Running Head:Factors to Evaluate in Making a Location Decision

In industry and commerce one of the most critical aspect of the future success of any business entity, is the strategic location where the business is supposed to be set up. With the advent of technology, increased competition, cost cutting measures and advancement in business infrastructure, the decision making process of identifying the most ideal locations to set up a business has become more complicated and dynamic. (MacCarthy B.L. & Atthirawong W. 2003). The location decision process is an intricate process that involves the systematic feasibility study of a location with the view of establishing the advantages that would accrue to the organization’s locality. The assessment of a particular location is an assignment that the enterprise should thoroughly conduct because it will determine its survival The site where such a business is located is of central importance because it determines not only the competitiveness of the enterprise but its production and overhead capacities as well. Therefore any organization willing to progress has got to evaluate and invest heavily in the location decision process. (MacCarthy, B.L., & Atthirawong W. 2003) It is important before discussing the factors that influence location decision to understand that various industries differ in the way they assess these factors. Multinational organizations setting up bases in foreign countries will always have different methodology from an organization setting up base at local level. The service industry’s evaluation program will also differ from a manufacturing entity; whereas the service industry’s major criteria would be the proximity to the market and the consumers’ ability to buy, the manufacturing entity would be different. A manufacturing plants main focus besides the availability of the market would generally be cost cutting factors. These paper is going to address factors that would be important for an international firm looking for a location in new international market.There are various factors that such an organization is supposed to pay particular attention to. These factors influence the ability of the organization/industry to achieve its goal and mission. A location decision considers both economic and non-economic factors, which are sometimes referred to as financial and non-financial considerations. The first step towards making a correct and comprehensive decision is started off by defining the problem. The recognition that there is a need for a new location, which is necessitated by such factors as: New competition Business expansion Change in customer needs When the problem or the reason for looking for a new location has been assessed and defined then the next important stage is to critically examine the various factors that are supposed to be evaluated in identifying the location of the enterprise. This factors are categorized into two; Economic factors and non economic factors Economic Factors Economic factors will determine the profitability of the enterprise. Under economic factors costs that need to be evaluated are production costs, which would include the cost of energy (electricity), cost of raw materials, cost of taxation and wage rate within the new location. Wage rates on the other hand will enable the company determine among other things level of production, the payroll budget and consequently the cost of the end product (Bognanno M. F. Et al 2005). Procurement costs also play a vital role in selecting the site because they determine the total cost of the end product or service. Procurement costs include cost of sourcing of raw materials, cost of transportation and other logistic issues. Distribution costs determine the penetration level of the goods or services that are being offered by the enterprise. The market accessibility is the key feature when assessing the market and would include the infrastructure development within the specified location, mode of transportation and the number of distribution channels.   In most international companies the greatest factor remains the market size at the host country and the accessibility to other lucrative markets. (Spee R. & Wim D.2003) Transport and infrastructure are key element to consider when evaluating the location.   These two are important factors especially for the service industry that need to stay close to their market. Infrastructure may include such aspects as level of technological integration; the standard of the road network or rail network, the accessibility to such institutions like banks and other credit points. The telecommunication systems also are part of the infrastructure framework and such factors like Internet, telephone, mobile phones and Information technology advancement determine how well the enterprise will be able to coordinate its various activities. (Spee R. & Wim D.2003) Non-monetary/non-economic factors These are factors that do not necessarily have any fixed monetary value yet they contribute significantly towards the enterprises productivity. Top of this list are government and political issues. Policies developed by respective governments determine how well the organization is able to fit in the particular environment. Number of trade licenses, patent protection laws, industrial safety regulation, the tax regime, legal settlement process, environmental laws and so on are some of the considerations that the company needs to consider. (Talley-Seijn, M.2004) Labor characteristics are another non-economic factor that affects the location decision. The characteristics of the labor determine how fast the company will be able to fit within a particular environment. The availability of human management resources and specific skills will enable the company to conduct various production and management processes in the most efficient manner. Availability of technical know-how, experienced personnel and well-equipped labor force is the key driver to how the entity will conduct its business. (Brush, T. H.1999) Government stability is very important for any organization. Stability can be looked in terms of how the government handles transition from one regime to another, its relationship with the neighboring countries and its governance abilities. In democratic countries this is a major factor to consider because the stability of the said government directly affects strategic plans that the enterprise may come up with. (Brush, T. H.1999) REFERENCES Bognanno, Mario F., Michael P. Keane, and Donghoon Yang. (2005):   â€Å"The Influence of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wages and Industrial Relations Environments on the Production Location  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Decisions of U.S. Multinational Corporations.† Industrial and Labor Relations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Review 58, no. 2 Brush, Thomas H (1999) â€Å"plant location decision in multinational manufacturing firms: An empirical analysis of international business and manufacturing strategy perspectives, The†. Production and Operations Management. MacCarthy, B.L., and W. Atthirawong. (2003): â€Å"Factors Affecting Location Decisions in  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   International Operations—A Delphi Study.† International Journal of Operations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and Production Management 23, no. 7: 794–828. Spee, Roel, and Wim Douw. (September 2003): â€Å"Cost-Reduction Location Strategies.†Ã‚   Journal of Corporate  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Real Estate 6, no. 1 Talley-Seijn, Margaret. (July 2004): â€Å"30 Years of Location Strategies.† Plants, Sites and Parks 31, no. 3: 26–29.      

Does Blowing the Whistle Violate Company Loyalty? Essay

Employees have moral obligations to respect the property of the corporation, to abide by employment† onmouseover=†window.status = ‘goto: employment’;return 1†³ onmouseout=†window.status=†Ã¢â‚¬ >employment contracts, and to operate within the bounds of the company’s procedural rules. However, the duty of loyalty is not absolute. That an employee should be loyal is a prima facie duty. The object of the employee’s duty must be deserving if the duty is genuine and overriding rater that prima facie. Many of the moral grounds for employee loyalty have been destroyed. Yet there are some minimum requirements of loyalty based in law. The whistleblower may feel they face a conflict between loyalty to their organization and loyalty to the public. The fact is that loyalty to an organization stems from an acceptance of its objectives. However if the objectives involve breaking the law it is difficult to see that there’s any loyalty o bligation. The public interest comes first. The Insider begins with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a producer for â€Å"60 Minutes†, searching for and obtaining interviews with important people in newsworthy situations. One day, he receives a box full of technical books† onmouseover=†window.status = ‘goto: books’;return 1†³ onmouseout=†window.status=†Ã¢â‚¬ >books pertaining to the temperature of burning cigarettes and the like. Unable to comprehend anything in the manuals, he asks Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), head of research at Brown & Williamson, to translate everything. However, Bergman begins to believe Wigand has something more to say. Turns out, Wigand was fired from his job for being a little too vocal on certain issues. Unfortunately, Wigand has signed a confidentiality agreement with B&W that prohibits him from revealing secrets about his old employer. Bergman has to find a way around the confidentiality agreement, or jeopardize Wigand’s family and future. Ultimately, it’s Wigand’s decision: does he tell all and go to jail, or does he stay silent and leave Americans in the dark? The rest of the film is propelled by CBSâ€⠄¢ decision not to air the interview, which Bergman fights to the bitter end. CBS apparently has a lucrative merger that could be jeopardized by a lawsuit from Brown & Williamson. Helen Caperelli (Gina Gershon) informs Bergman and Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) that they can not air the interview due to the impending suit–apparently, B&W can sue CBS for being a third party  in the dissolvement of the confidentiality agreement. After much soul-searching, CBS finally airs the interview. All and all Wigand, himself, is even corrupted by the promise of money: tell us what you know, and we’ll pay you. Corporations aren’t ruled by people–they are ruled by money, and lots of it. This may be a depiction of a small time in the United States’ history, but its themes can be interpreted for any time. I believe in blowing the whistle isn’t a good thing because as you can see in the movie Wigand lost his family, his job, and he lost a lot of money â€Å"blowing the whistle†. Wigand knew what he was getting him self into or else he would not have taking the job in the first place, I mean come on working for a cigarette company, a person knows cigarettes are bad for you. It is plan and simple he took the job knowing he was going to have to do something relating too cigarettes and he signed papers saying he would protect the company name. There for if he did not like what the job had to offer he should not of taken the job in the first place. Blowing the whistle in my mind, I would not do it if it came to me losing my family, and losing my income I do not think I would be able to do that considering the consequences . This is where I stand in the issue â€Å"Does Blowing the Whistle Violate Company Loyalty?†

The Success Of The Goal - 977 Words

The targets supporting the achievement of the goal can be measured, are indeed being measured but fail to provide built in incentives or sanctions should these targets not be met or fulfilled. The idea is to put a stop to deforestation, restore land and water ecosystems, protect the planet’s biodiversity and various species. Key to the success of the goal is the target to significantly increase financial resources to support conservation, sustainable development and ensure equitable sharing and access to resources. Although these targets can be measured, the accuracy of the data can be called into question because government sources are not always the most trustworthy. Some geographical areas of the world have shown to have skewed the facts (â€Å"Spot the Rancher†). The failure of the Kyoto accord and the Canadian tar sands illuminate the uphill battle the UN faces in attaining their goal. As long as elected officials choose to favour economic growth and profit over su stainable development and equality the goal will not be achieved and the targets are irrelevant. The targets are measurable. Organizations such as the World Resources Institute have been working to create an international forest watch. With the use of satellites and technology that provides new ways of detecting deforestation patterns, forests can be far more easily monitored an analyzed. This gives governments an ability to police their forests and allows them to be alerted when certain areas are in dangerShow MoreRelatedGoals And Goals For Academic Success946 Words   |  4 PagesGoal 1: This goal is written measurably because it is something as a class we can keep her accountable for and help her succeed by giving her feedback. 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The one goal that seems to bother me often is working out on aRead MoreAcademic Success : Career Goals930 Words   |  4 Pages Continuing Academic Success Continuing Academic Success remain beneficial to my life by reason of I hunger a better paying job to provide for my family and I realize studying strong and working hard will secure success in school and in life. The benefits of creating an educational goal remain as follows limitations of stress, focus on time management and lastly exceptional writing skills. Educational and career goals primarily focus on the ability to secure and maintain successfulRead MoreAcademic Success : Career Goals1378 Words   |  6 PagesContinuing Academic Success Brianne Ard Gen/201 June 29, 2015 Christina Gruca Continuing Academic Success Introduction â€Å"Motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something, but often finding the desire within you can prove difficult. 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Gender Inequality Within The United States - 1531 Words

In the past, women are recognized to be feminine who contributes more at home while men is the person who being more masculine and is the one who goes out and earns money to support the family. Nowadays, women education level is getting higher and they have more opportunities to receive better education and work in the society while men are not only limited to jobs that requires leadership but also some caring jobs like nurse or social worker. So we can see there is a trend implicates that the gender roles are slowly starting to change but the gender stereotype still have stayed firmly over the years in North America even though people are now more aware of the problem of gender inequality. In North America, gender roles between women and†¦show more content†¦Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2011) found that 98 % of Fortune 500 CEOs are men, and 97 % of them are White. Women are not able to enter the career fields such as science, politics and business. â€Å"Althou gh America has opened its doors to the 50% population women college graduates entering the working world, it has locked its gates on promotions above the first management tier, except for the few that were able to knock the gates down†(Lana 1). Lana reveals that it is difficult for women to earn higher positions even both genders have similar opportunities to get jobs nowadays. Women have gained their independence from a male dominated society and are rising to become less dependent on their husbands for financial support. Feminism movements not only have helped to raise the confidence and self-esteem of women but also helped them to get a better life from advocating gender equality. Thus, this shows that gender equality have been improved over the years but there are still gender Inequality due to the gender stereotype in our society. Gender stereotype have remained firmly over the years in North America that social norms pre-assumed the career of women and men in workplace traditionally. â€Å"The characterizations of women and men that comprise descriptive gender stereotypes are remarkably consistent. They have been shown to be consistent across culture† (Heilman 115). Heliman states that the gender stereotype did not change over time because the

Explain the mechanism referred to in the above statement...

â€Å"Trade between advanced countries that are abundant in capital and skill and NIEs (Newly Industrialising Economies) with their abundant supply of unskilled labour was raising the wages of highly skilled workers and lowering the wages of less-skilled workers in the skill- and capital-abundant countries † (Krugman, Obstfeld and Melitz). Explain the mechanism referred to in the above statement using the Heckscher-Ohlin model. The Heckscher-Ohlin model is extremely useful when illustrating how endowments of a particular resource can influence trade between economies. The model shows us how comparative advantage is explained somewhat by the relative abundance of certain resources, such as land, labour or capital. The Heckscher-Ohlin (HO)†¦show more content†¦Assuming the demand schedule is identical in both countries, then without trade, Foreign’s own market equilibrium is at ‘1’ and Home’s equilibrium for cars is at ‘2’. When the two countries trade, the relative ‘world’ price converges to a point somewhere in between these two points at ‘3’. We can see from the above illustration that trade leads to a convergence of world prices at point 3. The Foreign economy will therefore export the good that has seen an increase in its relative price. Now that we have seen how prices change under the assumptions of the HO model, I will now explain how these changes have an impact on the distribution of income in countries open to trade. A rise in the prices of cars increases the purchasing power of skilled labour (the abundant factor) in the foreign country in terms of both goods. At the same time it decreases the purchasing power of unskilled labour (the scarce factor) in terms of both goods. So by opening up to trade, the owners of the abundant factor become better off, whilst owners of the scarce factor become worse off. Theoretically, opening to trade should increase the consumption possibilities for the whole economy, allowing everyone to gain a higher utility. So why do some people become worse off, post-trade under the HO model? The underlying issue is that trade only changes relative prices of factors, which has a direct effect on the relative earnings of thoseShow MoreRelatedIbe International Business Questions Essay example9943 Words   |  40 Pagesa result, during the twenty-first century the triad will be of central importance in the study of international business. 7. Does outsourcing to low wage countries benefit or hurt the home economy? Outsourcing can be domestic or offshore. Using domestic sources for raw materials and components allows a company to avoid problems with language differences, distance, currency, politics, and tariffs, as well as problems. However, for many companies, domestic sources may be unavailable or mayRead MoreEffect of Internal Controls on Financial Performance11978 Words   |  48 Pagesvariables and their impact on performance (Bamford et al., 2004). However, in order to be able to analyze and model the performance of new ventures and SMEs, the complexity and dynamism they are facing as well as the fact that they may not be a homogenous group but significantly different in regard to many characteristics (Gartner et al., 1989) have to be taken into account. In line with the above, there have been challenging debates all over the world on the role played by Small and Medium EnterprisesRead MoreTrade Openness and Economic Growth in Nigeria23422 Words   |  94 Pagesperiod of 1970 – 1985, import substitution industrialization (ISI) strategy was a dominant feature of trade policy in Nigeria. The trade policy was generally inward oriented. Under this ISI strategy, â€Å"Infant† manufacturing industries were protected using high tariffs, import quotas, and other trade restrictions like import licensing. Non-tariff barriers to trade such as import prohibitions were also utilized. During this period, trade policy was also adjusted in response to the exigencies of the balanceRead MoreAN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE MINING SECTOR IN NIGERIA15805 Words   |  64 Pagescontribution to dealing with the legacy of abandoned mines (Balkau and Parsons, 1999). It is from this foregoing th at the study is set to critically analyze the environmental impact of foreign drect investment in the mining industry in Nigeria. 1.1 Statement of the Problem The mining industry has traditionally been a major recipient of foreign direct investment in sub- Saharan Africa (Nigeria inclusive), and has commonly been an important foreign exchange earner for the region. Over the forty years

Future of Financial Advice

Questions: Task 1: The Future of Financial Advice legislation covered several component and areas of financial product advice, including the following key areas Acting in the best interest of the client Conflicted Remuneration Disclosure Task 2: As a final part of your assignment, you are expected to provide a critique forming your own views and conclusion of the FOFA reform a (including the recent changes). You need to discuss the impact (wether positive and or negative) of the FOFA reform on the following: Access to Advice Quality of advice Meeting the substance of acting in the best interest of the client? Answers: Task 1: Part one Background: FOFA In the year 2010, the ex- Australian minister of Minister for Financial Services has announced that the Government of Australia has launched a reform package known as Future of Financial Advice (Cygan, 2012.). The abbreviation of Future of Financial Advice is FOFA. The main function of FOFA is to develop the trust and the Australian traders confidence in the service of financial division. The Future of Financial Advice has ensured to the traders of Australia about the high quality advice in the financial divisions (Choudhry and Landuyt, 2010). The Future of Financial Advice works as per Australian Government, which retort to investigate into the Financial Products and Services in Australia. This reform is made in the year 2009 by the Joint Committee of Parliament on Corporations and Financial Services. The Future Financial Advice legislation covered several component and areas of financial product advice, which includes the following key areas: a) Acting in the best interest of the client b) Conflicted Remuneration c) Disclosure. Acting in the best interest of the client: It mainly provides advice and new ideas to their clients about their best interest act. They only provide the advice and demonstrate to their clients about their interest rate structures and also showing that how they had approved certain steps in demonstrating and counselling their clients (Fevurly, 2009.). The steps which that has been approved by the Future of Financial Advice for their clients acts as a protected port which cares about their clients best interest rate structures. To convince the steps for the secured port a counsellor must provide: 1) The objectives should be identified first, then the adviser look after the financial conditions of the client and then try to understand the needs of their clients which are demonstrated by the clients through some instructions. 2) The adviser should identify the clients subject matter which will help the adviser to give a better instruction to their clients. 3) Thirdly, the adviser should identify their clients objectives, then the adviser should look after the financial conditions of their client and then try to understand the needs of their clients pertinent situation (Kamen and Burg, 2010). 4) The adviser should relate all the information given by their clients and then the adviser should relate all the information given by the client to give a better quality advice to their client. If the adviser understand that the information given by their client is insufficient, the adviser should try to find out all the information and should give a better quality advice to their client. 5) After providing the advice to their client, the adviser should try to find out that the advice given by the adviser is interested by the client or not. If the advice is not interested by the client then try to find out the needs of the client to produce a better quality to the client (Maloney, 2008). 6) After gathering all the information from the client, the adviser should give a better quality advice to the client, so that the client gets satisfied after getting the advice from the adviser. 7) The adviser should give a better judgement to their client which can meet the satisfaction level of their clients. Providing Appropriate Advice After gathering all the information from the client and after understanding the appropriate needs of the client, the adviser should give an appropriate advice to the client (Ripoll, 2012). Conflicted Remuneration Another key area of the Future of Financial Advice is Conflicted Remuneration .The elements represents the conflicted remuneration are the reimbursement given by an Australian Financial Services Licensee. It is also known as AFSL (Allen and Dudney, 2010). It also represents the character of the reimbursement and can be logically influence the option of the financial product which is suggested by the adviser. When does this come into force? The arrangements of Conflicted Remuneration come into act in the year 30 June 2013. This act is mainly maintained by the Australian Government. It acts under the grandfathering regulation. And the person who became the clients with the Future of Financial Advice before the year 1st July 2014, they belong to the regulation of Grandfathering (Allen and Dudney, 2010). And the persons who became clients with the Future of Financial Advice after the year 1st July 2014, they are not belongs to the regulation of Grandfathering. The benefits of Conflicted Remuneration The conception of benefits is very broad and wide in conflicted remuneration. The benefit of conflicted remuneration includes both the financial and the non financial benefits. The types of benefits that come under the conflicted remuneration are: a) The financial product issuers pay some commissions. b) The financial product issuer pays some discounts in volume based matters. c) The adviser may get some bonus or some margins of profit, if it is volume based matter. d) For the advisers, they have some equity participation schemes. e) The adviser gets some reward like travel and amusement. Exceptions of Conflicted Remuneration There are plenty of exceptions in Conflicted Remuneration which includes: a) The financial product may be based on the product of general insurance, life insurance, or the product may be based on banking sector (Kramer, 2012). b) By issuing or by selling the financial product, the benefits are given. c) If the client is satisfied by the advice, the benefit is given to the adviser. d) According to the securities, stamping fees is needed. e) If it is a non financial product or less than the 300 AUD for the education purpose or for the training purpose, benefit is allocated. Disclosure Statement The disclosure statement of the Future of Financial Advice is mentioned in the following. The Future of Financial Advice was firstly launched in the year 2013. In the year 2013, the FDS that is the fee disclosure statements for the new clients and the old clients are almost same (Yellen, P. 2003.). When the client comes to the Future of Financial Advice for their advice, the adviser charges for their advice. The steps are given to prepare FDS: 1) Collate a list of all retail only clients The adviser must give Fee Disclosure Statement to the new clients as well as the old clients. The new clients of the Future of Financial Advice who have became the client after 13 July 2013 does not receive any fees arrangement by the adviser. But the clients who have became client with the Future of Financial Advice before 1st July 2013 receives fees arrangements from the adviser. 2) The clients who are not in the section of ongoing fee arrangement The arrangement of payment plan: a) The fees which should be paid by the client are fixed. And the arrangement of FDS is made by the adviser when the client enters into the deal. b) The clients can pay the fees in instalments in a fixed period of time. c) The client cannot neglect the fees structure under the arrangement of the Future of Financial Advice. 3) The FDS last date The fee disclosure statement should be handover to the client within the 30 days from the beginning of the date of disclosure. If 1st July is the disclosure date then the FDS can be handover to the recipients between the 1st July and 30th July (Kramer, M. 2008.). This brings more flexibility in the Fee Disclosure Statement. 4) Inform clients The fee disclosure statement should be submitted in written to the client by the adviser. This means the adviser can send the fee disclosure statement to the client through electronic mail and via by post. Task: Part 2 The impact of the Future of Financial Advice on the following:- a) Access to Advice b) Quality of Advice c) Meeting the substance of acting in the best interest of the client. Access to advice: The Future of Financial Advice has removed the legislation section 961B(2)(a). And instead of the previous section 961B(2)(a), they launched another legislative section 961B(2)(ba) (Gerrans, P. and Hershey, D. 2011.). Under the new legislative section, the Future of Financial Advice has given a new responsibility to the adviser. The adviser should examine the clients conditions which are appreciably reduced. The Future of Financial Advice should look into the matter that the clients of the Financial Advise Group are not getting the proper advice due to the underprivileged language skills and lack of financial knowledge. After gathering all the information from the client, the adviser should give a better quality advice to the client, so that the client gets satisfied after getting the advice from the adviser. The adviser should give a better judgement to their client which can meet the satisfaction level of their clients. Quality of Advice: Firstly, the adviser should try to understand the clients need and then the adviser should look after the financial conditions of the client. If the client wants to take enough risk, then the adviser should advice the client in a different method. If the client do not wants to take enough risk, then the adviser should demonstrate the client in different way (Gerrans, P. and Hershey, D. 2011.).. That is why the adviser should understand the clients requirement first and then demonstrate the matter and give advice to the client. After providing the advice to their client, the adviser should try to find out that the advice given by the adviser is interested by the client or not. If the advice is not interested by the client then try to find out the needs of the client to produce a better quality to the client. Meeting the substance of acting in the best interest of the client: The projected law makes the situation broad and wide for the client of the Future of Financial Advice, where the representative or the worker of an Authorised Deposit taking Institution can contact with the clients by reducing the interest rates for the individual advice. The individual advice can be demonstrated on the basis of the product of general insurance, the product of life insurance and also in the financial product produced by the banking sector (Gerrans, P. and Hershey, D. 2011.). This is mainly relating with the Consumer Credit Insurance product also known as CCI product. In Consumer Credit Insurance it has been reflected that there is many constant and mis-selling. The Future of Financial Advice has to take care of it. The objectives should be identified first, then the adviser look after the financial conditions of the client and then try to understand the needs of their clients which are demonstrated by the clients through some instructions. References: Carstensen, L. (2009). A long bright future. New York: Broadway Books. Choudhry, M. and Landuyt, G. (2010). The future of finance. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley. Cygan, D. (2012.). The joy of financial security. Fevurly, K. (2010.). Plan your financial future. Kamen, K. and Burg, D. (2010). Reclaim your nest egg. Hoboken, N.J.: Bloomberg Press. Maloney, M. (2008). Guide to investing in gold and silver. New York: Business Plus. Ripoll, B. (2012). Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011 and Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011. Canberra: Senate Printing Unit. Yellen, P. (2003.). The bank on yourself revolution. Allen, A. and Dudney, D. (2010). Does the Quality of Financial Advice Affect Prices?. Financial Review, 45(2), pp.387-414. Kramer, M. (2012). Financial Advice and Individual Investor Portfolio Performance. Financial Management, 41(2), pp.395-428. Calcagno, R. and Monticone, C. (2008.). Financial Literacy and the Demand for Financial Advice. SSRN Journal. . Gerrans, P. and Hershey, D. (2010.). Financial Adviser Anxiety, Financial Literacy and Financial Advice Seeking. SSRN Journal. Gerrans, P. and Hershey, D. (2011.). Financial Literacy and Financial Advice Seeking in an Ageing Australia. SSRN Journal. Kramer, M. (2008.). Financial Literacy, Cognitive Ability and Financial Advice-Seeking. SSRN Journal.

Marketing Research and Marketing Assignment

Executive Summary The traffic village website will provide information on the real village that is still under construction. The traffic village is a project of the Abu Dhabi Police. We conducted a market survey and found that parents are in favour of the traffic village. They are in agreement with the major objective of the village, which is to train children aged between 3 and 12 years on responsible driving. We will use a penetration pricing strategy to increase our market share.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marketing Research and Marketing Assignment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More All marketing initiatives associated with the website will be free of charge, with the exception of buying Facebook advertisements, which will cost us 2.5 USD per day. The cost per customer for the first year will be 7.6 USD. In the first year, we will allocate 28.88% of our profits to marketing campaigns. We will virtualise a ll our storage facilities and servers to reduce on energy consumption. Objectives of the Research The intended objective of the Traffic Village site is to disseminate information about the real village to people of all ages and from all places. The major objective of the site is to provide information on traffic rules and regulation to the new generation of Abu Dhabi residents and future drivers. The target population are the children aged between 3 and 12 years. The website will provide information aimed at promoting road safety interactive activities between children and their parents. It will also contain such learning tools as educational videos, stories, and games. The educational tools are targeted at children within the abovementioned age bracket. Market Survey According to Puleston (2011), market surveys are important in the promotion of any product or service in the market. The surveys are used to determine the perceptions, preferences, tastes, fashions, and feelings of cus tomers in the target market. Companies use the findings from a market survey to design their products and services before introducing them in the market. There are several strategies through which surveys are conducted. They are conducted through emails, over the phone, online, or in person. To determine the effectiveness of the Traffic Village and the website we are designing, we conducted a survey in Abu Dhabi, which is the target market. The survey used a total of 15 informants. All the informants were parents in the city. The main aim of the survey was to ascertain the opinions of the parents with regard to the state of road safety in the city. The survey was also aimed at determining whether or not the parents support the initiative of training young children on the need for road safety. The questionnaire used in the survey was divided into two parts, part A and part B. The first part was used to gather information on general knowledge about driving among parents. The second se ction of the questionnaire was used to determine the age at which parents feel that children should begin driving. The set of questions that were used in the survey are shown in appendix 1.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Research Findings The findings made in the study are presented below for each of the two sections: General Information on Driving Question 1: Do you drive a car? Thirteen of the respondents indicated that they drive a car, while two do not drive. Cars are, therefore, an important means of transport in Abu Dhabi. Question 2: Are you aware of the police ‘Black Point System Rules’? Four respondents knew what â€Å"Black Point System Rules† were, while the rest did not know. To this end, it is concluded that there is widespread ignorance with regard to police traffic rules and road safety in the city. Question 3: Have you ever experienced a car accident while driving? All the respondents had experienced an accident at some time in the past as they were driving. Some of them sustained major injuries from the accidents, while others escaped unscathed. The rate of automobile accidents in the city is high.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marketing Research and Marketing Assignment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Question 4: Do you agree that accidents occur because drivers are careless? 75% of the respondents pointed out that careless driving is a major cause of automobile accidents. Question 5: Are you in favour of stringent penalties and fines for violation of driving rules? 95% of the parents agreed that there is need for stringent driving rules in Abu Dhabi. Question 6: Do you agree that driving skills should be learnt at a tender age? Fourteen out of the 15 informants agreed that it is necessary to teach children how to drive safely. Question 7 : Would you like to enrol your children in a driving school at a young age?Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Fourteen parents agreed that children should join a driving school at a young age. Question 8: Do you agree that it is better to learn driving at a young age than at old age? 14 out of 15 parents agreed that it is not wise to delay driving lessons until adulthood. The findings of this marketing survey are very crucial to the traffic village. The findings point out that parents agree on the need for a traffic village, which aims at teaching children how to drive safely and responsibly at a young age. The findings are summarised in the figure below: Figure 1:  Results for Part A: General Information on Driving Appropriate Age for Driving Concerning the right age to begin driving, six parents were in favour of 3 to 5 years age bracket, while four felt that 6 to 8 years was the appropriate age to begin driving lessons. The findings are summarised below: Figure 2:  Results for Part B: Appropriate Age for Driving Business Definition The traffic village website is the tool that wil l be used to represent an online presence for the Abu Dhabi traffic village, which is being created by the city’s police department. By coming up with the village, the police department aims at reducing the number of caused by avoidable road accidents in the United Arab Emirates. A case in point is the number of accidents reported in 2011 in the emirates. A total of 6,700 road accidents were reported during this period. 2,280 of these accidents were recorded in Abu Dhabi, claiming 334 lives. In the same year, the road violations in Abu Dhabi accounted for 46.4 per cent of all road violations in the country. In light of this sad reality, there is need to put in place effective programs that aimed at bringing back sanity on the roads. The traffic village’s website will introduce the traffic village that the Abu Dhabi Police are putting in place. The website will become the major tool of communication in the village. The site will sell and promote the village’s str ategy and disseminate safety information to the public. The site will be very useful in launching the village, especially for those who may not have the opportunity to attend the launch in person. It will provide everyone with the information they are interested in concerning the traffic village. The target geographical market for the site is Abu Dhabi and its districts. Our main competitor is Kidzania in Dubai. Kidzania is a series of entertainment joints targeted at city families. The centres are currently located in 11 cities. The facilities in these centres allow children aged between 4 and 16 years to actively participate in a hypothetical adult world. The children participate in this hypothetical world by working and earning Kidzo currency. Each Kidzania is designed like a real city with buildings, theatres, shops, and vehicles. The main themes in Kidzania include entertainment and role playing, while the main theme of the traffic village is road safety (Kidzania, 2012). The m ain competitor analysed above is a chain of Mexican entertainment centres with branches all over the world. However, the traffic village is an inherently Abu Dhabi project that aims at promoting road safety and responsibility in the city. The traffic village’s website is mainly concerned with training kids on how to use safety tools and kits. It also trains them on how they should respond in case of accidents or incidents on the road, at home, in malls, and in school. The major aim and theme of Kidzania is to train and prepare children for adulthood through entertainment and role-playing. On the other hand, our aim is to teach kids how to live safely, now and in the future. Because of the theme difference between the two concepts, Kidzania customers will have much to learn from the traffic village. In the future, the traffic village will become more competitive by working in collaboration with other partners who share the same objective. Such partners include, among others, c hildren television channels, the Ministry of Health, and the Roads and Transport Authority. The website will ensure that all the activities carried out in the village and by the partners are easily accessed by interested parties. At the beginning, all the services offered by the website will be free of charge. After the launch of the real village, however, sources of income will include subscriptions, online ticketing, membership charges, and newsletter fees. Currently, Kidzonia partners with such organisations as banks, restaurant, hospitals, and airlines. The centre relies more on one-day ticketing. The traffic village’s pricing website will aim at encouraging repeat visits by reducing the costs for subsequent visits and lowering the prices for the customers who stay for long in the site. The promotional techniques between Kidzania and the traffic village are almost similar. We will promote the village through social media, mainly from the website. The social sites that wil l be used include YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. We will also promote the village through city tours and school visits. Currently, Kidzania is using all the above-mentioned methods apart from the school visits. Customer Profile As aforementioned, the traffic village website will target children aged between 3 and 12 years. The children will be the site’s major customers. However, it is expected that most of these children will be brought to the traffic village by their parents. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that the website is aimed at drawing the attention of the children, young adults and parents are the most likely people to use the internet. In this regard, we expect that parents will access the information online and bring their children to the village. However, to directly bring the information to our target customers, we will use a number of alternative initiatives. Most of the children falling within the age bracket mentioned above attend madrasas in the city. As such, we will collaborate with religious leaders and madrasa teachers to inform them about the website and about the village. We will also reach out to children from all the elementary schools in Abu Dhabi. In the schools, we will work together with teachers in classes. The children will be trained on how to use the internet and the social media, as well as receive training on general road safety. We will consult the city Municipality to allow us inform children and the general public of the traffic village and website at various recreation parks and gardens. The first on the program is the Al Mushrif Children’s Garden, which is located in Al Mushrif District, opposite the UAE National Theatre. Other parks that will be included in our program include the Capital Gardens, Al Nahyan Garden, the Khalidiya Garden, Khalifa Park, and the Al Khaldiah Kids Park. We will also place advertisements on national televisions. We will try and make sure that the adverts are aired during Sat urday morning kids’ shows and in the evenings during meals. The message communicated through the traffic village is very unique. The unique nature of the message is the main reason why we expect the traffic village’s website to be received positively by the clients. There are other organisations in Abu Dhabi working hard to reduce the number of road accidents in the city. A good example is the concerted effort between the Abu Dhabi Traffic Department, Ministry of Interior, the Emirates Traffic Society, and the Abu Dhabi Police Department. The organisations have come together to increase public awareness with regard to the need for road safety. However, such conventional campaigns have not taken advantage of the growing online community in Abu Dhabi. The traffic village’s website has a unique opportunity of using the growing interest in technology in the city to teach children the need for road safety. After the traffic village and the website are launched, we wi ll conduct market surveys after every six months to determine how the market is responding to the service. The periodic market surveys will also help the management to identify customer needs that are not met by the village and the website. At the end of every survey, our technical team will implement changes on the site to ensure that it reflects the needs of children in the city. In efforts to continually improve the site, we will ensure that the information presented there remains current and up-to-date. We will also make sure that the site is always informative and entertaining to the target market. To remain effective and relevant in the market, we will avoid posting information about the village only. Efforts will be made to expand the scope of the information presented there. We will continue gathering information about the entire industry and beyond so that the children and adults visiting the site will have a reason to come back. In addition to reaching out to children in e lementary school and in high school, we will have a section on the website aimed at ensuring that the road safety message remains fresh in the minds of adults. Such information is important because the needs and learning processes between adults and children are quite different. Furthermore, keeping adults informed about road safety statistics and other such information ensures they are in a better position to mentor and teach their young ones the need for road safety and responsibility Marketing Objectives and Strategies In this section, we will provide information touching on the marketing objectives and strategies we have adopted. The 4Ps analysis will be provided in this section. The 4Ps Analysis of the Website and the Village Product The current system, which is dubbed â€Å"My First License – I Know My Road Rules† is facing a number of challenges. One of the challenges is that it has a limited capability to create awareness on the need for safe driving. The new w ebsite will be designed to bring together all the information touching on driving and safety on an easy-to-use interface. In the plan, the website may appear to be a different project from the traffic village. However, it is important to note that the site is simply an online extension of the real village. The â€Å"virtual† traffic village will be a media centre that champions the objectives of the Abu Dhabi Police Department. The objective of the department is to enhance safety on the city’s roads through the development of a â€Å"real† traffic village. When the plan was being drafted, the Abu Dhabi Police Department was not aware of the creation of the website. The site will provide a social media interaction platform where information from both the developers and the consumers will be collected and shared. The information will be tailored to the needs of the city’s residents. By the time the traffic village is launched, the site will contain 4 to 5 p ages. Price As already indicated in this marketing plan, the services offered through the website will be free before the launch of the traffic village. However, we will make efforts to generate income from the site after the village is launched. We will use a penetration pricing strategy. According to Ellickson, Misra Nair (2012), a penetration pricing strategy sets prices below the average level in the market. The aim is to help the new product or service gain acceptance from consumers. As the site gains ground in the market, the prices of the services and products will slowly be increased to attain the current market price. We will use the strategy given that our major aim is not pursuit of immediate returns. On the contrary, our aim is to increase sales volumes and our market share. We expect that by using the strategy, we will enhance the speed of the adoption and diffusion of our products and services, which will culminate in fast market penetration. By using this approach, w e will deny our competitors the chance to respond in real-time. It is also expected that by using such a strategy, it will be possible to create goodwill among early adopters, who will spread the information further in the market. The strategy will also enhance our efficiency given that from the beginning, we will be able to effectively address the issue of cost reduction and cost control pressures. It will be an important competition barrier that will keep new entrants at bay. As the site becomes progressively commercialised, we expect to achieve a favourable stock turnover. The favourable stock turnover will go a long way in supporting the value chain. The main challenge in using the penetration pricing strategy is that it is quite hard to increase prices later on (Ellickson et al., 2012). However, we will focus on progressively adding value to the product before increasing the prices. Promotion We will use various avenues to promote the virtual traffic village. One of the main st rategies we will adopt is the use of social network advertising channels. Social networking will make it possible for us to exploit consumer demographics in the creation of our adverts. To begin with, we will use indirect advertising by creating an official Facebook page and a YouTube channel. We will also have a Twitter account. The next step will be direct advertising on Facebook. At this juncture, we will start purchasing adverts. The direct approach will allow us to target our information to the residents of Abu Dhabi. The use of paid media on Facebook will also enable us to determine the exact message we want to convey to our target market. In addition, purchasing Facebook adverts will help us to determine the social graphs of our fans on Facebook. We will exploit the network of friends on Facebook and other social sites to promote our product. For example, after providing incentive information to our fans, we expect them to share it with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. We will also post our articles in various article directories, such as www.EzineArticles.com, www.ValuableContent.com, www.GoArticles.com, www.Article99.com, www.eHow.com, www.ArticleDashBoard.com, and www.EasyArticles.com. Because we are working on a penetration pricing strategy and our costs have to be as low as possible, we will also use free online classifieds to reach out to our target market. The main online classified that will be used in the promotion campaign is www.craiglist.com. We will also use search engine optimization (SEO) to draw traffic from consumers searching the web on Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Place As already mentioned in this paper, the real village is situated in Abu Dhabi. The website is a representation of the traffic village. Consumers will be able to access the site from any place in the world and at any time of the day. The suggested official website will be www.thetrafficvillage.com. The site will be fully integrated and e asy to navigate given that the target audience is children aged between 3 and 12 years. The shopping cart will be located one click from the homepage and two clicks from our blog. The process of checking out after making a purchase will also be simplified because there will be an attendant ready to assist anyone who is making a purchase at any given time. The attendant will be trained on how to address the needs of experienced shoppers, as well as those of shoppers without online shopping experience. The aim of this is to make sure that all potential shoppers, regardless of their level of experience, feel appreciated and needed in the site. Many e-commerce customers end up not making a purchase because they cannot find what they are looking for. The site will be designed to accommodate those customers with a wide experience in online shopping and those who have never interacted with an e-commerce site. To enhance the visibility of all the products and services offered at the site, w e will ensure that all the photos and videos posted on the site are of high quality. It is noted that the quality of the videos and pictures posted on a given site determines how consumers rate that particular site. For example, a site with grainy pictures and low resolution videos is not rated highly. On the other hand, consumers are attracted to sites with high quality videos and pictures, which are more stimulating (visually) than poor quality media. We will make efforts to ensure that consumers regard us highly by using high quality videos and pictures. However, it is important to note that high quality videos may be too heavy to use on such websites. As such, they will require high speed internet, which the customer may be unable to access. Marketing Objectives, Marketing Strategies, and the Budget There are five requirements that should be met in launching the traffic village’s site. All the requirements call for a small initial financial outlay. The resources needed in clude a computer (available), a technical expert (available), research work (requires time), consultation (available), and design (intellectual capital). However, marketing the site, as well as the products and services offered at the real traffic village, will cost money. Nonetheless, the modes of promotion that we have opted for in marketing the site are relatively inexpensive. For instance, opening and running a Facebook page is free. The same goes for the opening and running of a Twitter account and a YouTube channel. Posting articles on article directories and on craiglist.com is also free. We will come up with our own articles to use in Search Engine Optimization. However, we will have to incur the cost of purchasing a domain name, web hosting, and direct Facebook advertising, where we are required to buy adverts. There are two ways to advertise on Facebook. The first one is referred to as CPM, which stands for Cost Per 1000 Impressions. The second one is CPC, which refers to Cost Per Click. Different marketers prefer different strategies for a number of reasons. The major considerations made in selecting the strategy to use include, among others, the costs associated with the strategy, the nature of the marketing campaign, the target audience, as well as the major objective of the marketing campaign. For example, the needs of a promotion campaign for beauty soap are different from the needs of a book advert. Out of the two strategies analysed above, most marketers prefer the second one, which is CPC. The major reason why it is preferred over CPM is that it is relatively cheap. CPM is used for the purpose of increasing brand awareness, but our objective in marketing is to achieve conversions, leads, and sales. As such, we will use CPC. It will be appropriate because we will only pay for the number of clicks on the website and our corresponding Facebook page. Facebook allows for advertisers to choose how much they want to spend each day, the minimum being 1 USD. We will advertise on Facebook at a cost of 2.5 USD each day. The cost of advertising will be 912 USD per year. It is important to bear in mind that we may not achieve voluminous sales in the first year. As such, the cost of advertising on Facebook is reasonable. In the first year, we expect to achieve sales of at least 4,200 USD from 120 customers. In this regard, the estimated cost per customer will be 7.6 USD. The cost is expected to drop to 3.8 USD in the second year as the number of customers increase. In the first year, 28.88% of the profits will be allocated to marketing. The budget for the first year is presented in appendix 2. Environmental Effect The department consuming more energy than others in a given organisation is facilities and information communication. The virtual village will be based online. According to an article posted on CNN.com by Farrah (2009), each search on Google releases an average of 20milligrams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Download ing media, which includes such activities as listening to online radio, streaming videos, and chatting with friends, have a direct impact on energy consumption. Every search on the internet engages an energy consuming server. To address this challenge, we will virtualise all our servers and storage systems to cut our energy consumption by half. Implementation Timeline The table on appendix 3 illustrates how the project will be implemented. It is a Gantt chart showing the expected activities and their timeframe. References Ellickson, P., Misra, S., Nair, H. (2012). Repositioning dynamics and pricing strategy. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 49(6), 750-772. doi:10.1509/jmr.11.0068. Farrah, L. (2009). Greening the internet: How much CO2 does this article produce? Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/07/10/green.internet.CO2/ Kidzania, (2012). What is Kidzania. Retrieved from https://dubai.kidzania.com/en-ae/pages/what-is-kidzania Puleston, J. (2011). Improving online surveys. International Journal of Market Research, 53(4), 557-560. doi:10.2501/IJMR-53-4-557-562. This report on Marketing Research and Marketing Assignment was written and submitted by user Ben Reilly to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.