1400. 035**0. 6201. 613 Dependent Variable: ROA. *, **, *** show 1%, 5% and 10% significance level respectively. Table 7 discusses the Pearson correlation coefficients now taking Return on Equity as dependent variable.Again consistent with the previous model, Institutional Shareholding has the largest coefficient which shows a strong relation of ISH with ROE. COED has the smallest coefficient but has positive association with the ROE. BS has negative relation with Firm size, ISH and Leverage which in line with the literature. Independent directors’ ratio is negatively associated to the ISH but has a weaker relationship. ID has also inverse relation with leverage and also has weak relation. Table 7 Pearson Correlations ROEBSFSISHCEODIDLEV ROE1 BS0. 0531 FS0. 485-0. 0451 ISH0. 739-0. 2130. 3911 CEOD0. 0190. 2140. 0360. 0921ID0. 2890. 0750. 707-0. 097-0. 0301 LEV0. 371-0. 010-0. 0010. 425-0. 321-0. 1531 The results of some of the variables are now different form the results of the previous model where dependent variable was ROA. In the table 8, the dependent variable is Return on Equity (ROE), the reason why leverage has become insignificant. Board size, Firm size, Institutional Shareholding, and Independent directors’ ratio are the statistically significant variables. While COED and Leverage are insignificant but both have positive impact on firm performance. The Institutional Shareholding has largest beta coefficient of 0. 20 which means every 1% increase in Institutional Shareholding will increase firm performance by 0. 920. CEOD has negative impact on firm performance which is consistent wi th the findings of Masood Fooladi Chaghadari (2011). VIF values depict the absence of multi-collinearity problem in the variables. Table 8 Coefficients Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized CoefficientstSig. Collinearity Statistics BetaStd. ErrorBeta ToleranceVIF 2(Constant)138. 509187. 627 0. 7380. 462 BS7. 1561. 8340. 2143. 9020. 000*0. 8501. 176 FS-31. 18112. 354-0. 243-2. 5240. 013**0. 2783. 595 ISH5. 3790. 4610. 92111. 6720. 00*0. 4132. 424 CEOD-5. 4804. 326-0. 074-1. 2670. 208***0. 7461. 341 ID218. 28535. 5810. 5386. 1350. 000*0. 3342. 993 LEV20. 27232. 4860. 0400. 6240. 5340. 6201. 613 Dependent Variable: ROE. *, **, *** show 1%, 5% and 10% significance level respectively. Consistent with previous models, Institutional shareholding ratio has largest coefficient which strong relationship with firm performance. Board size, CEO duality and independent directors’ ratio found to have negative but weak relation with firm performance in this model. Independent direct ors’ ratio has negative association with Institutional shareholding.Independent directors’ ratio is negatively associated to the leverage ratio also. Firm size has strong positive relation with independent directors’ ratio; the correlation coefficient between these two variables is 0. 770. Table 9 Correlations MBBSFSISHCEODIDLEV MB1 BS-0. 0411 FS0. 005-0. 0451 ISH0. 624-0. 2130. 3911 CEOD-0. 2240. 2140. 0360. 0921 ID-0. 0310. 0750. 770-0. 097-0. 0301 LEV0. 375-0. 010-0. 0010. 425-0. 321-0. 1531 In Table 10 dependent variable is Market to Book ratio. In this model Firm Size (FS), COE Duality and Leverage have negative but significant impact on firm performance.Variables Board Size, Institutional Shareholding and Independent Directors’ ratio have positive and significant impact on firm performance. Negative coefficient of FS -0. 927 means every unit increase in firm size will lead to -0. 927 times decrease in firm performance. The results are consistent wit h the previous literature. VIF statistics show that there is no multi-collinearity problem. Table 10 Coefficients Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized CoefficientstSig. Collinearity Statistics BetaStd. ErrorBeta ToleranceVIF 3(Constant)67. 2377. 464 9. 0080. 000* BS0. 2590. 0730. 1973. 5540. 001*0. 501. 176 FS-4. 6920. 491-0. 927-9. 5470. 000*0. 2783. 595 ISH0. 2740. 0181. 19014. 9240. 000*0. 4132. 424 CEOD-1. 0680. 172-0. 368-6. 2070. 000*0. 7461. 341 ID11. 0621. 4160. 6927. 8140. 000*0. 3342. 993 LEV-2. 8151. 292-0. 142-2. 1790. 032**0. 6201. 613 Dependent Variable: MB. *, **, *** show 1%, 5% and 10% significance level respectively. In table 11, dependent variable is Price Earnings ratio and it shows the Pearson Correlation coefficients. Inconsistent with the previous models, Institutional Shareholding has negative and strong relationship with Price Earnings (a measure of firm performance).In this model Leverage also has strong negative relationship with firm performance . Firm Size, ISH, and LEV are negatively associated with Board Size. But only the leverage has negative relation with Firm size, CEO duality and Independent Directors’ ratio. Independent Directors’ ratio has strongly positive relationship of 0. 707 with Firm size. Table 11 Pearson Correlations PEBSFSISHCEODIDLEV PE1 BS0. 0531 FS0. 406-0. 0451 ISH-0. 582-0. 2130. 3911 CEOD-0. 1050. 2140. 0360. 0921. 0 ID0. 6680. 0750. 707-0. 097-0. 0301 LEV-0. 575-0. 010-0. 0010. 425-0. 321-0. 1531In table 12 all the independent variables are significant except for Board Size, the only variable which is insignificant but is negatively associated to the firm performance. This is also consistent with previous literature. Values of VIF tell about the absence of multi-collinearity in the variables. Table 12 Coefficients ModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig. Collinearity Statistics BetaStd. ErrorBeta ToleranceVIF 4(Constant)-38. 3486. 439 -5. 9560. 000* BS-0. 0720. 0 63-0. 039-1. 1460. 2550. 8501. 176 FS3. 6760. 4240. 5148. 6700. 000*0. 2783. 595 ISH-0. 2000. 016-0. 615-12. 6330. 00*0. 4132. 424 CEOD-0. 6570. 148-0. 160-4. 4250. 000*0. 7461. 341 ID4. 3461. 2210. 1923. 5590. 001**0. 3342. 993 LEV-9. 4391. 115-0. 336-8. 4670. 000*0. 6201. 613 Dependent Variable: PE. *, **, *** show 1%, 5% and 10% significance level respectively. Conclusion Corporate governance plays a pivotal role in the performance of Insurance Companies. There are different statutory bodies in different countries which control and ensure the best practices in the corporations like in Pakistan Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan is responsible for monitoring and controlling such practices in the corporations.This study finds that Board Size (BS), Institutional Shareholding (ISH) and Independent Directors’ ratio have positive and significant impact on corporate governance. The reasons are if Board size is large, the board has members having diverse background, mo re viewpoints, and competitive and experienced individuals which lead towards right decision making and towards better performance as compared to the industry norms. Institutional investors have more interest in the investment and management skills which adds to the performance of the firm.The more the Independent Directors in the board, the more the transparency and integrity which ultimately leads towards enhanced performance. CEO duality have negative impact on the firm performance due to reason that inefficiencies and mismanagement in the operations is not watched by any independent person which make the performance of the company worse. The study also finds that Firm Size and Leverage also have negative impact on firm performance. As the size of the firm increases due to the reason of diseconomies of scale it puts worse impact on the financial performance of the firm.For the future research, scholars may increase the sample size to get more generalized results and there should be included more corporate governance variables like family ownership, concentration, directors’ remuneration and many others. References Najjar, Naser (2012). â€Å"The Impact of Corporate Governance on the Insurance Firm’s Performance in Bahrain†. International Journal of Learning & Development ISSN 2164-4063 2012, Vol. 2, No. 2 Zubaidah Z. A. , Kamaruzaman J. and Nurmala M. K. (2009). Board structure and corporate performance in Malaysia.International Journal of Economic and Finance 1(1): 150-164. Williams S. M. and Ho C. A. (2003). International Comparative Analysis of the Association between Board Structure and the efficiency of Value Added by a Firm from its Physical Capital and Intellectual Capital Resources. The International Journal of Accounting 38(4):465-491. Ming-Cheng Wu, Hsin-Chiang Lin, I-Cheng Lin, Chun-Feng Lai. â€Å"The Effects of Corporate Governance on Firm Performance†. Chaghadari, Masood Fooladi (2011). â€Å"Corporate Governance a nd FirmPerformance† 2011 International Conference on Sociality and Economics Development IPEDR vol. 10 (2011)  © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore Bhagat, Sanjai and Bolton, Brian (2007). â€Å"Corporate Governance And Firm Performance†. Kajola, Sunday O (2008). â€Å"Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: The Case of Nigerian Listed Firms†. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science ISSN 1450-2275 Issue 14 (2008) D. N. Ranasinghe (2010). â€Å"Composition and Configuration of the Board and Firm Performance in Financial Services Industry in Sri Lanka†. DSM Business Review v Vol. , No. 2 (December, 2010) Anthony Kyereboah-Coleman (2007). â€Å"CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA: A DYNAMIC PANEL DATA ANALYSIS†. International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets. 15th -17th November, 2007, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey Shaheen, Rozina and Nishat, Dr. Mohammed. â€Å"Corporate Governan ce and Firm Performance- An Exploratory Analysis†. Nittayagasetwat, Aekkachai and Nittayagasetwat, Wiyada (2009) â€Å"Empirical Analysis of Corporate Governance: The Impact on Firm Performance: The Case of Thailand†. Patibandla, Murali (2001). Equity Pattern, Corporate Governance and Performance: A Study of India’s Corporate Sector†. J. Bacon (1973). â€Å"Corporate directorship practice, member and committees of the board†. New York: The conference board. Sanjai Bhagat, Brian Bolton (2008). â€Å"Corporate governance and firm performance†. Journal of Corporate Finance 14 (2008) 257–273 Alon Brav, Wei Jiang, Frank Partnoy, Randall Thomas (2006). â€Å"Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance†. Malik, Hifza (2011). â€Å"DETERMINANTS OF INSURANCE COMPANIES PROFITABILITY: AN ANALYSIS OF INSURANCE SECTOR OF PAKISTAN†.Volume 1, Issue 3, November 201 Naveed Ahmed, Zulfqar Ahmed, Ahmad Usman (2011). †Å"Determinants of Performance: A Case of Life Insurance Sector of Pakistan†. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 61 (2011). Al-Shami, Hamdan Ahmad (2008). â€Å"Determinants of Insurance companies’ profitability in UAE†. Narjess Boubakri, Jean-Claude Cosset, and Omrane Guedhami (2001). â€Å"Liberalization, Corporate Governance, and the Performance of Newly Privatized Firm†. William Davidson Institute Working Paper 419 Stuart Kells and Mark Rogers (1997). Executive remuneration, board structure, corporate strategy and firm performance: A taste of the literature†. ISSN 1328-4991, ISBN 0 7325 0955 6 Kader Sahin, Cigdem Sahin Basfirinci2 and Aygun Ozsalih (2011). â€Å"The impact of board composition on corporate financial and social responsibility performance: Evidence from public-listed companies in Turkey†. African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5 (7), pp. 2959-2978, 4 April, 2011 Farshid Navissi a nd Vic Naiker (2006). â€Å"Institutional ownership and corporate value†. Managerial Finance Vol. 32 No. 3, 2006 pp. 247-256 John E. Core, Robert W.Holthausen*, David F. Larcker (1999). â€Å"Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance†. Journal of Financial Economics 51 (1999) 371? 406 Dong-Sung Cho* and Jootae Kim (2007). â€Å"Outside Directors, Ownership Structure and Firm Profitability in Korea†. Volume 15 Number 2 March 2007 Victoria Wise, Muhammad Mahboob Ali (2009). â€Å"Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility in Bangladesh with special reference to Commercial Banks†. Working Paper No. AIUB-BUS-ECON-2009-0 Gujrati, Damodar N. & Porter, Dawn C. â€Å"Basic Econometrics†. 5th Edition McGraw-Hill

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Assignment 6 - Create an Research Paper, Resume, Cover Letter Paper

Assignment 6 - Create an , Resume, Cover Letter - Research Paper Example In this discussion, therefore, anecdotes are discussed. These anecdotes have been empowered with anticipates and doubts out of all fraction to their actual effect. The thousand minute scale experiments that are occurring now and the transformational methods must be distinguished. It is particularly vital to talk about the hopes that people invest in distributed information technology (Unraveling the Effects of the Internet on Political Participation 175). Technology will bring utopian vision. Nevertheless professional disclosure about the internet gives a standard story about the way in which the internet is supposed to transform things, that is through â€Å"disintermediation†. An example case of disintermediation is Wal-Mart. Sam Walton comprehend that people will to force further to save money and the information technology can track and forecast inventories frequently and in details (Norris 34). The concept of disintermediation is essential to the social thoughts of many computer natives: it gives their theory of transforms in markets, business firms, political institutions, higher learning, and so on. The most significant example of disintermediation is the â€Å"delivering† of organizations that are said to have occurred at around 1990; this incident by directing to the communicative purpose of middle managers. They convey message up to the information upward and downward the ladder that computer networks are well outfitted to replace. The internet has a role in mobilization and coalition work. For instance in broadcasting a message to one’s coalition partners about an activity taking place in congress. Electronic mail makes it easier to agree on a unified message or draft a collective letter. 1Political mobilization is a basic element for understanding why some associates of the public contribute while others do no (Unraveling the

Evaluation of Anger Management Group Research Paper

Evaluation of Anger Management Group - Research Paper Example The dependent variables that the study will use as a measure of finding out the effectiveness of the group management efforts in the evaluation will include three independent variables gender, age, and level of education and the dependent variables will be the training sessions attended by the survey participants. Each variable will be measured using nominal for gender, scale for age, ordinal for the level of education, and scale for training sessions to provide a basis for the relation of independent variables to the dependent variable and allow for the formation of a conclusion on the effectiveness of the intervention on management of anger. The study will make use of Violent Intentions-Teen Conflict Survey (Pre/post Test and L3) for the collection of data on the anger management groups from the respondents that will allow the generation of a conclusion on the effectiveness of the group in meeting its goals of managing anger (Dahlberg, et al., 2005). The researcher will provide the survey to the respondents and a copied returned during the session. The survey used by other studies in the past to measure intentions to use nonviolent strategies to control anger and conflict. Pre/Posttest measure strengths include allowing for the versatility of the collection of information, it is simply allowing for simple analysis of the data, providing a basis for comparison, and allows for flexibility in the use of control groups depending on the needs of the research. The main weakness of the measure is that the clients would remember their answer if there is no duration between the pre/posttest. Another weakness of pre/posttest is th e possibility of affecting the results resulting in a negative impact on the external validity of the research.

Social Dimensions of Child Abuse in KSA Essay Example for Free

Social Dimensions of Child Abuse in KSA Essay First of all, I wish to laud you for having tackled these important aspects of the problem you wish to do research on: You have an excellent grasp of long-term outcomes, policy changes (p. 7) Acknowledging that some baseline research has already been done (p. 5) Difficulties (p. 6), really Limitations which you must address by recommending suitable methodology Research objectives (p. 6) May I suggest you restructure in this fashion? INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND One paragraph on â€Å"why should we be concerned about child abuse?† One long paragraph on historical prevalence (cite authoritative sources, including those that have parallels to the domestic/family/society practices in KSA). One (long) paragraph on the moral and policy framework espoused by international organizations (e.g. UNICEF?) The child abuse prevalence, social philosophy and policy framework in selected countries (It is good to cite the U.S. but are there others? Notably Muslim ones?) Please consider moving the sentence at the bottom of page 3 here. It’s an effective recap. REVIEW OF LITERATURE You have ten references lined up in the bibliography.   Why not do justice to your research by summarizing what you’ve found in them?   Perhaps in this sequence? Prevalence of child abuse in KSA and other Muslim societies Types of child abuse committed in KSA Why it may be under-reported. (This is where the current content of â€Å"Difficulties of the study† really belongs. Cite sources.) The social factors behind child abuse Social, religious and policy support for combating child abuse in KSA. What legal support is there for intervening in domestic cases of child abuse, for treating both abuser and victim?   In any society, physicians would be hamstrung if laws did not exist to mandate reporting of abuse and penalties for offenders.   Everybody would just sweep things under the rug. How victims are aided/helped and offenders treated What information gaps still exist? IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY Then you’d bring in the pioneering role of KFSHRC here to affirm that some organization is doing something about child abuse but (point G. above) there remain information gaps that must be addressed if effective remedial measures are to be proposed. RESEARCH PROPOSAL PROPER Research Objectives Revise, expand or tone down according to what you have already found in Review of Literature above. 4th bullet point: replace â€Å"volume† with â€Å"incidence† or â€Å"prevalence† 5th and 6th bullet points: move to â€Å"OUTCOMES† below Consider taking out the 7th point, this involves you in doing longitudinal studies. Last bullet point: please consider re-writing to make it more specific or measurable, e.g., â€Å"Formulating – via professional consensus – a structured process for resolution, therapy and general management of abuse patients and offenders†¦.† Type of Study Considering the ticklish social situation you speak about, please think about augmenting your methodology with qualitative methods, e.g., focus groups, depth interviews and projective techniques. Target Respondents The seven points you made at the top of page 6 work better here to help shape your considerations (or rationale) for tackling different types of respondents and the data-gathering approach suitable for each one. Consider adding educators to your sample.   Not all child abuse cases result in physical trauma and not all traumas are reported to pediatricians either.   Do you have something like social welfare workers in KSA?   They might be a good source, too. Study Instruments Under Questionnaire, â€Å"This questionnaire consists of several parts† I think what you really mean is that you plan to create different versions depending on whether you’re interviewing physicians, parents, abused children or adults who can tell you about having been maltreated as children.   I believe you want to tread carefully about promising to interview abused children, this is one of the most challenging â€Å"discovery/disclosure† type of sessions counselors have to undertake. OUTCOMES This is where your statements on pages 6 and 7 belong. Your situation strikes me as one of advocacy, i.e., you want to provide a firmer basis for recognizing the problem, for professionals to take action and for government to provide legislative support.   You might also co-opt Sharia, if Koranic law has anything to say about child abuse. A FINAL NOTE: I’m not sure what â€Å"missing paragraphs† you allude to, that’s why I sent the earlier message.   The way we work, in any case, supplemental writing would be covered by filing a second order of the â€Å"Edit† type.   This is a â€Å"Review† order.   Good luck.   Hope all the above have helped.

Describing And Defining Conscience

Describing And Defining Conscience According to the definition in Colliers encyclopaedia, conscience is the human beings direct or deliberate conviction of right or wrong in resistance to the humans strong impulses and desires, conscience is the force that makes one recognise what one ought to do and bids one to do it. The problem of conscience involves two questions; what is its nature and its origin, and what is its authority? The earliest accounts of conscience, in theological tradition, explain it as the voice of God in the soul directing one to do right. 1. Modern ethics, without the appeal to supernatural principles, has developed to main theories of conscience, intuition and empiricism. Intuitionism agrees with the theological doctrine that there exists a direct and imperative certainty in right and wrong but describes this so called moral sense as a plain fact of moral nature. Various versions of intuitions have regarded the moral sense as analogous to the familiar five senses or as emotional, or as the verdict of moral reason. Empiricism rejects the claim of intuitionism as contradicted by the evidence of past experience and claims that there is no such conviction of right and wrong and that conscience is simply the cumulative inference from past experience directing future conduct. Its authority is not universal or absolute, but varies with circumstances and is ever subject to revision. 2. Conscience is a key term in Christian ethics foundation of traditional moral theology and a word familiar in popular speech. 3. Perhaps the single most important statement on conscience in the documents of Vatican 2, occurs in the Pastoral Constitution of the Church. 4. Man has in his heart a law written by God, to obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of man. There he alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbour. Infidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals an from social relationships. { Vat. 2.1966 n.pp 213-214} 1. Colliers Encyclopaedia, Vol. 7,p. 2. Colliers Encyclopaedia, Vol. 7.p. 3. MacQuarrie John, Dictionary of Christian Ethics. 4. Bier W. C. SJ. Conscience-its freedom and limitations. Traditionally, conscience has not been thought of by Christians as a special faculty, or as an intuitive voice of God with in us but simply as the mind of man making moral judgements. This is how Thomas Aquinas classically defined it. Strictly speaking conscience decides in a particular case what is to be done or avoided in the light of a grasp of general moral principles which St. Thomas called Synderesis. Conscience then, is a judgment of the practical reason at work on matters of right and wrong. 5. Indeed, in the popular mind, conscience is often taken to be a synonym for morality itself. The rights of conscience, the duty of conscience, what conscience demands or permits, all these are taken to be summaries of the human moral enterprise. In point of fact, the matter is considerably more complicated than such colloquialisms might lead us to believe. The popular understanding is at least correct is in as much as it insists on a central role for the reality of conscience. Thus, having considered what it means to be a human agent and a human person, and having sought to analyse the moral implications of that agency and that personhood, we now turn to a particular aspect of that human person, conscience. 6. In living the Christian life we have help from the past and the present. We do not face the burden of decision naked and bereft. Never the less, the decision finally must be ours. This might be a daunting prospect if the basis of the Christian life has not justification or acceptance by faith in Christ and not as a reward for a high record of conscientious moral achievement. Indeed it is precisely because the Christian is secure in the knowledge of what Christ has already done for him, that he is able to face unafraid the inevitable uncertainties of moral decisions in the present. To bring to bear moral judgments on the facts of a particular case is known as casuistry. There is much in its history which is dubious and has been questioned, but there is no escape from every Christian being a casuist once he admits that acting from the right motive is not enough; he must also seek to do what is right in the particular circumstances. The training of motive is a matter of ascetic theology; the training of the moral judgment in the situation in the education of conscience. It follows of course that conscience belongs to man as man. It is not the peculiar possession of the Christian. Having the capacity to recognise moral distinctions and apply them in particular cases is part of what we mean by a man. The actual deliverances of conscience and profoundly { and rightly } influenced by time and circumstance, though they are not determined by them. The Christian has the advantage of a more adequate understanding of human life and destiny and deeper grasp of goodness, through Jesus Christ they can be found elsewhere. He has also greater resources through the Holy Spirit in the Church on which to draw. He therefore, has the greater responsibilities. All men, whether they believe it or not, are responsible before God for acting according to their conscience and for educating their conscience according to their circumstances and possibilities. Conclusion: Conscience is what bears witness to and illuminates; conscience judges that inner awareness, evaluating it in an impartial and unbiased way {cf. also Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor 1:12f }. Conscience is not an exterior judge; it is an aspect of the self and thus understood, it can have several different qualities of its own. 5. MacQuarrie, John Dictionary of Christian Ethics, P. 66 6. OConnell, Timothy Principles for a Catholic Morality, P 83 It can be a bad conscience, denying the realities of the moral life. Conscience can function as an infallible guide to action. Paul commands his disciple Timothy to fight the good fight and hold fast to faith and a good conscience. Some men, by rejecting the guidance of conscience, have made shipwreck of their faith { 1 Tim 1: 19 f }. In the final analysis, then, the wisdom and the judgment of the Church are important, but they are not ultimately important. Therefore, the genuinely important role of Church teaching must never be allowed to deteriorate into a a loyalty test for Catholics. Is a Catholic who finds himself or herself able to agree with the judgment of the church a better Catholic than one who cannot? We must say so. For just as to use Church teaching properly is to celebrate it, to ask it to be more than it is to destroy it. To make of that valuable and cherished source of moral wisdom a tool for ecclesiastical discipline or a measure of religious fidelity is to betray it. Indeed, to see the moral teaching of the Church as a test of Catholic loyalty is ultimately to violate the nature of the Church, the nature of humanity and surely the nature of conscience. What do mean by the formation of conscience? The journey of the Christian begins at the moment of conception and ends on death when one is re-united with God and enters a new state of being. Their calling in life is to be the Christian fully alive- repent and believe, the Kingdom of God has come. Moral philosophy is the old fashioned name for ethics while moral theology is the discussion of the principles which govern the behaviour of man/woman. James Fowler described Faith Development in six stages. Stage 1; extends from infancy to approximately age 6. We receive faith from our parents, not by formal teaching but by picking up basic parental attitudes towards God, Christ, prayer, the Church and so on. The childs vision of God is that of a loving parent or threatening personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. which ever the parent projects on to the child. The child is intuitiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ picks up the moods etc. from parent adult. Stage 2; generally extends from age 7 to 12. The child receives faith from a parent or parent substitute e.g. siblings, member of extended family or a teacher in school. We pass on stories of Christianity-what we believe and what we do because of what we believe. We pass these beliefs and actions to children in a simple literalform. Children love stories. Stage 3; begins at age 13 and for many extends right through adulthood. The child now receives faith from ones environment or group. The game plan in life is to belong to a group. Now the child wants to get into middle of a group and stay there. They want to be members and do what the group does. There is security in the group-the herd instinct! Stage 4; this is called a transition stageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. when one realises that one is accountable for ones life. One is responsible for ones faith and one realises that hiding in a group is no longer possible. Leaving stage 3 means that we feel a greater need for community. Stage 5 ; is attained at about age 30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. we become mature, liberated persons. We can now deal with organisation and individual uniqueness, logic and intuition. The whole world is now open to us. Stage 6 ; the minimal age for attaining this stage is 38. Fowler says that very few of us reach this stage. The person here becomes a God lover, a people lover, a community person, a strong individual, a pioneer, a barrier breaker e.g. St. Paul. When we speak of conscience 1, we are referring to a general since of value, an awareness of personal responsibility, which is utterly characteristic of the human person. To be human is to be accountable. It is to be a being in charge of ones life. This human capacity for self-direction equally implies a human responsibility for good direction. Indeed, so much is this true that we question the humanity of anyone who lacks an awareness of value. We have varying opinions as to what is right or wrong only because we have common realisation that it makes a difference whether a thing is right or wrong. Thus every discussion of moral values, every consideration of moral questions, has on its presupposition the existence of conscience/ 1. The human person has such a conscience, and only because of that fact is the person genuinely and truly human. What can we say of conscience ? We can assert that the word conscience, as it is generally used both in ordinary conversation and in theology, points at one or other of three quite different ideas and for purposes of simplicity, it will be referred to as conscience / 1, conscience / 2. and conscience / 3. The existence of conscience / 1 does not mean that we rest on our laurels. Quite the contrary, conscience / 1 forces individual human beings to search out the objective moral values of their situation. They feel obliged to analyse their behaviour and their world, to seek to discover what is the really good thing and what is not. This search, this exercise of moral reasoning, can also be termed an act of conscience, conscience / 2. My conscience tells me that it is wrong to take that money. Here we understand conscience / 2. conscience / 2 deals with the specific perception of values, concrete individual values. It emerges in the ongoing process of reflection, discussion and analysis in which human beings have always engaged. At the level of conscience / 2, we can differ and disagree. Some may find it right to withhold taxes used to wage war, while others will find it wrong. Some may judge our culture to be morally depraved, while others will consider it an advancement over previous ages. People disagree and that is characteristic of conscience / 2. So when we speak of conscience / 2, we are speaking of a fragile reality. We are speaking of an aspect of humankind that needs all the help it can get. It needs to be educated. Individual persons are not always to see whats there. They need assistance. If they are sincere persons, they will engage in the process known as formation of conscience. For that, indeed is a characteristic of conscience / 2: it needs to be formed. It needs to be guided, directed and illuminated. It needs to be assisted in many ways. Conscience / 2, then, is quite different from conscience / 1. Its not universal, at least in its conclusions and judgments. Conscience / 3 is consummately concrete, for it is the concrete judgment of specific persons pertaining to their own immediate action. But for all that concreteness, the judgment of conscience / 3 remains infallible. That is to say, it constitutes the final norm by which a persons action must be guided. Why is that ?. The answer lies in the unique conjunction of conscience /1 and conscience /2. It was conscience / 2 that led us to analyse and understand our situation in a particular { fallible } way. We also have conscience / 1. That aspect of conscience demands, insists, requires { infallibly } that we seek to do good and avoid evil. Everyone, of course, must ultimately follow his conscience, this means that he must do right as he sees it right { conscience /3 } with desire and effort to find and to do what is right { conscience / 2 }. Fr.Bernard Haring, The Law of Christ 1..151. Conclusion: In a fundamental way, then, the Church finds itself in the same situation as the individual moral person. Just as the individuals conscience / 2 must search for the truth of its situation and, once found, must kneel before that truth, so much the conscience of the Church. We look to that ecclesial conscience with a certain confidence and trust, but we do not ask of it what it cannot give. Throughout the whole exercise of conscience / 2, as we maturely and prudently listen for whatever wisdom we can receive, we never forget that we are looking, not for the approved, not the permitted, but for the good. We and the Church together search for the true values of our situation, and once we find those values we accept them as challenges for our lives. It is that truth, that goodness, that is Supreme; and to that both and moral agent must bow.

Management Essays Key Communication Skill

Management Essays Key Communication Skill Key Communication Skill The ability to negotiate is a key communication skill and frequently takes place in the context of meeting. How can meetings be managed to ensure useful outcomes are achieved, particularly when the participants may have very different objectives? Use examples from real meetings where possible. Abstract Business meetings frequently take place with the view to allow executives to explore and achieve desired organizational objectives. They are to communicate of plans, updates, progress and outcomes of business strategies. At times these meetings are also between parties outside the organization. Whichever the case, negotiation skills are critical in helping managers to persuade other participants to change their views and accept the ones that are presented at the meeting. The ability to negotiate therefore is key to communication at meetings and required by chairpersons/leaders/participants to conduct successful business meetings. IntroductionMeetings can be frustrating and at times not necessary if the objectives of the encounter are not clearly identified. Business persons get frustrated at the frequency and quality of the meetings they attend (or conduct) declaring them a waste of time and resources. The value of such meetings is compromised when parties attending the meeting come out unsatisfied and frustrated by the decision reached. With the rate of meeting timings increasing everyday in organizations engaging executives 75 percent to 100 percent of their time, the success rate is diminishing day by day due to rapid decisions made and implemented (Timm 1997). Meetings participants are likely to feel disappointed and unsatisfied with the results of meetings especially when they spend less time in preparing and planning for meetings they attend. It is therefore not surprising to find that there are numerous documents and books published on meetings and how participants can engage in fruitful endeavours without compromising their own position. As a formal communication framework, meetings can make or break a business therefore consideration for its success is critical. Negotiation as a key to communication skills must be integrated along with other meetings strategies with the view to ensure outcomes are achieved to the desires of the participants without frustrating either party. Purpose Statement In the following report the researcher shall outline how negotiation as a key to meetings communication skill can be used to achieve business objectives despite participant differences in objectivity. The report shall first outline the purpose of meetings followed by how business meetings should be conducted and what elements are critical for its success. This is concluded with recommendations for successful business meetings. ReportPurpose of communication Building a corporate culture is pegged in the setting up of an effective communication system. Organizations shape and influence the behaviour of individuals through powerful communication strategies and culture so that they can help in achieving organizational objectives. When used appropriately, communication can offer insightful analysis of the organizations vision and mission, goals and objectives and more importantly how these may be implemented. To perpetuate conducive business environment, executives and management often engage in communication dialogues for numerous purposes and on a variety of occasions. According to Deborah J. Barrett (Oliver 2004) organizations engage in communication to mediate change management. Executives and top management uses its communication framework to communicate the need for change to cope up with the dynamic business environment. They engage in meetings with employees to communicate identification of roles in car rying out tasks required for the change management. Employees and employer meetings therefore is a top-down approach to communication with the purpose to form powerful coalition, creating vision, empowering workers to act on vision, carry out plans and consolidating efforts for change management (Barrett in Oliver 2004). However, often management in the flow of forming their objectives fail to recognize the objectives of individuals working within their organizations, resulting in ineffective and useless weekly meetings that achieve less and waste more time and resources. In another scenario communication through meetings among managers to discuss and generate ideas and feedback on work progress is also normal. Purely administrative communication of this nature is carried out with the purpose to analyze and update on organizational progress. Managers of various departments communicate their intent, delegate by expressing their proposals and establish chain of command of internalized processes for plan implementation purposes. They communicate with other managers and executives to update progress and express their desire for shared resources or to provide feedback to evaluate existing or forthcoming problems within and outside the organization. In such instances the climate of communication may not appeal to the participants as each attempt to put forth their ideas and expect acceptance from the others. For this reason resistance and barriers to communication are expected. The participants tend to bargain or negotiate their way with others with the hop e to elicit collaborative actions (Ramundo 1994). Another and perhaps the most important aspect of formal communication in meetings is the objective to elicit business outcomes from individuals outside the organizations like sellers, suppliers, unions, shareholders or directors where the basic premise of the meeting is to negotiate and come to certain winning outcomes. Meeting participants therefore come to the room geared to negotiate and to reject opponents proposals. The purpose of these corporate meetings therefore is to overcome the barriers to communication and come out as the wining party. Negotiations in business meetings Meetings in todays business world compromise of participants negotiating defensively (Foster 2004). Whether one is a buyer, a supplier, a union leader or a client successful meeting participants are those who negotiate before the contract is signed. Spending some time to communicate the details of the contract like clauses, agreed upon provisions, price or salary can help the negotiator in achieving the desired outcomes. Once a meeting is convened, the participants assume the roles of the negotiators engaging dialogues that elicit their objectives and purpose for participating. It is best that participants define the objectives and account for the desired outcomes. Successful negotiators usually plan their strategies before hand so that they can concentrate on non-aggressive yet succinct dialogues to persuade the opponent in accepting their terms. For instance a union leader and a company management will likely have their strategies written down before they enter the meeting room. They are likely to engage in dialogues that reflect clauses that they plan to negotiate upon. Such planning is critical as it helps the negotiators to direct the meeting and also to save time by concentrating on the objectives only rather than engage in meaningless communication. In such situations James Manktelow of Mind Tools (2005) is of the opinion that negotiation skills are essential in meetings and conflict situations where the participants need to appropriate their dialogues to seek wining negotiation. The participants who lose out tend to become confrontational or harbour a grudge against the wining party. Consequently the modern adage for negotiation is to create a win-win situation whereby both parties gain from the negotiation. this approach is not only critical for resolving disputes and have a lasting effect on the business relationship but it also open up channels of communication in the long term. Nevertheless, this is not to say that negotiation dialogues always result in win-win situations. In cases of policies making, or buying of a house or selling a product negotiation often result in one party losing and the other wining. For this purpose it is recommended that the situation is dealt with in an amicable manner through excessive planning for counter arguments without having to be aggressive to the other person. The key to such business meetings is to negotiate the terms of trade rather than focussing on defeating the opponent (Manktelow 2005). Consideration for trades terms, alternatives, expected outcomes, consequences, and possible resolutions are critical to the negotiation situation. Communication in meetings Meetings as discussed in the previous sections are formal communications in organizations and businesses carried out by participants with certain objectives expressed and negotiated in the course of the meeting. Successful meetings are those that engage negotiation strategies to focus and achieve desired objectives. These strategies need to be carried out in a very conducive manner so as not to offend opponent yet reach the end results amicably. For this purpose, Joan Mulholland (1991) recommends certain kind of speech acts chosen to represent a range of meanings and significance designed to represent and develop negotiation content. These acts should be considered often and may be integrated in negotiation dialogues to express certain context and performance of certain actions. Mulholland posit that communication during a negotiation meeting entail the use of body language as well as speech specification. Careful use of language notations and sentence structure can greatly influence the results of the encounter. For example one of the most important parts of meetings is the participants acceptance or rejection of proposed ideas. Depending on the individual perception offer or proposal can be accepted, rejected or reach a compromise. Depending on how the proposal is presented the response from the participants can damage cooperation behaviour and result in conflict situation if it is rejected. To mediate and elicit a positive response even if the participant is hesitant about accepting the proposed idea should demonstrate a cooperative attitude by acknowledging the ideas without acceptance by saying Thats an idea worth consideration; given general acceptance like we would be keen to do something along those lines on day. or set up a response from other participants or voice hesitation before acceptance (Mulholland 1991). On the other hand in cases of real acceptance of ideas participants should not hasten to communicate acceptance immediately but should ask for additional information and reports to reach to informed decisions. The important aspect of the meeting is to show to the participants that the outcome should be mutual. Furthermore, acceptance in situations of business meetings should be entirely separate from the person who has communicated and negotiated the deal. The communicator should communicate the fact that the organization or institutions with which he is associated and himself are two different entities and any personal remarks should not constitute as business dialogues. The content or objectives of the meeting should also be separated from participants who attend it. These considerations are important for participants to be objective in their decisions whether it is a rejection or acceptance or something in between (Mulholland 1991). Hence, a human resources manager conducting a performance appraisal (a type of meeting) should communicate its objectivity and his/her role as the mediator and the organizations requirement. He/she should also communicate the separation of the employees records and performance outcome from himself the evaluator. Any negative outcome from the performance appraisal meeting should not be associated with the ill-will of the appraiser. This can be expressed through verbal communication between the participant s. Effective meetings The above dynamics are critical for influencing the progress of meetings in the desired direction of organizational objectives. However, implementing these dynamics does not necessarily guarantee efficacy of meetings. Instead there are certain procedures that need to be followed and managed for meetings to achieve its objectivity. Adair and Thomas (2003) prescribe preparation and the following formality:  ¢ planning  ¢ Informality  ¢ Participation  ¢ Purpose  ¢ Leadership They also outline the importance of purpose in meetings:  ¢ To pool available information  ¢ To make decisions  ¢ To let off steam/tension  ¢ To change attitudes  ¢ To instruct/teach Gathering information, reports, agendas and laying out technical data or equipment in advance are helpful. Meetings should be purposeful so that the information relegated is meaningful for the participants to absorb, analyze and make decisions. Whether it is a meeting of signing contracts, an employee-employer appraisal meeting or a purchase of an asset, advance planning is critical in enabling the participants to focus on the objectives. Since meetings are of groups of people from different background, different meetings tend to develop personalities of its own. Leaders or the chair persons must make efforts to understand the personality of the participants conformity, values, attitudes, prejudice or power so that they can effectively communicate in a certain manner to influence participants thinking (Adair and Thomas 2003). Furthermore, Kellie Fowler (2005) is of the opinion that running effective meetings is inherent in the skills of the leader who is managing the meeting. The leader should: Generate an agenda to all involved in the meeting Start the discussion and encourage active participation Work to keep the meeting at a comfortable pace not moving too fast or too slow Summarize the discussion and the recommendations at the end of each logical section Circulate minutes to all participants (Fowler 2005) But perhaps the most important aspect is the fine tuning of negotiation skills so that outcomes can be achieved. The first step is to choose the right participants to contribute to the decision making and problem solving initiatives. The key is to try to keep the number of participants to 12 and ensure that they are knowledgeable in the issue under consideration. The leaders role in enumerating on the agenda, guiding the participants and direct them towards it, and summing up of the debate is critical as he/she is the one who rounds up the various views to resolve the issues discussed. Confusions, misunderstanding and mix-up of any sort should be clarified before decisions are made. The basic premise for such meetings often stem from the debates or negotiating points presented by the participants. The leader or the chairperson acting as the mediator must keep the above communication principles and dynamics in mind to guide the participants in taking part in the decision and not feel neglected or lose out in the negotiation. Conclusion The above report on meetings enumerate on the process and management of effective meetings. It also outlines the importance of negotiation skills in contributing to successful business meetings under certain circumstances. The purpose of meetings as discussed is to focus on planned agenda and achieve desired outcomes. Many business meetings deviate from this focus and tend to result in inefficacy and waste of time. For this reason it is recommended that meeting participants develop planned agendas, focus on objectives and agenda, and direct the flow of communication dialogues in the same direction. More importantly, for business meetings to reach its desired conclusions, participants should engage in amicable negotiation strategies in which both parties attain a win-win situation. This adage has proven beneficial and fruitful for meetings participants as it relegated non-aggressive business conduct and communication yet at the same time achieves the desired corporate objectives. Successful meetings therefore are those that engage in extensive preparation, allow time for participants to understand agendas and purpose of the meeting and equip themselves with information for debates and discussion. Meetings that elicit positive response engage participants in positive and non-aggressive dialogues by allowing them to communicate their ideas and reservations. The leader or the participant has the choice to reject or accept or compromise but these should be communicated in an amiable manner without offending the opposing parties and at the same time do not compromise ones own position. Overall successful meetings are those that influence the objectives which the participants had before they entered the meeting room and persuade them to see ones own point of view and adopt it. References Barrett, D. J. 2004, A best-practice approach to designing a change communication programme from Sandra Oliver, A Handbook of Corporate Communication and Strategic Public Relations: Pure and Applied. Routledge: New York. p20. Foster, J. Jul 2004, Negotiate Defensively, Successful Meetings. Vol.53, Iss. 8; pg. 24 Manktelow, J. 2005, Win-Win Negotiation: Finding a fair compromise. Mind Tools, Accessed on 26-11-2005 from: http://www.mindtools.com/stress/cwt/TeamNegotiationSkills.htm Mulholland, J. 1991, The Language of Negotiation: A Handbook of Practical Strategies for Improving Communication. Routledge: New York p137. Ramundo, B. A. 1994, The Bargaining Manager: Enhancing Organizational Results through Effective Negotiation. Quorum Books: Westport, CT. p85. Timm, P. R. 1997, How to Hold Successful Meetings: 30 Action Tips for Managing Effective Meetings (30-Minute Solutions Series), Career Press.