Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 Essay

Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 - Essay Example Sometimes the floor or direct labor employees have great insight into how to make process improvements due to the fact of their experience work in the production line. A person’s leadership style has a tremendous influence in his / her behavior in the workplace. There are different types of leadership styles such as transactional, transformational, and charismatic. A transactional leader whose followers have the necessary exchanges for achieving routine performance agreed between leaders and their followers (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003). Such leaders do not get too close to their employees and they avoid developing personal relationship with their co-workers. Another type of leadership style is transformational leaders. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the follower’s interest and stir followers to look beyond their own interests for the good of others (Schermerhorn, et. al., 2003). I agree with you that leaders should use power and control to exert leadership between the person and the workers. The employees have to recognize that the manager represents the controlling figure they must follow. A good manager will open the lines of communications with the workers in order to encourage greater participation and involvement. When the workers do not respect the manager in charge organizational conflict may arise. A good corporate culture includes an atmosphere in which the workers and managers mutually respect each other. The personality of the leader affects the person’s ability to influence the behavior of others. A leader with an outgoing personality is better able to captivate the imagination of the workers because this type of manager will have greater communication with the staff. A manager that keeps to himself is the type of manager that is not able to connect with the workers because his silence might be interpreted by the workers that the

Mobile Application for City Target Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mobile Application for City Target - Case Study Example E-commerce is an area that has grown tremendously. People can carry out transactions online. Various businesses have gone online for a number of reasons. First and foremost, e-commerce provides one with a platform to reach a larger customer base. A customer can purchase items from a different country from the comfort of their couch. This is made easier by the fact that internet users can access the internet from their mobile phones. For this reason then, it is crucial for businesses to create an online mobile application system that will ensure quality service provision to the customer. City Target is a state street store that deals with a range of products amongst them food, clothes and other household items (ABC, p.1). Through an online business system, the store is set to increase its profit margin. Through the use of a mobile application system, the store stands a better chance of easily reaching more of its customer. Specifically, looking at the professional clothes sale, the st ore can implement several options that can contribute to better service delivery. Online clothes shopping can prove to be challenging since a shopper has to take into considerations many things. Unlike physically shopping for clothes, with online shopping, a customer cannot try out the clothes to see whether they fit well or determine the material’s texture and whether it is to their liking. ... e anytime and anywhere, directly sending advertising and promotional information, better in-store navigation and enhancing customers’ ability to browse order and pay for products using their mobile phones (GS1 MobileCom 9). In shopping for clothes online, web applications have managed to support only basic functions. Some of the problems that a customer experiences include poor fit, mismatch of color and bad drape. This has an adverse effect on the business since the customer will be hesitant to buy a product next time because of dissatisfaction (Beck, p.1). Physically, these problems are catered for through the use of mannequins. Thanks to technological advancement, web applications have been manipulated to counter this problem. These applications cater for garment design, sizing and pattern derivation (Cordier 1). One such application is the 3D graphics technology. This technology offers a range of interactive operations. A shopper is able to adjust a 3D mannequin according to their body’s measurement, select and try different garment items and resize the garment to a mannequin. Furthermore, the application offers real time simulation with respect to garment movement. One store that has successfully used this application is Fits.Me clothes store. Through the store’s virtual room, shoppers are able to create a robotic mannequin with their dimensions and use it to fit clothes (Apparel, p.1). As a result, the company has increased its new customers’ sales by 57% (Fits.Me, p.1). By integrating such an application, City Target is assured of increasing its market base as it offers quality service to its customer. Secondly, City Target could also apply artificial intelligence systems. These systems are created to operate as human intelligence. They are similar to

The Palm Oil Industry In Malaysia Economics Essay

The Palm Oil Industry In Malaysia Economics Essay INTRODUCTION Summary of Research Palm oil also known as Elaeis guineensis. Palm oil is derived from the pulp, and it can be found from African palm. There are so many uses of palm oil, such as edible oil, soaps, candles, cosmetic and chocolates. The colour of palm oil usually red colored, it is because of content of palm oil. The red coloured content with two types of carotene, there are à Ã‚ °-carotene and ÃŽÂ ²-carotene. a-carotene contents with 30mg per 100 g, and ÃŽÂ ²-carotene contents with 30mg together with Vitamin E. Usually ÃŽÂ ²-carotene already removed and become a pale oil. Three content of pale oil, saturated vegetable fats, mono-saturated and the last one is polyunsaturated. Besides that, other than red colored of palm oil, there are yellowish-white colors and also known as palm kernel oil. It can be use to make a margarine and cosmetics. 1.1.2 Palm Oil History Palm oil has been found in West African countries. This palm oil is good to make cooking oil. The uses of palm oil that been introduced by West African and has attracted the European merchants to make an international trade between this two country in order to purchased palm oil. Ashanti Empire or Ashanti Confederacy plants a large amount of oil palm trees, while the King of Kingdom of Dahomey forbid whoever person from cutting the palm oil trees. This uses of palm oil have been attracted the Britains Industrial. And the value of palm oil increased because of the demand from British Traders. Besides that, palm oil also can make soap, for example, Sunlight Soap and the Palmolive brand. A country such as Ghana and Nigeria becomes a primary export from West African but in year 1880 this export of palm oil was overtaken by cocoa. 1.1.3 Research of palm oil in Malaysia. Research and development (RD) began to expand the oil palm breeding in 1960s. This activities implemented after the establishing the Malaysias Department of Agriculture. The government also provided a college to train society how to plant palm oil. For example, the government established Kolej Serdang and now become Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM). This university encouraged the graduates student to conduct research related to the palm oil. Malaysia. In year 1979, government established Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM). This institute support from UPM and B.C Sekhar as a founder and chairperson also support Porim to be a coordinated institution. Porim also giving the opportunities to society especially the scientist to do RD related to the uses of palm oil. In year 2000, Porim changed to Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Nowadays MPOB become well known at the international country. 1.1.4 Bright future of palm oil in Malaysia Few years ago, the income from palm oil production has become the big contribution to Malaysias Economy. Because of the income gain from palm oil, many palm oil companies can give the employee bonuses every year. Besides that, oil palm shareholders also get the benefit of selling the palm oil. Industry of palm oil said that, the price of palm oil will maintain every year depends on the economic condition. Because of production of palm oil has contributed to Malaysias economy, the changes of palm oil prices in Malaysia always published in newspapers. It is good for rural area, because rural areas are the biggest hectares in palm oil plantation. As we know, price of palm oil influenced by the production of palm oil, import and export, and then global economic condition. If the global economic become more slowdown, it will the major fact that the importer will less confident to the production of the palm oil in our country. If the prices of palm oil decrease, we can replant back the palm and reducing supply. This can help the prices of palm oil increase back. Besides that, nowadays, many new developments in technologies also can increases the production of palm oil. 1.2 Problem Statement Price of palm oil always fluctuated depends 4 factors. The 4 factors are production of palm oil, export of palm oil, consumption of palm oil, and land area in plantation of palm oil. The problem of this research is difficult to seek the data in internet. To find this data, we must find it at statistic department besides of UMS. 1.3 Research objective This research has an objective that to find a factor that influence the price of palm oil in Malaysian palm oil market. After find the factor, we must find the relationship between this four factors to the prices of palm oil. to find this relationship, we must test it one by one using econometric. 1.4 Significance of the research Researcher This research suitable for the researchers who wants to gain knowledge and information about palm oil in Malaysia. All this information gather from internet, journal, and by result from E-Views. So all society especially researcher will gain knowledge on the study about determinant of the price of palm oil in Malaysia. Palm Oil Industry The palm oil companies also can get benefit from this research by knowing the factor that will influence the price of palm oil respectively. If palm oil companies already knew what the factor can influence the price of palm oil, the palm oil companies increased the export of palm oil and our country also can get higher income because of the production of palm oil. Labor Study Labor can know what are the big factor that can influence the price of palm oil, and then can their can increase performance in terms of work quality and many more. 1.5 Scope and Limitation of the study The scope of this study is around Malaysia and the data collected on production of palm oil, export of palm oil, consumption of palm oil, and plantation of palm oil in land area (hectares). This data from year 1980 to 2009, involved 29 years. The data for 2010 also hard to find because year 2010 is not finished yet. So the data for 2010 is not stated yet. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The previous study has been made to understand the impact of palm oil based-biodiesel demand on palm oil prices (Ramli; Roslan and Ayatollah, K 2007). Nowadays biodiesel has become an important fuel to our society. It is because of the growing concern for the environment. Demand for the biodiesel has become higher, and that effect to the amount of palm oil that we can get in the market that putting its prices increased sharply since July 2006. That days, the prices of palm oil influenced by the stock, supply, production. From July 2006 onwards, biofuel become a serious fuel of his renewable production. Biodiesel mainly from palm has increased the demand and altered the economics of palm oil. This study using the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). This method has been proven to forecast from July 2006 to end 2007 to forecast the prices of palm oil. Supporting to this journal, the prices of petroleum and vegetable oil down to be moving slowly together. (Anna Awad, Fatimah, 2009). This previous studies have been made to find the long term relationship the prices of crude oil and vegetable oil. They were using the Engle-Granger two-stage to do the method. This study use data over the period from January 1983 to March 2008. The two products show the result of the strong evidence of a long relationship. Began in the 1970s until 21 century, the price for all commodities increased between January 2000 and March 2008. The increased of the prices caused by the increased petroleum price more than 300%, while food prices increased 107% during the same period and vegetables oil increased of 192%. Besides that,(Mohd Nasir, 2003) said that Malaysia is the largest producer and Indonesia is the second largest producer. This two country is the exporter where they contribute 89.6% of palm oil trade in the world and 83.5 % of production. They also export crude palm oil (CPO) and other than that processed palm oil (PPO). The Malaysia exporting quantities of CPO increased from 0.4 million tones to 1.3 million tones in 2000 and 2001, followed by exports of Indonesian CPO increased from 1.8 to 2.0 million tones. Both countries also contributed PPO which is the larger share of palm products. CPO and PPO in Malaysian were lower than Indonesia in 2001 and 2002. Both countries products imposed by the tariffs with the objectives initially raising revenue. For example, in Malaysia is to encouraging down stream while for Indonesia it reflected to consumer down. Both countries have been imposed taxes on export, and there is a difference way the exports duty payable. (Ahmad Borhan and Mohd Arif, 2009) said that the prices of palm oil and it comprises crude palm oil and processed palm oil is a strong indicator of the level of palm oil stock. The stock of palm oil has been hovered around 1 million tones. With this amount, the volume has become the psychological which prices tend to be increased and decreased. The end of stock fully depends on the export of palm oil and its production. While local usage and import play smaller roles. The Malaysian palm oil industry has estimated that 1.8 million tones could become the new level of palm oil stock. But it all depends on change in the demand and supply factors. (James, 2008) said that the prices of crude palm oil (CPO) has a strong relationship with stock according to the conventional economics. The economics of oils and fats had changed in the last two years, that cause both prices and rising in tandem according to traditional economic theory. Because of created the new role played by biodiesel, the strong signs of a linkages also created. The palm oil prices should take into one account of two factors, the petroleum price and the amount of oil stocks. The price band can determines by prices of petroleum. While the stocks can show high or low palm oil prices. Malaysias economic development has indeed been impressive by the contribution of the palm oil industry. (Sabri, Salmiah,Faizah and Nik Abdullah, 2008). It also changing the market trends and rapid development and has continued to pose challenge. The development of oil and fats industry are provides and has undergone in terms of world balance. In the previous journal, (Mohd Basri, Mohd Arif, and Jamil, 2008) long time ago, the prices of palm oil have been increased, especially to the supply and demand of fats and oil. But since mid 2006, spikes have become more sustained. Besides that, spikes also been attributed to the supply and demand of edible oils and fats and also to the increasing demand for the fuel. Because of the increased of palm oil, the demand curve shifted to the right. The prices of oils have been increased slightly. (Ayat K Faizah, Ramli Abdullah and Nurul Hufaidah, 2007) study on how to examines volatility spill over. The study focus on between the domestic prices of palm oil and what major factor to the prices volatility. From the research, palm oil has moderate price volatility. And effort should be made to sustained the price of crude palm oil (CPO) to minimize volatility in other prices caused of the prices of (CPO) become a price leader among the other palm oil products. There was a model to develop to forecast prices of palm oil products in domestic. (Ramli and Mohd Alias, 2006). Malaysia also known the worlds biggest exporter of the palm oil and associated with palm oil. Because of the largest exporter the world, it become important for the country to lead the commoditys production and its price and can be used to determine the country revenue or in process of decision making. The objective of this paper is to analyses them econometrically and to forecast. The paper forecast that in the future, the production of palm oil can increased. By 2020, the production of palm oil can reach 22 million tones. Prices of palm oil also can fluctuate but in the future, its amount of prices increasing gradually. (Basri; Mohd Fauzi; Mohd Noor Mamat and Rosli, 2007) analyses the impact of lifting the export tax on Malaysian crude palm oil. Firstly, the equation is developed, especially on processed palm oil (PPO) and crude palm oil (CPO). The study comes out with the conceptual model of the Malaysian palm oil market model, such as the palm oil supply, oil palm area, imports and exports of palm oil products, domestic consumption, domestic price relationship and stocks According to (Ahmad Borhan, Faizah, Mohd Arif, Norhanani, 2006), said that oilmeals, such as Soyabean meal (SBM) especially an animal feed competes with Malaysian palm kernel expeller (PKE). The competition exists among this two company because of the competitive price. The increasing production also will affect the condition of Malaysian PKE. Future development of the Malaysian PKE depends to world livestock market. (Ahmad Borhan, Mohd Noor, Mohd Arif, Norhanani, 2007) said that, the commodity trade will effected by the local demand and also become the risk to the physical commodity. The forecasting method need to apply to forecast the price of palm oil in the future. Hedging can be improved by using the expected trends. The behavior of crude palm oil (CPO) can be determined by doing this work. This work also compared the forecasting CPO in Malaysia. It was introduced in 1980 and become the price discovery for hedging in pegged the prices. Good based can be determine by processing of price discovery especially on its demand and supply. Through arbitrage, the future price of palm oil is realized in terms of aggregate level. (Fatimah, etal, 1994) using Box Jenkins technique, forecasting method, can predict the palm oil futures prices whether to perform better or not. According to (Faizah, Ayat K, Mohd Nasir, 2006) fluctuate export markets and prices due to the current economic. Because of this, government giving full attention the price of export demand. The good demanded will be present by the price elasticity of demanded. Besides that, the demand for exports can predict by looking for export demand elasticity. Malaysian becomes largest share in the export and this export elasticity is important to estimates in order to maintain the production of palm oil. Only the changes of the prices of palm oil will have a big effect to the export of palm oil. Recently, the edible oils and fats has become substitutability products. Malaysian palm oil can be influence by the number of factor, and its the most important to structure the international market. Palm oil prices will compete with other, for example edible oils and make the palm oil prices significant. It was said by (A B, Ma, Chow, H Hamdan, Choo, 2006) every country depends on the energy and this energy becomes a key factor to country to develop in the future. Oil palm industry has been build factory to generate steam and from electricity. In our country, there were 395 factories that processing 84 million tones fruit in year 2005. (Yusof, Mohd Arif, 2005) found that, palm oil such as an export oriented commodity is not easy to predict in the future. It involves investigating the past performance of the palm oil. They make an overview about the palm oil industry, about the background, recently and in the future development. Long time ago, production of palm oil is lowest among the soyabean oil and animal oils. But, recently the production of palm oil is the number two in our country and the production exceed 29 million tones follow by soyabean oil and animal oils. It is expected that palm oil production can reach 37.15 million tonnes in 2020. This production of palm oil will contribute to world oils. Malaysia become the largest producer in the world and try to maintain the position in producing 42% tonnes to the world demand of palm oil. Conceptual Framework Independent variable Dependent var. Factor/supporting Price of palm oil Relationship Production (supply) Export Consumption Land area (Hectares) Independent variable There are 4 factors that influence the price of palm oil. There are production (supply), export, consumption and land area in hectares. This independent variable also can support the price of palm oil. Production can influences the prices of palm oil by the supply in the market, the more supply in the market, the more it can influences the prices of palm oil. It means that, if the supply exceeds the demand of the market, many unit of production are waste because of the demand not equal to the unit of production in the market. So to increase the demand in the market, firm can reduces prices of the production in order to attract the demand of the market. Low prices of the production can increased the demand of the production in the market. Export also can influences the prices of palm oil in the market by having a export more than import in the market can make a country deficit in terms of profit. Same like production, but export trade in other country and make an international business in order to gain profit. If have much demand in palm oil from other country, it means that, we should export more to achieved the demand from other country. From this situation, our country can take advantages to increase the prices of palm oil respectively. Consumption also can influences the prices of palm oil. It depends on how the consumer fully utilized the use of palm oil. If the consumer already knew the use of the palm oil, easy to them to know how important the palm oil in our society. Because of that, the consumer will ask for the palm oil and directly increased the demand for palm oil. Other than that, land area of plantation also can influences the prices of palm oil. If we plant more trees of palm oil in land, we are producing more palm oil in the market. If the supply of the palm oil in the market exceed than demand, than many surplus to that product. So to overcome this problem, firm must reduced the prices of palm oil to attract consumer to buy the palm oil. But it is good to the firm if the demand more than supply, then the firm can increased the price of palm oil in order to gain profit. Dependent variable The price of palm oil is depending to this four factor, this four factor can influences the prices of palm oil whether wants to increased or decreased. CHAPTER THREE DATA AND METHODOLOGY LEAST SQUARE METHOD (SINGLE REGRESSION) and (MULTIPLE REGRESSION) The framework developed in this study is drawn both from econometric method (which is based on the economic theory) and the system dynamics approach. This section discusses the econometric model using least square method. Its to correlate and examine the relationships among dependent variable and independent variable. It is a economic theory form with statistical methods. Factor determinants of prices of palm oil in Ringgit Malaysia (RM). consists of 4 factor that influence the price of palm oil, there are production (supply), export in tones, consumption of palm oil and land area of plantation of palm oil in hectares. The first step is finding time series data from 1980 to 2009, which influence the price of palm oil to make a research and then describe it according to the econometric model. To regress the econometric model we must use the data which influence the prices of palm oil. So this 4 factor is the important data to make a research. After regress, we can identify relationship between dependent and independent variables. These 4 factor also known as independent variable and price of palm oil also known as dependent variable which price of palm oil depend on this 4 independent variable whether to increase or decrease. The prices of palm always fluctuate depend on this 4 independent variable. To test this independent variable had a relationship between prices or not, the econometric model by using least square method use to test one by one of this independent variable whether this independent variable has a relationship between dependent variable. But before regress, we must test the variable using unit root test to make sure the probability below 0.05. This is because, we must make all variable significant before regress the data and know what difference we should use before regress data. After that, we log the data to make all data less problem in autocorrelation and less problem in multicollinearity. After test this econometric model, we look to the T-statistics, R-squared, Durbin-Watson stat. if t- stat are less than 2, this means that there is no relationship between independent variable and dependent variable and also known as is not significant. If more than 2, there is a relationship between independent variable and dependent variable. After test one by one, we should regress all dependent variable using multiple regress because of explanatory variable is more than one to check whether all independent variable significant or not. 3.1.1 Collecting of Data Primary Data Using the previous journal and summarize that journal to give the information about this research. CHAPTER 4 4.1 RESULT AND FINDINGS Unit root test Unit root test of price of palm oil using first difference to make the data stationary. Null Hypothesis: D(PRICE) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 4 (Automatic based on AIC, maxlag=7) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -2.998437   0.0493 Test critical values: 1% level -3.737853 5% level -2.991878 10% level -2.635542 Graph of Price Explanation. As we can see graph above, the price of palm oil is fluctuated, but recently, the prices of palm oil increased and then drop back. Unit root test of production using first difference to make the data stationary Null Hypothesis: D(PDC) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on AIC, maxlag=5) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -3.998301   0.0047 Test critical values: 1% level -3.689194 5% level -2.971853 10% level -2.625121 Graph of Production Explanation. The production of palm oil in our country decreased every year because of other competition from Indonesia. Our country compete with Indonesia in terms of production because last time Indonesia is a second largest producer in the world and recently, Indonesia already becomes the world largest producer in the world follow by Malaysia. So our country production of palm oil decreased because of world demand has two choices to import the palm oil. Unit root test of land using first difference to make the data stationary Null Hypothesis: D(LAND) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on AIC, maxlag=7) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -4.664706   0.0009 Test critical values: 1% level -3.689194 5% level -2.971853 10% level -2.625121 Graph of Land Explanation. The hectares of land in our country also increased year by year because of people already know that plant palm oil can make bulk of profit to them. Besides that, the planters increased the hectares of plantation because government enhances them to plant the palm oil by giving them awareness and so on. Unit root test of export using first difference to make the data stationary Null Hypothesis: D(EXP01) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on AIC, maxlag=3) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -3.609207   0.0121 Test critical values: 1% level -3.689194 5% level -2.971853 10% level -2.625121 Graph of Export Explanation. Our export in our country also decreased year by year, it is related to our production in our country. This is because of Indonesia also export the palm oil in the world. So the world demand has two choices whether wants to import from Indonesia or our country. Unit root test of consumption using first difference to make the data stationary Null Hypothesis: D(CNSPTN) has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on AIC, maxlag=7) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -4.569870   0.0011 Test critical values: 1% level -3.689194 5% level -2.971853 10% level -2.625121 Graph of Consumption Explanation. Our consumption in our country also decreased in our country. Single regression Least square method-POPt=+bX Between dependent variable and independent variable Variable C Std-error T-stat R-Squared DW-stat Prob D1LNPROD 0.329321 0.177300 1.85 0.113301 1.751273 0.0742 D1LNEXP 0.855506 0.254039 3.36 0.295760 1.816493 0.0023 D1LNCONS 0.171866 0.270477 0.63 0.021939 1.704933 0.5332 D1LNLAREA 0.097365 0.389766 0.24 0.678609 0.571303 0.8046 TABLE ONE Analysis of data: Used e-view to regress and estimation using Ordinary least square based on dependent variable and independent variables from the data collected. Before regress the data, must do the unit root test to make sure the data stationary or not, after that log the data to reduce the problem of autocorrelation and multicollinearity. Then use first difference method because it is already mention in unit root test to check using first difference method. List of Equation PPOt=price of palm oil in the market PROD=production of palm oil(supply) EXP=export of palm oil to the world demand (tones) CONS=consumption of palm oil in this market L.AREA=landarea of palm oil plantation in Malaysia (hectares) Result of regression between POPt and PROD Dependent variable: POPt and Independent variable: PROD POPt=0.054234+0.329321t The coefficient above shows that the relationship between price and production of palm oil is positive relationship. It means that, 1 unit increased of production of palm will lead to increase price of palm oil by 0.329321. t-statistic=1.85 Reject Ho, because there is no significant relationship between price and production because t-statistic shows that it is significant and below 2. So production cannot influence the price of palm oil respectively. R-Squared =0.113301 Explanation. There are 11.33% of the changes in the dependent variables. Only independent variable can explain the dependent variable. 88.67% cannot be explained by the regression analysis due to some omission of independent variables. In other words, this R-squared show the weak relationship between dependent variable (price) and independent variable (production). Its mean that, when independent variable change 1%, dependent variable will change by 11.33%. So, we can concluded that independent variable and dependent variable has a weak relationship because of the R-Squared is low. Std-error=0.177300 Explanation. The smaller the value of SEE, the closer the data points/actual points to the regression line. DW-statistics=1.751273 Explanation. There is a less problem in auto-correlation because DW shows value almost than value 2. If the value of DW shows above 2, means that there is no problem in autocorrelation Probability=0.0742 Explanation. The variable is significant at 0.05 (5%) significant level or 95% confidence level. If the probability is less than 0.05, it means that 95% confidence interval accepted and there is a relationship between dependent variable and independent variable. The independent variable for the production is 0.0742. This production of palm oil (supply) cannot influence the price of palm oil. Its because if the production is too many in the market, the price of palm oil will not effect because society only concern for the basic needs such as shelter, food and society not concern for the production of palm oil. Same like if the production of palm oil is low, it will not influence the price of palm oil because society not really wants the uses of palm oil. Result of regression between POPt and EXP Dependent variable: POPt and Independent variable: EXP POPt=0.063604+0.855506t The coefficient above show the positive relationship between price and export. It means that, 1 unit increased export of palm oil will lead to increase price of palm oil by 0.855506 t-statistic=3.36 Also accept Ho, because there also a relationship between price and export because t-statistic shows that it is significant and above 2. So export also can influence the price of palm oil respectively. R-Squared=0.295790 Explanation. There are 29.57% of the changes in the dependent variables. Only the independent variable can explained the dependent variable. 70.43% cannot be explained by the regression analysis due to some omission of independent variables. R-squared show the weak relationship between dependent variable (price) and independent variable (export). It can be explained when independent variable change 1%, dependent variable also will change by 29.57%. we can concluded that independent variable and dependent variable has a weak relationship because of the value of R-squared is low. Std-error=0.254039 Explanation. The smaller the value of SEE, the closer the data points/actual points to the regression line. DW-statistics=1.816493 Explanation. There is a little bit problems in auto correlation because DW shows value almost 2. Probability=0.0023 Explanation. The variable is significant at 0.05 (5%) significant level or 95% confidence level. If the probability less than 0.05, it means that 95% confidence interval accepted and there is a relationship among dependent variable and independent variable. The independent variable for the export is 0.0023 and this export of palm oil (supply) can influence the price of palm oil. The price of palm oil will influence if the export more than demand from other country. This kind of scenario happened because its good to decrease price of palm oil to the trading country, so that the trading country can buy with cheapest price. But if the export less than demand from other country, it will influence the price of palm oil, because our country can sell with high price in order to get more profit from other country. It happen when the shortage of the production and demand will keep increasing every year and the export are limited. Result of regression between POPt and CONS Dependent variable: POPt and I

Dreams and Dream Deffered by Langston Hughes :: essays research papers

â€Å"Dreams Deferred† and â€Å"Dreams† In the poems â€Å"Dreams Deferred† and â€Å"Dreams† by Langston Hughes the author talks about how important dreams are. The author uses many different types of figurative languages such as similes and metaphors and shows how they are alike and different in many ways. In the poem â€Å"Dreams† the author writes â€Å"Hold fast to your dreams/for if dreams die †(Hughes 1-2 poem 1). The theme of this poem is to try to achieve your dreams and not let them die . In the poem â€Å"Dream Deferred † also by Langston Hughes the author writes about the theme being how a person could basically not be sane without dreams and how important they are to a person. As the author writes â€Å"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun† ( Hughes 2-3 poem 2). The author is referring how dreams die when not pursued and dry up like raisins when not used or reached. The author used figurative language in the form of metaphors in these two poems in the first poem â€Å"Dreams† . The author writes â€Å"For when dreams go/Life is like a barren field/ of frozen snow † (Hughes 6-8 poem 1) . Which he feels hopelessness and the author expresses hopelessness in the lines †For it dreams die / Life is a broken winged-bird / that cannot fly †(Hughes - poem 2). The author is trying to explain to the reader to not let go of your dreams which is basically the whole poem is about your dreams and how important and I don’t think that Langston Hughes could stress that anymore than he already has. As the author writes â€Å"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?† Langston Hughes argues about how readers should never let our hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

International brand equity Essay

This case study is meant to provide a critical evaluation of this research paper on international brand equity in multinational project group. this study tries to find out the scientific quality in its approaches. This study looks into the matter whether, the methodologies used are fine enough to bring out accurate results on the research topic and compare it with the researches done by other researchers on similar topics. If the methodologies used are not appropriate to come out with the real scenario in brand equity cases, the study also provides alternative and appropriate methods that should be used for fulfilling the purpose of this research. Introduction This is a critical review of international brand equity. In this review mentioned about the a particular case study of branded liquor Chivas Regal. Chivas Regal is a premium Scotch whisky produced by Chivas Brothers. It was founded in 1801 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Chivas brand’s home is Strathisla Distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland. Chivas Regal is one of the good selling premium whiskies in the world, available in more than 200 countries. It is the best selling premium Scotch whisky in Europe and Asia Pacific and is rated one of the world’s good powerful spirits brands. Chivas Regal is one of the best performing spirits brands globally, with sales having grown by 40% over the last four years. Brand equity is the value that built-up in a brand. It is measured based on how much a customer is aware of the brand and consumption of a particular brand. The value of a company’s brand equity can be calculated by comparing the expected future revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an equivalent non-branded product. This calculation is at best an approximation. This value can comprise both tangible, functional attributes (e. g. TWICE the cleaning power or HALF the fat) and intangible, emotional attributes (e. g. The brand for people with style and good taste). Brand equity can be positive or negative. Positive brand equity is created by effective promotion and consistently meeting or exceeding customer thoughts. Negative brand equity is usually the result of bad management. The author only saying the positive side. Literature review The author presented international brand equity in a case study method in this method he mentioned meanings of brand equity and measures of brand equity. The author presented this paper with a solid evidence of reference and key words Board equity; Advertising; Globalization; Marketing research; Multinational companies. The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) state that brand equity can be viewed by customers†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦as both financial and as a set of favourable associations and behaviours† (MSI 1989). Aaker (1991) suggests that brand equity consists of brand associations (brand image), brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, and other brand assets. Aaker (1996)indicates that loyalty is one sufficient importance that other measures, such as perceived quality and associations, can often evaluated based on their ability to influence it. Keller (1993) describes the consumer’s memory as a function of a set of nodes and links of the various associations related to a brand. Perceived quality has been shown to be associated with price premiums, price elasticties, brand usage, and remarkably, stock return (Aaker 1996). Brand awareness reflects the salience of the brand in the customer mind (Faircloth, Capella & Alford 2001). Main argument The author is arguing about the effectiveness of advertising and meaning of brand equity and relationship between the brand proposition and product formulation. The other main arguments are shown below: †¢ Increased diagnostic potential. †¢ Guiding principles established. †¢ Holistic outlook of campaign effects on consumers. †¢ Creating better understanding of the nature of the consumer â€Å"take-out† from the advertising by using indirect techniques e. g. use of projective and enabling techniques. †¢ Knowledge of how consumers might relate to the brand. †¢ Opportunities to unravel complex responses or ambiguity in answers. This research paper is consumer based brand equity which means that Customer-based brand equity is defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand in which brand knowledge is conceptualised, based on an associative network memory model in terms of two components, brand awareness and brand image (Keller 2003). Feldwick (1996) notes there are three meanings of brand equity: Brand value: in accounting terms the value of a brand as an asset that can be broken out on a balance sheet. Brand strength: a measure of the strength of a consumer’s attachment to a brand. Brand description: the set of specific attitudes a consumer has towards a brand. Ambler and Vakratsas (1998) have stated that no single set of measures of performance or â€Å"metrics† could apply to all firms and that in practice many such measures are related. They suggested some consumer brand equity metrics as: â€Å"Intermediate† (includes top-line sales, bottom line, awareness, knowledge, relevance, perceived quality etc. ); â€Å"Behaviour† (loyalty, share of category requirements, number of customers gained and lost, new leads, repurchase rates, direct marketing responses) and â€Å"Competitive† (share of market, share of voice, relative/actual/measured quality, relative satisfaction/intention to buy). Clearly, there can be many measures or combination of measures which marketers could decide to include. Indeed, Feldwick has argued that when assessing the health of a person there is no single â€Å"health† score but rather a set of measures which are used to qualitatively assess health. Taking this analogy further, we would argue that the measures that are relevant will depend on the circumstances of the person. For instance, their age (product life cycle? ), history and life expectations – what could be expected given the environment in which the person has lived (market history, conventions and forecasts) and most importantly their psychological well-being. In the latter case, one might examine the extent to which a person has a set of core values that are â€Å"healthy†. Are they consistent within themselves and with the communities in which the person lives and works? Is their expression optimal? The parallels with brand essence research and brand building are topics this paper will address in particular. The approach taken in this paper is that building brand equity in marketing rather than accounting terms is about strengthening a brand in the mind and heart of the consumer. To achieve this, marketing research can help define how this might be achieved, screen marketing programmes before they are implemented and then assess their effectiveness once executed. The concept of brand equity is not new. Certain global brands in the drinks market have, for long, been successful as â€Å"global entities† in their own right, projecting strong cultural identities or what they stand for, e. g. Coca Cola and Johnny Walker which had the slogan â€Å"born 1870 and still going strong†. The best known Seagram brands include Chivas Regal whisky, the Glenlivet malt whisky, Mumm champagne, Martell cognac and Sandeman port and sherry. Better known in the drinks industry for its production and marketing of distilled spirits, wines, coolers, beers, mixers and fruit juices in over 150 countries, Seagram also has investments in the music and entertainment industries. The example of Chivas Regal draws from previous discussion about market research (Nancarrow et al. , 1998). Chivas Regal is Seagram’s definitive luxury Scotch whisky from Strathisla, the oldest operating distillery in Scotland, founded in 1786. From its origins as a whisky consumed by members of the nobility and gentry in Scotland it is now sold across the world to â€Å"discriminating whisky drinkers†. According to Kapferer (1992), successful brand development should take account of the genetic blueprint and core values of a brand. However, brand building must also consider the more peripheral, often local, attributes of an international brand. Marketers can therefore seek to maximise the appeals of their brands through marketing communication methods in global markets, with these principles in mind. As a premium brand, Seagram’s Chivas Regal is advertised and promoted to be positioned as a luxury brand in the minds of consumers. The positioning and investment in consolidating this have been consistent across countries. The designs of local advertising campaigns in the past, therefore, had to meet specific global brand criteria to maintain consistency in terms of consumer perceptions. The core values of the brand should be fundamental to the creation of the blueprint for all marketing communications. However, while it is one thing to hold the view that core values should represent the essence of a truly global brand which could be â€Å"transported† across the world, it is possible that the search for common values may be misunderstood by local management as a search for the lowest common denominator, possibly leading to blandness of approach. At Seagram, global management avoided this by a process of full consultation with their regional and local markets management teams. It is also not always easy for organisations to ensure that their messages to consumers are interpreted by them in the ways in which such organisations had intended. For Seagram it was important to get it right and to deliver advertising messages as effectively as possible to consumers. The â€Å"consultation processes† with consumers in the pre-testing research on press advertising would minimise the risk of distortion as well as contribute up-to-date information about consumer needs and wants. The author used exploratory method with the use of qualitative research approach. Exploratory research is usually conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem The author presented in a good way and he mentioned each and every corner of this research paper. He presented with good reference. The author mentioned qualitative techniques. But only the one defects is not a deep paper Author presented with the help of a table and a graph Discussion In this research paper author selected brand is not suitable for this research paper because liquor products are a different category. In my opinion liquor products are addicted products peoples are selecting only in the base of addiction not for branding sense. The author mentioned two type of testing part one is pre-testing and another one is post-testing it shows that communication effect and sales effect Conclusion In this research paper author presented in a different style and different type of approach. Any way this is a good research paper but little bit defects like the author concentrate only a particular brand. In my opinion this brand is not suitable for research of brand equity because alcohol is a product but peoples are buying to the addiction of alcohol. In this research author more concentrate about the technical part and research part. Reference http://www. emeraldinsight. com/Insight/ViewContentServlet? contentType=Article&Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0360160411. html (This review is based on this link) Blackston, T. (1992), â€Å"Observations: Building Brand Equity by Managing the Brand’s Relationships,† Journal of Advertising Research, (May):79-83. Feldwick, P. (1996) ‘What is Brand Equity anyway, and how do you measure it? ‘, MRS Conference, Birmingham International Convention Centre, March. Feldwick, P. (1999) ‘Brand research’, in C. Mcdonald and P. Vangelder (Eds. ) ESOMAR Handbook of Market and Opinion Research. Gordon, W. (1991) ‘Researching a brand’, in D. Cowley, Understanding Brands, Kogan Page. Nancarrow, C. , Wright, L. T. and Woolston, C. (1998) ‘Pre-testing international press advertising: the need for informed consensus on methodology’, Qualitative Market Research Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 25-8. De Ruyter, Ko. and Scholl, R. (1998) ‘Positioning qualitative market research: reflections from theory and practice’, Qualitative Market Research Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 7-14. Wright L. T. and Crimp, M. (2000) The Marketing Research Process, Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition. Blamires, C. (1999) ‘Pricing research’ in C. Mcdonald and P. Vangelder (Eds. ) ESOMAR Handbook of Market and Opinion Research. Axelrod, J. N. (1992) ‘The use of experimental design in monitoring brand equity’, Proceedings of the Seminar: The Challenge of Branding Today and in the Future, Brussels, ESOMAR Crimmins, J. C. (1992) ‘Better measurement and management of brand value’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 32, No. 4, July/August. Chavda, D. (1998) ‘Gaining competitive advantage through equity EngineSM and Brand relationships’, International paper adapted from a talk given at the 19th Annual American Marketing Association’s Marketing Research Conference (14 September, Chicago, USA). Morgan, R. (1998) ‘If the public reckon all products work, is emotion what counts? ‘ Research Plus, January. Farr, A. (1998) ‘How brand values sort the strong from the vulnerable’, Research Plus, January. Cooper, A. (1998) ‘Brand equity – a lifestage model’, Research Plus, January.

Improving Organizational Performance Essay

Celsey Evans, of Airdevils, has hired Peter Mallow, of Dream Teamworks, to address the problems currently existing in and affecting the Airdevils Company. These problems consist of dissatisfaction among customers, less wins at award ceremonies, a high turnover rate, and low job satisfaction among employees. Surveys, amongst other factors, determined that job dissatisfaction is particularly high among the stunt performers. With the stunt performers as the target group of the study, Celsey and Peter will identify the reasons for psychological underpinnings of low job satisfaction in the company. Using motivational and behavioral approaches and making adjustments to the core reasons for employee dissatisfaction will help Airdevils attain the status that they seem to have lost. Determining the underlying causes, implementing interventions, creating a team for preparing innovating stunts, and reducing stress among employees are the keys to catapulting Airdevils back to the status it deser ves. According to the JDI and JIG (survey) scores for Airdevils’ employees the stunt performers are the least satisfied in general, but all of the employees are dissatisfied below acceptable levels in Promotion (infrequencies) and Pay (too low). Supervision and Work are also low with stunt performers but higher than â€Å"good† among other employees. If one were to rely on this information alone, one would determine that pay and promotion needs to be examined and adjusted. Further information provided, blogs and profiles, show that there are issues with ‘holier than thou’ attitudes among E8’s, less time at home with family members, low salaries, and drudge routines. After examining these factors one can determine generally that the main cause of low job satisfaction among stunt performers at Airdevils is that the stunts lack exciting challenges. Because the members of Airdevils performing teams were put into hierarchal positions, they were placed into spe cialized stunt routines. This created a more rigid organizational structure. * Though the budget does not allow a perfect overhaul to Celsey’s organization, many interventions can be chosen to be simply delayed. Recommended for the Airdevils immediately are allow participation in open competitions, entering in a new line of stunts, rotation in industry meets, and offering performance-based incentives in salaries. Allowing performers to perform outside work and cross-training are factors that should be considered quickly. After implementation of these interventions there proves to be a marked increase in the company’s performance and there is an improvement in job satisfaction. * In the next phase of the reorganization, Celsey wants to create a group of three people to begin preparing innovative stunts for the regular customers of the Airdevils. Should this idea work well, the customers will like the plans and will want to spend extra money for stunts consultation. In this case, the Airdevils will form a stunts consultancy division. Given seven excellent candidates for this three person team the three chosen by Dream Teamwork’s for Celsey’s team are Cari, Charlie, and Alverta because of their combined work experience, enthusiasm for the job, personalities, and high probability of achievement. Applying this decision is successful. The mixture of experience, high skill levels, and high emotional stability prove to be an excellent combination to make a powerful team for the Airdevils. * In the next phase, Dream Teamworks helps Celsey choose what measures should be taken by the Airdevils to reduce stress among the support crewmembers. After considerations of the measures available to the Airdevils those that would most benefit the company and its staff are relaxation training, stress-inoculation training, software training, modifying team structure, offering transportation services, establishing a code of conduct, and allowing a flexi ble work schedule. These are the best measure possible to reduce stress levels among crewmembers. The results are lower absenteeism, less stress, more teamwork, more personal time with family, and a better ability to cope with stressors from work (Britt & Jex, 2008). Absenteeism, turnover, job performance, and counter-productive behavior can be addressed through motivation. Based on the situation illustrated in the simulation the theories of employee motivation that could be used by Celsey and the management team of the Airdevils team to tackle issues are need-based theories, cognitive process theories, self-determination theory, and job-based theories. A need-based theory such as need for achievement would be an effective place to start. Need-based theories propose that achievement and power are needs evoked by different stimuli in the environment (Britt & Jex, 2008). Maslow’s need hierarchy does explain that the higher one gets on their hierarchy pyramid, from physiological to self-actualization, the more content a person becomes. This could explain why Airdevils has a need to reorganize their corporation. Making employees content in more factions of their lives makes more productive employees. ERG is another needs-based theory that could be considered. ERG allows for the possibility that the stunt performers in the Airdevils may be regressing because their needs at the most basic level of their work are not satisfied. They are too concerned with the issues that the they may have with the redundancy of the routines and personality issues. Also, they are not allowed to experiment and show their own individuality and true colors and feel as thpugh they are failing to live up to their potential. Need for achievement theory is another that could be considered for this situation. Those who have consistent distinguishing characteristics of perso ns who have a high need for achievement can describe many of the stunt performers at Airdevils. These characteristics include the tendency to set moderately difficult performance goals, seek feedback, and work long hours because they absorb themselves in work (Britt & Jex, 2008). Goal-setting, Control, and Equity theories and behavioral approaches are just some examples of further applications that can be studied for this case. Many theories could be applied to the Airdevils’ situation. Should Celsey and Peter go through each of the theories that could be applied to their situation, they may find that each theory will touch on a subject currently adversely affecting the company and its profits. Through examining them all, they could reach conclusions on correcting behaviors throughout the company. Knowledge of human behavior, cognition, and affect can be used to enhance relationships in the workplace. Understanding how people interact with each other and why can help management can place people together in teams accordingly. It can also prepare the company for behavioral changes among the employees. This knowledge can help solve problems, create stress free workplace environments, and create productive and powerful teams. Employee workplace stressors can be reduced by organizations. By paying attention to the results of surveys, blogs written by employees, and general complaints throughout the company any organization can come to understand what particular stressors affect their particular employees. Clear definitions of job titles and descriptions of jobs would assist an organization from having role stressors. Workloads should be studied and divided amongst employees according to ability and pay to alleviate workload stressors. Independent control over their own workloads could be considered. For example, in regard to Airdevils, allowing more team members freedom to decide on adjustments to routines could reduce stress levels there. Alleviating interpersonal conflict by teaming like members together is one way that companies like the Airdevils can control stressors. Reducing organizational constraints is another example. In the case of the Airdevils’ organizational constraints, they do not allow their employees to participate in open competitions or rotate in industry meets. Releasing these constraints could strengthen the organizations relationships with their employees as well as relieve some of the stressors they face. Perceived control and work-family conflict are further stressors that should be examined. Making adjustments to schedules, pay, and employees behaviors will relieve many organizational conflicts and stressors and benefit the company greatly. Job security, layoffs, mergers and acquisitions are not currently affecting Airdevils but do affect other organizations. Stress management training, adjusting work schedules, providing telecommuting options, offering family-friendly benefits, and offering health and fitness programs are further ways that an organization can combat stress among its employees (Britt & Jex, 2008). Careful consideration of each aspect by the organization will ensure that they can make informed decisions regarding each stressor. After analysis of survey, employee blogs, and paying attention to the behaviors of its employees, Celsey and Peter can make the changes that Airdevils desperately needs to survive and grow. The company has a superb foundation and understands that changes must be made to achieve success. By applying studying and understanding employees’ behaviors, cognition, and applying relevant theories Dream Teamworks and Airdevils can create a prospering work environment for Airdevils’ employees and will find more satisfied employees, be subject to less turnover, win more awards, and satisfy customers better than they ever have. Reference Britt, T. W., & Jex, S. M. (2008). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach. (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons