Shark tank review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Shark tank review - Essay Example The second entrepreneur is Dave Greco who was asking for 90,000 for a 40% stake in his company. He claims he is a successful sales man and he claims he has a solution for companies through boosting their sales through packaging the sales strategies in a mobile application. The sharks quit on the deal after finding his pitch to have many inconsistent. Mark was the only shark that had made an offer but later withdrew his offer therefore Dave was not successful. The third entrepreneur in this episode was rick smith who was offering his Vegas magic show to the sharks at 1.5m for a 20% of the company. Rick was offering a family friendly magic field show in Las Vegas. The sharks did not get convinced as they claimed his business was not unique and its market is very competitive. Based on the reasons all the sharks quit on the deal and rick walks away without a deal. The final entrepreneur is Donny McCall whose business, known as invest a rack, involved the transformation of a pickup truck in about 30 minutes to a larger cargo carrying vehicle. He was asking for $100,000 for a 10% stake in his company. Sharks claim that he should get into distribution and go oversees to cut cost therefore all sharks quit on the deal. On season 3 episode 3 the first entrepreneur is Travis Perry business was a two month program that allowed people to learn how to play the guitar through the a chord cuddy. The sharks are very impressed with idea. Travis asking price was 10% stake for a $125k in the company.

A literature review on corporate social responsibility

A literature review on corporate social responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility has earned much salience over the last decades in academic literature. The literature offers various interpretations of the concept of corporate social responsiveness. The concept is understood as a process or set of processes on the way a firm approaches its environment. It is argued that business and society are interwoven: society has certain expectations regarding business and therefore the firm has responsibilities towards society. Hence, being a steward of the needs of society is deemed to be a socially responsible, appropriate, and natural act. The first book acknowledged on CSR is the Social Responsibilities of the Businessman by Howard R. Bowen in the mid 1950s. But, the term CSR came in widespread use in the early 1970s. In fact, it owes its origin due to the globalisation which took place after many multinational corporations were formed. In brief, globalisation means an increase in international transactions in markets for goods, services and factors of production and a growth in institutions that straddle international barriers. All these developments have brought in force the corporate governance mechanisms to ascertain fairness and transparency as well as social responsibility. Thus, this is how CSR was shaped and came into existence in the corporate world. 2.1.1 CSR across Countries CSR, also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance, is all but a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model where companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. CSR has been defined in various ways in different countries, of about being the capacity building for sustainable livelihoods from Ghana to about giving back to society from Philippines. Conventionally, in the United States, CSR has been presented in a philanthropic model whereby companies make profits and then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving. As such, according to Caroll (2003), The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons and voluntary interaction with the stakeholders. Ideally and broadly, the concept of CSR is a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its support to law, ethical standards, and international norms. 2.1.1 Views on CSR According to Hancock (2005), CSR can be viewed through 3 ways namely: Sceptic view According to this view, the notion of CSR is opposed to democracy and freedom, frustrating business focus on its purpose of wealth creation. Milton Friedman best defines this approach: Few trends would so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as they possibly can. Utopian view A utopian view of CSR reflects the idea that companies have a prior duty to anyone touched by their activity, their stakeholders rather than their shareholders, and especially the vulnerable that may be exploited by the companys operation. This is based on the work of Evan and Freeman who are for the stakeholder theory where a corporation must recognise and respect the vital interests of each of its surrounding stakeholders. Realist view This view gathers the greatest following of an alliance model advocated by Patricia Werhane. It states that CSR is not simply about whatever funds and expertise companies choose to invest in communities to help resolve social problems. But, it is also about the integrity with which a company governs itself, fulfils its mission, lives by its values, engages with its stakeholders, measures its impacts and reports on its activities. 2.1.2 The Key Drivers CSR is seen by Porter and Van Der Linde (2000, p. 131) as a competitive driver that requires appropriate resources. CSR programmes, however, on their own, have certain main drivers which are as follow: Bottom Line Effect This is the most relevant driver of CSR programmes as it incorporates a socially responsible element into corporate practice. As John Elkington (1997) rightly underlined that many companies exhibit corporate citizenship through charity or philanthropy. Nevertheless, a new perspective evolved over time for some corporate stakeholders. Success of a corporation is now weighted and defined by evaluating businesses using a Triple Bottom Line comprised of its social, environmental and financial performance. Managing Risk An endeavour to adopt CSR programme has been the gain in market share, key personnel and investment which pioneering companies enjoy when they seriously address labour and green issues. In fact, corporations implement such a programme to manage risks and ensure legal compliance as denoted by Levine Michael A. (2008). They try to avoid investigation, litigation, prosecution, regulation or legislation. Influence of the Corporate Disasters There has been an increased perception of greed amidst senior business officials in the corporate world following corporate scandals affecting Enron, WorldCom and the like. CSR is important in counteracting allegations of corporate greed. As a result, as described by Hancock (2005) in his book, corporations are now shifting away from the philanthropic approach towards CSR and are moving towards the greater alignment of CSR with business strategy and corporate governance. Lower Equity Risk Premium Reputation Management Corporations can face economic damage when their corporate reputations and brands are assailed or sales are affected by consumer boycotts. As argued by some rating agencies, a comprehensive CSR programme will lower a companys equity risk premium. A direct correlation between reputation and financial outcome measures share price and credit rating (Hancock, 2005) has been illustrated through a model designed by the global public relations company Bell Pottinger. In fact, companies may face a variety of legal and reputational risks if they do not have adequate social compliance or corporate social responsibility/sustainability programs in place. Customer Loyalty In todays markets, companies have to focus on building and maintaining customer loyalty. As proposed by Zhou Y. (2009), this can be done through a CSR programme which builds loyalty with customers by offering a competitive advantage in a marketplace where consumers find ethically delivered or produced goods and services. Stakeholder Activism Investment Incentives As perceived by Visser, W. (2008), CSR is encouraged through the activism of stakeholder or pressure groups which often address the alleged failure of the market and government policy. The trend of socially responsible investment gives CSR an incentive where funds are screened on ethical, social and environmental criteria. Thus, this proactively encourages businesses to inform shareholders of potential risks and issues and it helps them to better understand their stakeholders, including shareholders. According to Hill Knowltown (2006), surveys have indicated that analysts place as much importance on corporate reputation as they do on financial performance. 2.2 Theoretical Review A theoretical framework can be constructed around the several theories that emerged to explain the reasons behind environmental reporting over the time. These are as follow: Operational Efficiency Theory Operational Efficiency occurs when the right combination of people, process, and technology to boost the productivity and value of any business operation, while reducing cost of routine operations to a desired level. In the context of CSR, operational efficiencies can be achieved through managing impending risks and liabilities more effectively and efficiently through CSR tools and perspectives by reducing costs; streaming information to stakeholders concerning the investment community for better transparency and by using corporate responsibility and sustainability approaches within business decision-making to result in new market opportunities, newly developed manufacturing processes that can be expanded to other plants, regions or markets. Social Contract Theory This theory dates from the classic period of history but it took its modern form between the sixteenth and eighteen centuries with the best known philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau who talk on social contract. Rousseau, in fact, conceptualised the individual-society relationship as a symbiotic situation whereby the two parties mutually confer some right to the state in order to maintain social order which makes human life and cohabitation better and to gain benefits of community and safety. In parallel to the social contract, the corporate social theory, pertaining to a firms indirect social obligations, has been advanced as a theoretical basis to explain the practise of CSR by corporations. Accordingly, businesses are bound by the social contract whereby they consent to perform various socially desired actions in return for approval of their objectives and other rewards. This ultimately guarantees its continued existence. Legitimacy Theory The theory is close to the social contract theory. Here, the corporations constantly seek to ensure that they operate within the limits and norms of their respective societies and the outside parties perceive their activities as being legitimate. Society grants legitimacy and power to business. In the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it. This principle developed by Daviss (1973) is commonly known as the Iron Law of Responsibility. It expresses legitimacy as a societal-level concept and describes the responsibility of business as a social institution that must avoid abusing its power. Thus, this principle expresses a prohibition rather than an affirmative duty, and it applies equally to all companies, regardless of their particular circumstances. According to A.K.H. Khor, the legitimacy theory is fundamentally a system-oriented theory where organisations are viewed as components of the larger social environment within which they exist. Stakeholder Theory A key feature of CSR involves the way that a company engages, involves, and collaborates with its stakeholders including shareholders, employees, debt-holders, suppliers, customers, communities, non-governmental organisations, and governments. Companies can use stakeholder engagement to internalise societys needs, hopes, circumstances into their corporate views and decision-making. While there are many questions about how far a companys responsibilities extend into communities relative to the roles of governments and individual citizens, there is a strong argument that CSR can effectively improve a companys relations with communities and thereby produce some key features that will improve business prospects for its future. Agency Theory This theory comes to explain the relationship that exists between the owners/shareholders and the management. As such the latter is the agent which appointed by the principal (owner/subsidiary) and problems such as the potential moral hazard and conflict of interest are likely to occur. CSR comes as a middle way so that both parties can maximise their gains. As such, when CFP is strong, managers may reduce social expenditures in order to maximise their own short term private gains whereas when CFP weakens, managers will try to offset their disappointing results by engaging in conspicuous social programs, hence increasing their own wealth and that of shareholders as well, pursuant to the managerial opportunism hypothesis by Preston OBannon (1997). 2.2.1 Corporate Social Performance (CSP) In todays competitive market environment, business is confronted with a new set of challenges that are not only economics-related. To survive and prosper, firms must bridge economic and social systems. Maximising shareholder wealth is a necessary but by no means sufficient condition for financial prosperity anymore. A new performance measure called corporate social performance (abbreviated as CSP) is used to capture the performance of a business in the social realm allowing us to be more precise in thinking about corporate social responsibility. CSP defined as a business organizations configuration of principles of social responsibility, processes of social responsiveness, and policies, programs, and observable outcomes as they relate to the firms societal relationships (Wood, 1991), clearly shows that social performance is not limited to corporations only, but also applies to any firm and organisation. 2.2.2 Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) Most of the businesses operate with a view of yielding profits. The financial performance of a company is reflected through its policies and operations in monetary terms. These results are reflected through its return on investment, return on assets, value added, return on sale and growth in sales. Managers work in the best interest of shareholders to maximise profits. Financial performance is the most common, however, it cannot be considered as the only indicator used to measure a firms wealth. A broader definition of financial performance is accompanied by additional indicators such as short-term profits, long-term profits, market value, and other forms of competitive advantage, as noted by Jensen (2001). In todays world, for a firm to achieve a good and high level of CSP, it has to go beyond the limits of its own corporate strategies and adopt views of other stakeholders who may be directly or indirectly related to the company. 2.2.3 Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Since over the three decades, the study of the correlation between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CSF) has gained much salience. Many studies conducted in this effect have yielded positive correlation, while others produced contradictory results with negative or non-significant different causal directions being found. In effect, there are several competing theoretical models which are proposed to explain three varying findings on the CSP-CFP link. Owing to these differing relationships, I.Y. Maroam (2006) proposes a unified theory of the CSP-CFP link that explain the different relationships that may be observed between CSR and CFP, thus basing itself on the parallels between the business and CSR domains. The concept of CSR instils in corporations the moral responsibility towards society that go beyond the goal of simply making profits for their owners and shareholders (Berman et al., 1999). As Freeman (1984) rightly pointed out that corporations should be socially responsible for both moral and practical (instrumental) reasons, by reflecting a socially responsible posture, a corporation can enhance its own performance. Thus, CSR activities can, inter-alia, be rewarded with more satisfied customers, better employee, improved reputation, and improved access to financial markets, all pertaining to improving financial performance and sustain the business. However, social accomplishments may equally involve certain financial costs which can effectively reduce profits and comparative performance. Hence, Vance (1975) came up with the trade-off hypothesis to show negative linkage between CSP and CFP whereby corporations displaying strong social credentials experience declining stock prices r elative to the market average. 2.2.3.1 CSP as Business Strategic From the above, it is clear that CSP can be used as a business strategy which can contribute to the competitive advantage of firms. A study by N.A. Dentchey (2004) on the effects of CSP on the competitiveness of organisations reveals that CSP should not be thought of an innocent adventure for executives. It is rather a strategy for achieving corporate strategies, which if not carefully implemented, may harm the competitive advantage of the firm. Competitive advantage, as seen by Porter (1996), denotes the ability of a company to outperform others from successful differentiation from rivals actions. This strategic fit between the outside environment and companies internal resources and capabilities (Hoskissoon et al., 1999) results in superior financial results, as indicated by various measures of profitability. Hence, as per Burke and Logsdon (1996), a strategic implementation of social responsibility brings benefits for all since it results in strategic outcomes such as customer loyalty, future purchases, new products, new markets and productivity gains. Arguably, CSP can be a source of competitive disadvantage for firms which regard CSP as an additional cost. Business contributions to social prosperity (CSP) are seen by Keim (1978, p.33) as an investment in public good which is consumed or enjoyed by a number of individuals disregarding the cost sharing. Thus, investing in CSP is likely to bear negative effects for the fir ms which are incurring costs that might otherwise be avoided or that should be borne by others, for example, individuals or government (Aupperle et al., 1985). 2.2.4 CSP, CFP and the Stakeholder Theory Following the above arguments, a new perspective of CSP, based on the stakeholder analysis, emerges to argue furthermore that there exists a positive relationship between CSP and financial performance. As such, S.A. Waddock and S.B. Graves (1997) propose that a tension exists between the firms explicit costs (for instance, payments to bondholders) and its implicit costs to other stakeholders (for example, product quality costs, and environmental costs). Therefore, a firm which tries to outweigh its explicit costs by increasing its socially responsible actions incurs higher implicit costs, resulting in competitive advantage. Thus, high levels of CSP are seen as indicators of superior management by Alexander and Buchholz (1982) which lead to lower explicit costs and enhanced financial performance. The stakeholder theory accompanies the concept of CSR by shedding more light on the issue of social responsibility. This theory is spread over three aspects (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) namely, descriptive, instrumental and normative. While the descriptive aspect describes and explains the theory, the instrumental aspect discloses the cause-effect relationships between stakeholder management practices and improving corporate performance. The normative aspect, on the other hand, as perceived by I.Y. Maroam (2006) emphasizes on the moral imperatives for practising stakeholder management, rather than the business benefits it may provide. A parallelism between the core business domain and the CSR domain will maximise a firms profitability. The stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between CSP and CFP by examining how a change in CSP is related to a change in financial accounting measures. In fact, the two concepts of CSR and stakeholder share the proposition that social responsibility affects financial performance in some way or other. This subject area has been so vastly explored that this trend is now seen as a natural progression which goes associatively with developments in the industrial and business world. There is an increasing concern and emphasize on humanity, environmental preservation and enlightened social consciousness. Thus, a new area of research began to pave its way within the field of business and society where the relationship between corporate social conduct, both toward the corporations stakeholders and the wider society, and the corporations financial performance was and is still being investigated across several countries. Over environmental issues, research h as revealed that businesses which are eco-friendly and demonstrate good CSR practices enjoy increased consumer purchase preference (Gildea, 1994; Zaman, 1996) and good economic performance (Al-Tuwaijiri, et al., 2004). A stakeholder group, as identified and defined by Freeman (1984), is one that that can affect or is affected by achievement of the organisations objectives, that is, which can be harmed as well as can help it to achieve its goals. Therefore, there is a growing need for firms to address the needs and expectations of the stakeholders to avoid negative outcomes and produce positive outcomes for themselves (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Freeman, 1984; Frooman, 1997). Pursuant to the stakeholder theory perspective, CSP can be assessed in terms of a company meeting the demands of multiple stakeholders, ranging from cost minimisation to societal maximisation. Building on the previous mentioned definition of CSP, Wood and Jones (1995) propose that stakeholder theory is the key to understanding the structure and dimensions of the firms societal relationships. This theory thereby assumes that firms are responsible for honouring all the implicit and explicit contracts they hold with their variou s constituents. Therefore, the stakeholder theory provides a system-based perspective of the organisation and its stakeholders where it acknowledges the dynamic and complex nature of the interplay between them. The various stakeholders of the firms, such as the employees, shareholders/ financers, environmentalists, government, communities, customers and even competitors should be convinced by the management that it is working harder to satisfy them. The more important the stakeholders to the firm, the more effort the firm needs to put to uphold its relationship with the former. According to Clarkson, Donaldson and Preston et al. (1995), the stakeholder theory must place shareholders as one of the multiple stakeholder groups which managers should consider in their decision-making process. However, like the shareholders, the other stakeholders may have a say upon the firm, bestowing societal legitimacy. Notably, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) asserted that firms must address these non-shareholder gro ups demands otherwise they might face negative confrontations which can ultimately result in diminished shareholder value, through boycotts, lawsuits, protests and so on. Hence, firms have a fiduciary duty relationship not only to the shareholders, but to all stakeholders (Hasnas, 1998, p.32). So far, recognising a companys contractual relationship with the various stakeholders has been instrumental in better comprehending the relationship that CSP and CFP share. Stakeholders have expectations from the organisation. Nevertheless, these expectations may conflict with the firms limited resources leading the firm to evaluate its costs and benefits tradeoffs. Firms must thus come with measures representative of the various factors of CSP and stakeholders interests. Unlike neo-classical stockholders who were only interested in financial performance (Grouf, 1994; Shapiro, 1992), the major stakeholders of today, that is, the stockholders are more interested in the firms current and future financial benefits and social performance. 2.3 Empirical Review This section reviews the works done and methods used by researchers on the relationship of CFP and CSP. Empirical results on the correlation between these are mixed whereby some yielded in positive, some in negative or some in non-significant relationships. Basing on the stakeholder theory approach, several models on the CFP-CSP relationship have been proposed, where the largest number of investigations found a positive CSP-CFP relationship. Notably, different methods to compute indexes for CFP and CSP have been used since data on both cannot be possibly obtained in absolute figures. As such, using aggregated weights assigned to K dimensions of social performance obtained through questionnaire for CSP and using change in Return of Equity, change in Return on Sales and growth in sales as financial measures on a sample of 496 firms, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) came up with a positive relationship between CSP and CFP. They, in fact, regressed change in CSP on change in CFP. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between change in CSP and change in Return on Equity and change in Return on Sales in the long term but that with the Growth of Sales to be significantly positive only in year 0 and 1. The study suggests that improvements in CSP have both immediate and continuing financial impacts. A paper by S. A. Waddock and S. B. Graves (1997) also came up with positive linkage between CFP and CSP. An index for CSP was computed using eight attributes, rated consistently across the entire Standards Poors 500 by a rating service, which were related to stakeholder concerns. The firm financial performance (profitability) was measured using three accounting variables, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS) used to assess CFP by the investment community. Factors such as size, risk and industry which affect both CFP and CSP were taken as control variables. Used on a sample of 469 companies and using CSP as both dependent and independent variable, the results revealed that CFP does depend on CSP and vice-versa and also indicated the importance of controlling for industry in assessing such a relationship. To bring more integrity, M. Orlitzky et al. (2003) conducted a quantitative meta-analysis on the CFP-CSP relationship building on the hypothesis that CSP and CFP are generally positively related leading to competencies, learning, efficiency and reputation-building with its external stakeholders. Taking CFP as a companys financial viability through three broad subdivisions consisting of market-based (investor returns), accounting-based (accounting returns), and perceptual (survey) measures and constructing CSP through four broad measurement strategies, namely: (a) CSP disclosures (annual reports, letters to shareholders); (b) CSP reputation ratings; (c) social audits, CSP processes, and observable outcomes; and (d) managerial CSP principles and values (Post, 1991), the study suggests that corporate virtue in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environmental responsibility can pay off, despite the CSP-CFP operationalisations can also moderate the positive associa tion. CSP appeared to be more highly correlated with accounting-based measures of CFP than with market-based indicators, and CSP reputation indices were more highly correlated with CFP than are other indicators of CSP. This meta-analysis establishes a greater degree of certainty with respect to the CSP-CFP relationship than is currently assumed to exist by many business scholars. According to Mahoney L. and Roberts R.W. (2007), there is no significant relationship between a composite measure of firms CSP and CFP. Using four years panel data of Canadian firms, they calculated a composite measure of CSP score by summing all dimension strength ratings, such as, community relations, diversity, employee relations, environment, international, product safety, and amongst others and subtracting all dimension weaknesses ratings. As concerned the CFP, following Waddock and Graves (1997a), return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) were used separately to measure a firms CFP. As CFP was expected to be positively related to CSP, a one-year lag between CFP and all independent variables (CSP, firm size, debt level, and industry) was used. Inconsistent with their expectation, they found no significant relationship between the composite CSP measure and either ROA or ROE. However, the use of individual measures of firms CSP regarding environmental and international act ivities and CFP resulted in a significant relationship providing mixed support for the business case for CSP. A study, using the Granger causality approach, by Rim Makni et al. (2008) reaffirms Mahoney and Roberts (2007) works on the non-significant relationship. However, there may also be a simultaneous and interactive negative relation between CSP and CFP, forming a vicious circle. Building on P. L. Cochran and R. A. Wood (1984) CSR-financial performance model where average age of corporate assets was found to be highly correlated with social responsibility rankings, D. J. Wood (1991) reformulated the CSP model to build a coherent, integrative framework for business and society research. The principles of social responsibility were framed at the institutional, organisational, and individual levels; processes of social responsiveness were shown to be environmental assessment, stakeholder management, and issues management; and outcomes of CSP were posed as social impacts, programs, and policies. The third part of the CSP model concerning the social outcomes was the only portion that was actually observable and open to assessment and any real performance, determined by stakeholders, existed. It was noted that stakeholders were likely to evaluate CSP differently, depending not only on their own interests, but also on their understanding and acceptance of social res ponsibility principles and their relationship to CSP. Building on this model, many researchers worked on finding the linkage between CFP and CSP. Using Wood (1991)s model, the results of a study conducted by P. A. and S.D. Stanwick (1998) showed that a firms CFP is indeed affetced by the size of the firm, and the amount of pollution emissions released. Where many numerous quantitative studies have been carried out to establish, largely in samples of multiple industries, the CSP-CFP relationship, M. Soana (2009) investigated this very linkage in the banking sector using a sample of national and international banks where social performance was proxied using content analysis, surveys, reputational measures, unidimensional indicators, ethical ratings and financial economic performance was proxied using market and accounting ratios. The eventual examination resulted in a no statistically significant link that could indicate any positive or negative correlation between CSP and CFP. The reason was that the majority of studies revised till now are also almost exclusively focused on the USA and UK markets. Corporate governance was also used as control variable, but it showed a non-significant and negative link with ROA and ROA. The study also confirmed the hypothesis that those banks that have the most transparent and efficient ownership st ructure are also the least profitable for shareholders.

Proposal for Web Based Ordering and Management System

CHAPTER I BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AND IT’S SETTING Introduction In the fast changing environment of business, information technology played a great role in advancing business transaction to achieve optimum globalization. Various information systems are introducing services in diverse level of management and it ensures the most updated level of business transaction today.The introduction of online servicing becomes the talk of the town not only in information technology more so in terms of how it affects the business transaction like on how to speed up the process, getting accurate result of the process, becoming convenient on the part of the client and ensuring that the management can handle volumes of transaction of the business. These are some of the important processes that the business industry is facing nowadays.By using ordering management system, it allows the user to import data and to manage the products that the customer wants such as, product information, buyer†™s information, costumer’s prioritization and product costing. PC Troubleshooters runs its business through a manual process in taking the orders of the costumers. Though there are more employees attending to the needs of the costumer, but the company was often confronted with greater volume of orders, this in effect, created a problem that continue to persist a onger period of time. Because of that, chances are the customer might give false information about their order. In rare cases like that, the employee can make mistakes too due to the given information of the customer. Another problem is that when transactions are done manually, the customers can change their mind and cancel their order. This kind of conflict makes the customer take back its money directly without any other process or informing the company of the cancelled transaction.Indeed, managing the orders through manual process becomes a big problem of the companies since it creates a higher risk of committing errors and even makes the employees accountable for their transaction (SaaS). Just like in the case of PC Troubleshooters, manual process of managing the orders consumes a lot of time. If it is not being organized the orders are mixed up. PC Troubleshooters cannot manage the orders properly also when the customer gives wrong information about the order, errors takes place and tracking the error consumes a lot of time.Not the wrong information that might be given by the costumer but at the same the errors committed by the employees they do commit mistakes, like giving incorrect information about the ordered product, orders that are not arranged properly and sorted like its date and priority, giving product to right costumer, these are the problem that the company encountered when dealing with their manual transaction. To solve the problem of PC Troubleshooter, the proponents provide â€Å"Web Based Ordering Management System. † This kind of system can make their work fast, re liable, consistent and flexible.The system adapts to different types of order and to meet the customer’s needs. It will also monitor and manage the orders of the customer in order to check the ordered product accurately. The product must be added before ordering occurs. It can also reduce the risk of overlapping orders and other mistakes done by the customer and by the employee. On the part of the management the system has the capability to show reports of every transaction that are accomplished in everyday transaction. Thus, monitoring the reports and knowing the problems can now be traced easily by the top management level.Objective of the Study General Objective The general objective of the study is to create and develop a web based ordering management for PC troubleshooters. Specific Objectives 1. To monitor the orders of the client in terms of prioritization. 2. To lessen conflicts between the ordering of products and managing the orders. 3. To test and evaluate the effe ctiveness of the Ordering Management System. 4. To evaluate the feasibility of the study in terms of: accuracy, efficiency, reliability, user’s friendly and flexibility.Significance of the Study The web based order management system helps both the customers and the management in dealing with their transactions effectively. Furthermore, the other beneficiaries of the study are the following: Company This study helps the company as a whole in identifying the problems encountered. It also serves as a tool to improve their existing methods of managing the orders in a shorter time and also it helps them to track the order of the customer. It lessens changes in final posting of orders by their client. UserThis study will help the user in making the process or ordering fast and lessen the conflict in managing the orders and to lessen the complaints of the customers. Client This study helps the client in terms of selecting a product and can help in providing what is best for the clie nt base from their interest. Proponents This study will help the proponents in enhancing their skills in making a web based ordering management system through the application various programming language acquired. Future Proponents This study will serve as a resource or reference for future proponents.It can help them to create and develop a new project proposal of almost the same kind of software that can be use as a solution in solving the problems in the ordering process and management. Scope and Delimitation Scope The scope of this study includes the process of editing or altering and deleting transaction, sorting of products according to prices, new arrivals, item and the like. Viewing of fast and slow moving of products through the use of pie chart. Another is that it can view the order of the customer. It has a PayPal function wherein the customer can transact online.An editing tool called FCK editor which is used to edit the important details of the site especially the displ aying of information about the products. It is a crossed browser based system that can run on any web browsers. Delimitation The present study of the proponents does not include the ordering of products from the suppliers. Also the shipping outside of the Philippines is not covered in this study. The transaction in terms of payment online or in the company using credit or debit cards are not also covered.

Rural Entreprneurship -One Key to Rural Revitalisation

Entrepreneurship can play an important role in rural development. â€Å"Entrepreneur means one who creates a product on his own account, who ever undertakes on his own an industrial/trading enterprise in which work men are employed†. If entrepreneurships really encouraged in rural area it would, of course, be instrumental in changing the face of rural areas by solving the problems of unemployment, poverty, economic disparity, poor utilization of rural capacity, low level of standard of living. Authors: 1. Dr.Ratan Barman, Reader, Department of Commerce, Assam University (Diphu Campus) 2. Dipanjan Chakraborty, Senior Lecturer, Department Of commerce,Darrang College,tezpur Introduction ‘India lives in her villages’—- this axiom is still true today despite the service sector budding in the urban and semi urban areas. Majority of the population still lives in rural India and the large chunk of population in urban areas still live through the learning of a villa ge life. For the strength of the country there is a necessity to develop the villages. Development of a country is a choice loaded on its people, whether urban or rural.It is individuals who shape up a society and decide its progress and performance. Urban and rural are two sides of the same coin of economic development. While the urban sector has witnessed phenomenal growth and development, fuelled by the post independence era of industrialization, the rural sector saw little corporate growth. Rural development is more than ever before linked to entrepreneurship. Institutions and individuals promoting rural development now see entrepreneurship as a strategic development intervention that could accelerate the rural development process.Furthermore, institutions and individuals seem to agree on the urgent need to promote rural enterprises: development agencies see rural entrepreneurship as an enormous employment potential; politicians see it as the key strategy to prevent rural unrest ; farmers see it as an instrument for improving farm earnings; and women see it as an employment possibility near their homes which provides autonomy, independence and a reduced need for social support. To all these groups, however, entrepreneurship stands as a vehicle to improve the quality of life for individuals, families and communities and to sustain a healthy economy and environment.Rural industrialization is important not only as a means of generating employment opportunities in the rural areas with low capital cost and raising the real income of the people, but also because it contributes to the development of agriculture and urban industries. In the absence of rural industrialization, it would not be easy to solve the problem of unemployment in rural areas. The entrepreneurial orientation to rural development accepts entrepreneurship as the central force of economic growth and development, without it other factors of development will be wasted or frittered away.However, the acceptance of entrepreneurship as a central development force by itself will not lead to rural development and the advancement of rural enterprises. What is needed in addition is an environment enabling entrepreneurship in rural areas. The existence of such an environment largely depends on policies promoting rural entrepreneurship. The effectiveness of such policies in turn depends on a conceptual framework about entrepreneurship, i. e. , what it is and where it comes from. Concept of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur The terms ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘entrepreneur’ are not new to the Indian economy.Often these two terms are considered synonymous and used interchangeably. But conceptually both the terms are different. The relationship between the two is just like the two sides of the same coin. The understanding of the concept of entrepreneurship owes a lot to the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter and the Austrian School of economics. According to Schump eter (1950),’ and entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention in to a successful innovation. † Entrepreneurship forces â€Å"creative destruction† across markets and industries, simultaneously creating new products and business models and liminating others. In this way, creative destruction is largely responsible for the dynamism of industries and long-run economic growth. The entrepreneur is the kind of persons that is willing to put his career and financial security on the line for an idea, spending his time and capital in an uncertain venture. Entrepreneurship as a stabilizing force limits entrepreneurship to reading markets disequilibria, while entrepreneurship defined as owning and operating a business, denies the possibility of entrepreneurial behaviour by non-owners, employees and managers who have no equity stake in the business.Therefore, the most appropriate definition of entrepreneurship that would fit into the r ural development context, argued here, is the broader one, the one which defines entrepreneurship as: â€Å"a force that mobilizes other resources to meet unmet market demand†, â€Å"the ability to create and build something from practically nothing†, â€Å"the process of creating value by pulling together a unique package of resources to exploit an opportunity†2. Concept of Rural entrepreneurship Many examples of successful rural entrepreneurship can already be found in literature.Rural entrepreneurship can be defined as entrepreneurship emerging at village level which can take place in a variety of fields of endeavour such as business, industry, agriculture and acts as a potent factor for economic development, In short, rural entrepreneurship implies rural industrialization consisting mainly of agro-based industries, Khadi and village industries and cottage industries. The promotion of rural entrepreneurship is vital in the context of generating gainful employ ment and minimizing the widening of disparities between rural and urban population.About 75% of the population who lives in villages has to utilize the village resources and they are plentifully available and people are not utilizing it effectively due to mass illiteracy. The risk aversion people can be transformed in to risk taking innovative entrepreneurs by proper training. Rural entrepreneurship not only concentrates on enhancement of products by use of local force or by artisans but also has significant environmental and social impact by developing eco friendly and appropriate olution to local problems China represents a unique example of rural entrepreneurial development with prima facie importance to the use of local resources, such as natural resources, human resources and material resources for local economic, social and cultural development and for running within the local area the surpluses so generated and at the same time effectively integrating rural development with m odernization the urban sector. China’s successful rural development through less dogmatic and down-to-earth approach to rural industrialization is really worth emulating for our country.Dynamic rural entrepreneurs can also be found. They are expanding their activities and markets and they find new markets for their products and services beyond the local boundaries. Role of Entrepreneurship in Rural development For rapid development, rural industrialization is must. But rural industrialization requires development of rural areas.. According to the Government of India, any industry located in rural area, village or town with population of 20,000 or less and an investment of Rs. crore in Plant and machinery is treated is rural industry. Rural or village industry is classified in to the following categories: †¢ Mineral based industry †¢ Forest based industry †¢ Agro based and food industry †¢ Polymer and chemical industry †¢ Engineering and non-convention al energy †¢ Textile industry †¢ Service industry Objectives of entrepreneurship in Rural Development †¢ To reduce disparities in income between rural and urban areas †¢ To promote balanced regional development To pressure the age-old rich heritage of the country †¢ To control migration of population from rural to urban area and thus helps in checking haphazard growth of cities and slums †¢ To help in reducing social tension and pollution Rural Entrepreneurship as a policy Tool to Achieve Rural Development Before independence, rural industrialization and hence rural entrepreneurship did not get any emphasis. The British Government gave importance to imports and neglected the development of Indian industries.In order to achieve rural development, after independence, the government of India used rural entrepreneurship as a policy tool. It has been clearly reflected in various five year plans and industrial policies. 1) Production in Khadi & Village indust ries sector was Rs 4,519 croes in the year 1997-98 and by the end of the year 2006-07, it is expected to increase up to Rs. 13,250croes i. e. in the span of 9 years it is expected to rise by almost 3 times. 2) Employment in KVI sector was 6. 65 million in the year 1997-98 and it is expected to increase up to 9. 5million by the end of year. Problems faced by entrepreneurs of rural areas †¢ Lack of finance-Modern entrepreneurship is a costly affair which needs abundant credit facilities. But in undeveloped countries, there is always scarcity of such credit facilities †¢ Lack of technical know-how-On account of faulty education system youth lack professional, managerial and technical knowledge which is an impediment in developing the spirit of enterprise, consequently not many people come forward to establish self-employment units. Absence of Enterprising skill- Most of the rural people in India lack risk bearing ability. Reluctance to involve oneself in business, inclination towards wage employment, lack of creative thinking are few reasons which have restricted the growth of self-employment in rural area. †¢ Lack of Infrastructure-On account of lack of infrastructural facilities viz, transport, water, electricity, market, storage and communication etc, entrepreneurs are shying away from establishing industries in villages. Industries which are already established are also facing similar problems. Adverse, social, cultural and Industrial environment-Caste systems, social evils, fatalism, religious superstitions, particularly in the countryside, do not allow development of adventurous spirit. Lack of skill and expertise in labourers, their tendency to migrate to big cities and consumer’s habit to buy goods produced by big companies create many problems for new entrepreneurs. †¢ Lack of awareness about quality control-It is true that of awareness hinders rural entrepreneurship. There are number of factors responsible for the lack of awar eness among rural folk.Illiteracy, ignorance, lack of proper propaganda by agencies, corruption among government functionaries etc are some of the factors responsible for this problem. †¢ Lack of market information due to poor communication facility- The absence of effective communication and access to right information makes it difficult for rural entrepreneurs to understand market trends and policies followed by the government on industrialization. Rural Development through Rural Entrepreneurship To achieve rural development through rural entrepreneurship,† The support infrastructure† given by Bill Bolton & John Thompson should be implemented given below.The support infrastructure | | People | Ideas | The Enterprise | |Sector |Education and |Research and |Property |Finance |Supply |Business support |Community | | |Training |Development | | | | |development | |Facility |School, |Industry, |Business |Seed and |Sub |Government |Housing, | | |College |University |Incu bator; |venture |contractors; |Agencies; |Schools, | | |University; |Garage |Innovation |capital |Labour |Clubs and |Hospitals, | | |Training | |centre | |pool |Associations, |Recreation, | | |Facility; | |Science | | |Consultants |Transport | | |Entrepreneur | |Technology | | |And business |Tele commu | | | | |Business | | |advices |nications | | |school | |parks | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Activity |Courses of |Technology |Premises |Equity& | Staff |Training advice |Amenity | | |programmes |transfer |and support |Loans |& Suppliers |and networking |provision | Source: Entrepreneurs by Bill Bolton & John Thompson Conclusion On the basis of analysis and role of rural entrepreneurship for rural development, we can conclude that rural entrepreneurship and rural development are two sides of the same coin. A part from Government policy, there is an urgent need to create conducive environment in rural areas so that rural entrepreneurship should flourish. Suggestions The following suggesti ons can be put forwarded for the protection and enhancement of demand potentiality leading to fertile ground for entrepreneurship.Entrepreneurship would be conducive for rural capacity utilization and development and solving rural problems like, unemployment, poverty, low level standard of living etc. ? Formulation of a registered trade union, under the guidance of appropriate Government, at village level-The role of such a trade union should be to protect and promote the interest of labours in the village. It will lead to enhance their bargaining power, thereby more earnings. Labour concessions will be instrumental in changing the face of rural areas. ? Formation of village development council, under the guidance of appropriate Government, at the village level . This council should lead in forming and propagating about negative impacts of drain of rural demand, rural resources to urban area.Consciousness should be created about the fulfillment of rural demand by rural supplier livi ng in the same village. It means trading should be promoted in the villages. Positive impact of divion of work. Divion of work will lead specialization, better capacity utilization, assurance of definite market and enough earning to meet family needs. The positive and negative impacts of migration of people from rural area to urban area. It is good in the sense that it is going to provide employment to rural people in urban area. But the negative part of the process is that commit their funds in urban area. These migrated people should be encouraged and motivated to finally stay in village.They should spend their money in rural areas. It would lead to enhancement in rural demand and rural development. Such a village development council will be forum where issues relating development will be discussed and opinions will be floated among the people for course of action. ? Formation of Rural entrepreneurship Development Bank of India, on the line of Industrial Development bank of India, is essential to promote entrepreneurship in the rural areas. It role would be to make available finance, knlwledge, technical expertise, managerial advice, help in marketing, string etc. it has to take case from beginning to end. Even its role would be to come up with plans.The is need to promote urban culture in rural area in respect of consumption, entertainment, education, spending, standard of livingrationality,etc. to promote economic activities. Rural-Urban interaction, T. V, Radio, Mobile, Road etc, are promoting urban culture in rural areas. ? State Government must invest in more for development of rural entrepreneurship ? All latest technology of the globe is to be disseminated to all rural areas by Government through Toll free number ? Appointment of SSI ombudsman and having one stop centre for needs of rural entrepreneurs to be established. ? There is necessary to promote education and skill necessary for entrepreneurship ?

Free Essays on Beer

Date Rape Drug Warning Be on the lookout! Police warn all male clubbers, party-goers, and unsuspecting pub regulars to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. A date rape drug on the market, called "beer", is used by females to target unsuspecting men. The drug is found in liquid form, and is now available almost anywhere. "Beer" is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and have sex with them. Typically, a woman needs only to persuade a guy to consume a few units of "beer" and then simply ask him home for no-strings-attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several "beers" men will often succumb to desires to perform sexual acts on horrific looking women to whom they would never normally be attracted. After drinking "beer", men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened the night before...usually with a vague feeling that something bad occurred. At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life savings in a familiar scam known as "a relationship". Apparently men are much more susceptible to this scam after "beer" is administered and sex is offered by the predatory female. Please, forward this warning to every male you know. However, if you fall victim to this insidious "beer" and the predatory women administering it, there are male support groups with venues in every town where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter in an open and frank manner with similarly affected, like-minded guys. For the support group nearest you, just look up "golf courses" in the yellow pages.... Free Essays on Beer Free Essays on Beer Date Rape Drug Warning Be on the lookout! Police warn all male clubbers, party-goers, and unsuspecting pub regulars to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. A date rape drug on the market, called "beer", is used by females to target unsuspecting men. The drug is found in liquid form, and is now available almost anywhere. "Beer" is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and have sex with them. Typically, a woman needs only to persuade a guy to consume a few units of "beer" and then simply ask him home for no-strings-attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several "beers" men will often succumb to desires to perform sexual acts on horrific looking women to whom they would never normally be attracted. After drinking "beer", men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened the night before...usually with a vague feeling that something bad occurred. At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life savings in a familiar scam known as "a relationship". Apparently men are much more susceptible to this scam after "beer" is administered and sex is offered by the predatory female. Please, forward this warning to every male you know. However, if you fall victim to this insidious "beer" and the predatory women administering it, there are male support groups with venues in every town where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter in an open and frank manner with similarly affected, like-minded guys. For the support group nearest you, just look up "golf courses" in the yellow pages.... Free Essays on Beer Over the past years I have drank quite a few beers, and I am proud to say that through my extensive drinking binges I have come to master the art of beer tasting. But it didn’t always used to be this way. When I was in high school I used to drink for the sole purpose of getting completely wasted. I didn’t care what kind of beer I was drinking or what it tasted like, all I cared about was that it got me drunk. Back then, the beers of choice were three significant brands: Mickey’s, Old English, and Budweiser. All of these beers were easily accessible to high school students and what was even better was the fact that they were dirt-cheap. A forty-ounce of beer for any of these three brands would cost me a grand total of two dollars and sixty cents. For a high school student with no job this is heaven, a cheap way to get drunk and have fun. But, as the years passed, my experience with different beers grew more extensive. I began to appreciate what good beer tasted like and became sort of a beer connoisseur. I used to go to different bars tasting ales, lagers, and microbrews to see which ones I liked best. Long gone were the days of drinking bitter beer for the purpose of getting totally inebriated, and soon to come would be the period of the Beer Crusades. This was my so-called effort into trying to find the holy land of beers. I was looking for that one beer to end all other beers, and I found it in a beer called St. Pauli Girl. But, since I am a good citizen, I am going to provide a free service to all of you hopefuls out there still searching for that perfect brew. Please feel free to take full advantage of my beer knowledge to help you decide on what beer is best suited for your drinking needs. One of the most important aspects in comparing beers is the taste and flavor. When I was in high school taste had no importance for me. I didn’t care what the beer looked like, smelled like, or even tasted like, as lon...

Quarks essays

Quarks essays Quarks, as of right now, are the smallest known particles of matter. These particles never or it is believed that they never exist by themselves. These particles combine together to form protons and neutrons in an atom. Without quarks, there would be no atoms and we would cease to exist. There are six known flavors of quarks. They are up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. Each of these six quarks has their own specific mass and electrical charge. The most common of these quarks are up and down. They are the lightest and they make up all the matter around us. The next two lightest of the quarks, strange and charm, are found in cosmic rays that originate in space. The two heaviest of the quarks, top and bottom, have not yet been found in nature. Scientist are only able to produce them in the lab. It is believed that the heavier quarks decay to the lighter quarks and that is why we dont see the heaviest in nature. Each quark has an opposite particle known as an antiquark. These antiquarks combine to form antimatter. This antimatter does not exist in nature on Earth and it is believed that it is very rare in the universe. We know that it does exist for physicists have produced antimatter in laboratories. Antiquarks have some of the same properties but some of the properties are opposite of that of their counterparts. Each quark has been divided into one of three categories called generations. The first generation is the lightest two quarks, second is the next heaviest two, and the third are the heaviest of the quarks. Quarks are different from other elementary particles for they each have a specific electrical charge that is a fraction of the standard charge of charge (e) of one proton. Most other particles have multiples of that charge. Of all the quarks the heaviest of them is the top quark. It is over 30,000 times larger than the up quark. This large mass made it very difficult for sc...

The Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge Case Study

The Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge - Case Study Example The design also integrated piers along the bridge’s span for support. Additionally, incorporated in the design were several checking cables, as well as, devices proposed to be installed along the bridge’s spans to hold the deck down, preventing it from turning in the wind. Evident from the planning phase, the Authority and suspension bridge specialist, Moisseiff had the sole intention of constructing an affordable and safe bridge to benefit residents of Kitsap and Tacoma. However, the phase was not without flaws and ethical missteps. First, the authority turned down a bridge design previously proven safe, for a narrow suspension bridge design, never constructed before just because it was cheaper. The other design flaw was failure to take into account the actual wind force to which the bridge would be exposed. Additionally, during the planning phase, emphasis was placed on the structural components of the bridge. Of particular interest were the recommended open girders, which were later replaced with solid ones by the local building engineer during design execution. The plan was also flawed in regard to location selection for the bridge construction. The Tacoma Narrows; topography is highly susceptible to winds of high intensity, making it an unsuitable location to put up a suspension bridge (Pinto 221). Question #2 Qualitative risk matrix Likelihood Insignificant 1 Minor 2 Moderate 3 Major 4 Catastrophic 5 A(Almost Certain) M H H E E B(Likely) M M H H E C(Possible) L M M H E D(Unlikely) L M M M H E(Rare) L L M M M Level of Risk: (E)-Extreme Risk (H)-High Risk (m)-Moderate Risk (L)-Low Risk According to the chart above, the level of risk, rather obvious for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, was high. This is because, the level of risk posed by the bridge necessitated formulation of a detailed action of plan on the way forward, in dealing with the issues arising when the bridge was still under construction. For instance, during construction the attaching t ie-down cables snapped and proved to be ineffective. The bridge was also swayed by the wind presenting critical danger, an aspect attributable to its light weight and its narrow nature. Therefore, the level of risk was undoubtedly high, even though it could not be termed as catastrophic at this early stage. However as time progressed there were indications that the bridge would collapse. This notion rose from the increased number of risk factors that were identifiable on the bridge. For instance, slight winds would make the bridge sway to great levels and even cause wave like oscillations, posing great danger to motorists. This was because; instead of the bridge allowing wind to pass, it was acting like a kite, trapping moving air with its flat sides. Another risk factor warranting the classification of TNB as a high risk structure was, the topography of the Tacoma Narrows which made the bridge weaker, since it lay directly across the path of the wind, thus exposing it to maximum im pact. The engineers also changed some of the recommended design elements thus increasing the structure’s probability of collapsing. All these were major factors that heightened the TNB’s risk level. Even though it was hard for individuals to notice all the risk aspects when the bridge was being built, the engineers should have identified the risk in the design, sighting of the bridge or