European Union Essay

During the 20th century, many different views arose concerning the unification of a previously divided Europe. Opinions varied depending on the individuals country and heritage, but largely because unification could improve conditions in some countries, while jeopardizing the conditions in others. Those in favor of a unified Europe usually had something to gain from it, while those who were against it had something to lose. Many countries were tired after WW1 and WW2, and interested in finding a possible source of peace. As Konrad Adenaver states â€Å"Nations cannot continue to live exclusively according to their own desires and inclinations. â€Å"(Doc 6). The ideas of new imperialism and nationalism were being replaced with ideas of peace and unification. In this hope for new found peace , countries such as France, Germany, and many other countries became involved in the European Economic Community(EEC). Sir Winston Churchill wished to be more like the U. S, and to form a council of Europe. (Doc1) Being the former Prime minister Britain, he might want this due to Britain ties and respect for the U. S. Not everyone shared this respect for the U. S, as shown in a Soviet Newspaper, a cartoon of a greedy American destroying Sovereignty of West European Countries. (Doc 4) Spain seemed to also have some hesitation in the idea of a unified Europe. The prime minister of Spain, Felipe Gonzalez, states â€Å"NATO membership and joining the European Community mean the end of the traditional isolation of span. † (Doc 11) Since the U. S was the creator of NATO, Spain might have some hostility towards America for being left out of NATO, while Russians may have hostility left over from the cold war. France seemed to be a bit irritated with the fact that Britain â€Å"first refused to participate and even took a hostile attitude, as if the EEC were a economic and political threat. â€Å"(Doc 8) These words, spoken by the President of France Charles de Gaulle, summed up the attitude of many French. He also claimed Britain had too many ties to America to be fully committed to a Europe Union. Harold Macmillan, the British finance minister claimed that joining the EEC would â€Å"collapse our system of favoring rade with the British common wealth. â€Å"(Doc 7) Britain did want unity but it also needed to do what would be best for the country individually, as summed up in the words of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, â€Å"We want to see Europe more united and with a greater sense of common purpose, but it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, etc. â€Å"(Doc12) Britain was still a big powerful country, and did not necessarily benefit from the uni ty as much as smaller countries would. Italy Prime Minister Jack Lynch declares his commitment to EEC, saying â€Å"We would naturally be interested in the defense of the territories embrace by that community†(Doc 10) Although there were many different reasons why countries would want a united Europe, it did end up happening. Although there was still some suspicion as Duncan Sandys stated (speaking of Charles de Gaulle) â€Å"Were gravely suspicious of the policy of American and British governments,†(Doc 2) a European Union was formed. The United States did, and still does, have a strong influence over Europe, but Europe’s unification makes it more powerful force as well.

What is the role of engineering science in solving engineering problems?

Engineering is about ensuring the health, happiness and safety of our planet's future. Engineers are at the centre of inventing creative solutions to address these challenges head-on. Now and in the future, engineers will play a vital role in finding solutions to many of the important issues facing us today, such as global warming, energy supplies, clean water, food shortages, transport, obesity, healthcare and the ageing population.Although engineers use science and math to design or create solutions to real world problems, engineering is not really considered a science. Science is about discovering and understanding the natural, whereas engineering is about inventing, designing and implementing the artificial. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry, and mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes, and systems analysis. Engineers employ two types of natural resources, materials and en ergy.Materials acquire uses that reflect their properties: their strength, ease of fabrication, lightness, or durability; their ability to insulate or conduct; and their chemical, electrical, or acoustical properties. Important sources of energy include fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, gas), wind, sunlight, falling water, and nuclear fission. Let us take a moment to think about some things we use in our everyday life: Buildings, bridges, roads, highways and traffic lights, vehicles (buses, cars, planes and water ferries), computers and other electronic devices, none of them came into existence without engineers.We wouldn’t have been able to drive to work, check our facebook status or even use the elevators at our work places. Engineering science is used to solve problems and improve our world Problems like making your alarm go off on time or making sure your toothpaste has just the right amount of chemicals to give you that perfect smile or even ensure the right input to make a ngry birds an addictive game. Now let us look at an aeroplane, they provide a lot of examples of the importance of engineering science.Every bit of a plane has been touched by a whole team of engineers, a mechanical engineer designing engine, a mechatronic engineer designs the controls, the fuel extracted by mining engineers and refined by chemical engineers, the navigation system electrical and software engineer created those. From the Right brothers first 12th sec flight in 1903 to the invention of the jet engine, improvements in the mechanism of control in air frame construction have continued through the 20th century.Now with computers in the cockpit engaged in every aspect, flight electronics are sure to lead innovation in the future of aviation. The automobile change the way we travel but it remains an engineering work in progress so with the advancement of fuel cells and electric powered engines automobiles are certain to maintain their position at the front of technology wel l into the future. High performance materials have made possible some of the century most dazzling technological achievements like aero planes, microchips and lasers.In materials engineering atomic and molecular materials and the nano products they produce may very well make the 21st century the nano age. In the area of household appliances two major engineering innovations, resistance heating and small efficient motors lead to advancements like electric stoves, vacuum cleaners, washers, dish washers that drastically reduce the domestic workloads. A century worth of progress suggest that more innovations in advancement lie ahead. The Burj Khalifa, it is the world’s tallest building at 829. 8m high, it’s also in the world’s hottest environment reaching up to 50 degrees in summer.One of the problems in building the Burj was trying to figure out how to set 45000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete in such extreme weather. The solution was a clever method of pumping iced liquid concrete into the 55000 ton steel frame during the night. The result is a building that is vertically over 800 m high rather than horizontally all over the ground. On Saturday March 1932 the Syden Harbour Bridge was commissioned.The bridge was a marvel of civil engineering and since 1815 people had been talking of building a bridge to connect the two sides of the harbour. The problem was that the harbour was so incredibly wide and how could a bridge span such a width and support its own weight. The solution was the idea the Romans used in the past. The arched bridge works by transferring the weight into horizontal forces embracing them at the ends of the arch. Thanks to 20th century civil engineers the driving public can travel coast to coast by way of the interstate highway system.As traffic grows engineering is working to improve pavements, crash barriers and other design elements and would use new technology to improve traffic flow and safety. As the population of ci ties grew in the 20th century the challenge of clean accessible water was meet by civil engineers who created systems for water treatment and distribution leading to vast improvement in public health. As the need for clean water increases successors in water management will serve to inspire future engineers to face the challenge of improving water supply and distribution in all areas of the world.Chemical engineering and chemistry advanced in the 19th century. Through the development of electrochemistry and spectroscope many more chemical elements could be discovered. Mendelejev and Meyer independently developed the chemical law that states that the properties of all the elements are periodic functions of their atomic weights. In 1869 Mendelejev proposed the Periodic Table of Elements that classifies the chemical elements corresponding to their atomic weights. Based on this table subsequent discoveries of new elements were made which led to the completion of the table.In the 19th ce ntury chemical engineering witnessed an enormous advance in polymer technology and in the 20th century the mass production of polymers became economically feasible. These advances led to the introduction of new material, such as, plastics and fibers. As the demand grew for gasoline chemical engineers discovered a host of useful byproducts of crude oil and the petrochemical industry was born. Throughout the middle of the 20th century petroleum processing technologies allowed petrochemicals to replace environmentally harmful coal tar chemistry but environmentally issues may change the outlook of this industry in the 21st century.Scientist and Engineers learned how to make a transistor, shrink it to a microscopic size and harness it for once unimaginable powers of digital computing, control, communication, detection and display. Today engineers are exploring new architectures for these circuits and experimenting with mysterious quantum effects that might be harnessed for computation. A t the dawn of the 20th century the electric power capacity expanded rapidly while continuous innovation improves the system. As demand for the benefits of electrification continues to grow around the globe, resourcefulness remains a prime virtue.Large scale power grids are being supplemented by decentralized systems in which consumers produce some of their own power through renewable resources such as wind and solar power The first electronic computers introduced in the late 1930s were the size of large room and capable of the most basic tasks. Today PCs, Macs and laptops, I pads and smart phones are such prominent fixtures in our technologically advanced society that it is hard to imagine a future where computers don’t continue to have an increased role in almost everything we do.Beginning as a tool for academia and government and evolving rapidly into the World Wide Web open to anyone with a computer and a telephone connection, the internet has transformed the way we conduc t research, communicate and purchase items. The internet has now been such an integral part of our daily lives that the future could only bring more opportunity for us to connect with the world around us and do business.But what about the future, what problems will the engineers solve next, will we finally have affordable solar power or robots that can perform life saving surgery or a building so tall that your view is of out of space or finally engineering a working hover board. Engineering is solving problems by taking ideas out there and making them possible and when shared with the world it serves to make all of our lives better In summary we can see that throughout history engineers have taken ideas and change them into innovation.

Consumers’ Preferences for Coca Cola and Pepsi Essay

Recommendation provided by Yayra Consulting firm for the Coca Cola Corporation and Pepsi Corporation is as follows:Based on the survey I found that a majority preferred Coca Cola over Pepsi. The consumers that preferred Coca Cola were influenced by the products taste. Both Coca Cola consumers as well as Pepsi consumers were loyal to their product of preference. In both cases I found consumers who have consumed Coca Cola and Pepsi for over 20 years. I recommend that Coca Cola continue to invest in advertisements due to the fact that from those who preferred Coca Cola were influenced by their advertisements and their use of celebrities. Consumers did say that if they did not have a choice and Pepsi was their only choice they would sometimes drink Pepsi. This leads me to recommend Coca Cola to increase their presence in areas where they currently are not. This will give the consumer an option and loyal consumers will stay with their preference. I would recommend that Coca Cola ensures t hat their product is available at the convenience of their consumers. My recommendation for Pepsi would be to target the younger community by incorporating cartoon characters on their products. This recommendation is due to the fact that from those surveyed I found that the younger generation liked the Pepsi sweeter taste more than what those surveyed described as crisp flavor for Coca Cola. Pepsi:Two out of the 5 people surveyed preferred Pepsi over Coca Cola. Out of the two surveyed for Pepsi both preferred Pepsi’s taste. Price did not influence choice. Out of the two Pepsi preferred consumers stated that they drank < 1 cup – 4 cups per day. Of the two surveyed both stated that they would sometimes chose Coca Cola if they had no other choice. Of the two surveyed the years consuming the product ranged from 9 – 20 + years. Only one of the two surveyed exclusively consumed Pepsi in their family. Both Pepsi consumers surveyed were attracted to Pepsi’s advertisements. APPENDIX BProduct Profitability analysis between Coca Cola and Pepsi:The product I have chosen is Coca Cola versus Pepsi for analysis. From research I found that Coca Cola net sales/revenues were $24,088,000. Cost of goods sold were $8,154,000 the difference between both sales/revenues and cost of goods sold resulted in a gross profit of $15,924,000 in 2006. The net income in 2006 was $5,080,000. For Pepsi I found that net revenue for 2006 were $35,137,000. Cost of goods sold was $15,762,000. The difference between the revenue and cost of goods sold in 2006 for Pepsi showed a net profit of $6,439,000. The net income in  2006 was $6,439,000. The importance of the financial data is to show areas in which the corporation is excelling and may want to continue to invest in. The financial data analysis in detail also reveals areas in which the corporation is losing money and from the findings the corporation can decide to change its approach in the particular area in order to prevent further financial losses. Also, the data helps management to identify these areas where there is loss and take action that leads to increased profits. Based on the net income of 2006 for Pepsi I would say one of the factors that contribute to the edge they have over Coca Cola is that Pepsi is more diversified in the products that they produce. Pepsi not only distributes the nonalcoholic beverages they also distribute a variety of sweet and salty snack products. APPENDIX CSWOT ANALYSIS – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats:Strengths:Coca Cola:Coca Cola is a well established international nonalcoholic beverage corporation. They are well established in the market and are one of the largest nonalcoholic beverage companies in the world. Coca cola has over 400 brands from water to sports drinks. Coca Cola continues to invest in advertisements for their products, which contributes to their strong presence in the beverage market. They are addressing innovative ways to provide healthy drinks for consumers. Pepsi:Pepsi is also a well established international nonalcoholic beverage corporation. In addition to beverages Pepsi sells snacks such as the Frito Lay chips. They operate globally and have penetrated the market through advertisements, which influences increased sales. Pepsi using a distribution network to sell their products. They sell to distributors based on customer needs. Their established presence in the market contributes to their continued success and sets the stage for new successes with new products distributed by Pepsi. Weaknesses:Coca Cola:Coca Cola in 2006 some external factors caused a  reduction in income due to foreign exchange negatively impacted operation income in a decrease of 1% in European Union, Bottling investments, Brazil, and Latin America. Higher interest rates also affected Coca Colas profits. In 2006 they had a decrease of $42M compared to the prior year. Their main competitor which is Pepsi has a strong presence in not only the nonalcoholic beverages but also in salty snacks such as the Frito Lay chips corporation. Coca Cola products are strictly beverage drinks and I believe that this is a weakness for them. Pepsi:Similar to Coca Cola Pepsi operates on customer demand. If they were to market a new product that consumers don’t like Pepsi is at risk of losing sales and revenue. Other factors that can have a negative impact to Pepsi’s continued success are external factors like inflation, interest rates, and political issues. This corporation is heavily dependant on technology to run the day-to-day business. If anything were to go wrong with the technology they can be negatively impacted. Another issue that is of concern to the Pepsi organization is the fact that in recent years consumers have become more aware of health concerns. People are beginning to hold those responsible for distributing foods that are disease causing such as illnesses associated with obesity. To continue on the topic of health, Pepsi continues to distribute diet drinks containing aspartame which has been linked to cancer. APPENDIX C (Continued)Opportunities:Coca Cola:Coca Cola continues to invest on innovative products. This leads to having the ability to stay ahead of their competitors such as Pepsi. With Coca Cola being an international business the ability to be innovative provides further success in an ever changing world. In regards to being innovative, through innovation Coca Cola has the opportunity to put out healthy products into the market and address how their product affects the health of their consumers. Coca Cola to date has increased their diet products by through their partnership with Splenda, a diet substitute, by providing a variety of diet Coca Cola drinks. I also believe that Coca Cola should branch out like Pepsi into the snack industry. By doing so,they can have more of a competitive edge over Pepsi by providing snacks that are healthy in combination with innovative health drinks. Pepsi:Pepsi already participates in the distribution of snacks as well as their Pepsi drinks however, the snacks distributed are considered to be unhealthy. They should put more focus on providing healthier products for the consumer. This would provide more profitable opportunities for Pepsi. They would be reaching consumers who in today’s changing world are more health conscience than ever before. APPENDIX C (Continued)Threats:Coca Cola:The threats for Coca Cola are the constant increase new competitors entering the market. They have to constantly be aware of who their competitors are and what they are offering the market so that they can stay ahead of their competitors. Coca Cola dependence on technology is also a threat because in today’s advanced technological world there is always some kind of external threat including hackers, viruses that can corrupt critical financial information as well as product information. Another factor that can be a threat to Coca Cola is the interest rates increase. This can directly affect Coca Cola’s profits which can result in a loss. Pepsi:The threats for Pepsi are their contribution to the unhealthy snacks that they distribute to the consumer. I think that corporations have a social responsibility to provide healthy food products and not products that can cause ill health. Pepsi not only distributes nonalcoholic beverages but it also distributes snacks such as Lays chips, Doritos, Fritos to name a few. These snacks are considered unhealthy and I think that they should invest in innovative ways to come up with healthy snacks to the health conscience consumer. In recent years consumers have sued corporations for distributing food products that have lead to poor health. Therefore, with the threat of potential lawsuits Pepsi needs to address this issue and provide a product that consumers would consider to be healthy. CONCLUSION The fact remains that Coca Cola and Pepsi are each others main competitors. My recommendations for Coca Cola to invest in increasing their presence where they currently are not and continued investments in advertisements I believe will put them ahead of Pepsi. Also, Coca Cola  should branch out into distributing snacks but not just any snack but a healthy alternative snack for the increased awareness consumers have in today’s market. Pepsi consumers favored their sweet taste that was especially appealing to young consumers. My recommendation that they advertise with cartoon characters by targeting the youth I believe would lead to increased sales and increased profits for Pepsi. I also believe that Pepsi should invest in providing healthier drinks and snacks for their consumers. They already are in the market for the snacks if they began selling healthy versions of the existing snacks I believe that would also give them an edge over Coca Cola being that Coca Cola has yet to invest in the distribution of snacks. In conclusion, Coca Cola and Pepsi are successful companies that are well established in the market. This gives them an edge in the market that new competitors joining the market don’t have. That being said they still face the constant threat of new competitors and existing ones and must continue to invest in innovative ways that will keep them ahead of the competition. Also, companies have a social responsibility to provide healthy products for consumers especially in today’s world with consumers being more health conscience and demanding quality products from the food industry. Citation New York Stock Exchange:PEPSI http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/pep.htmlhttp://www.pepsico.com/PEP_Investors/AnnualReports/06/PepsiCo2006Annual.pdfCOKE http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/ko.htmlhttp://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/pdfs/form_10K_2006.pdf

Legal, security, or privacy issues within electronic commerce Assignment - 1

Legal, security, or privacy issues within electronic commerce - Assignment Example It could lead to an electronic traffic due to the high volume of emails generated. This could affect internet speeds in that they could reduce. The outcome is that business transactions could experience delays, affecting the global economy. The other effect is the increase in the cost of online business as the incorporation of Information technology experts to mitigate the virus risk could be expensive. An organization could identify the virus through the installation of an up-to-date antivirus software. In case of emails from unknown sources, individuals within an organization should never open it, unless they have prior knowledge of such an e-mail. The organization could respond to the virus e-mails in several ways. It needs to delete any suspicious emails, especially of the source of the mail is unknown. Another response is seeking advice from a company that deals with internet security. In case of infected machines, an organization could seek the help of professional technicians for a cleanup of the

How to Be Successful Managers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How to Be Successful Managers - Research Paper Example All in all, the successful managers should embrace the strategies that will make their company to have a health growth. Further, successful managers should make use of their employees to achieve the good that come from them (Mack 3). This research will explore the management in the hotel industry. First the research endeavors to collect tangible and first hand information from Richard Moore, a manager in Big Island Hotel in Hawaii. Second, the report will explore the job openings and trends in the in the hotel industries. Third, it will reveal the job prospects in the hotel industry, experience that is required, and the credentials that are needed to join hotel industry. The report will finally give my eligibility and concerns about working in this field. Hotel industry deals with offering accommodation to people who are far away from their residence. The industries offers food, shelter, and sleep to make sure all the needs of their clients are catered for. Some of the key players in this field include resorts, casinos, and private clubs (Barrows and Powers 4). It is therefore important to have good management in this industry for client full satisfaction. To gain a deeper understanding of management in the hotel, the report interviewed Richard Moore, the manager of Hawaii Big Island Hotel. This hotel is the best performing hotel in Hawaii. Because of the extremely customer friendly services it offers, Big Island has amassed many awards and recommendation from experts and their clients. Richard Moore gives the qualities that make an effective management in the Big Island Hotel. He reveals that a managers need to search the relevant information on the current prices in the hotel market. This helps to compare with the rates of other players in the market. According to Moore, there are different sources of information where one can get the details about the rates of competitors. These include local rates of corporate, their websites, and the group rates (Mack 16). Richard informs this research that the data is crucial in hotel management because it gives a rough estimate of what clients may be willing to pay. In addition, it helps the hotel manager in setting up of rates in a level that comfortably keeps hotels in operation. Richard goes ahead to state the two ways of setting the rates. The first method is reduction in the operating expenses. According to him, this method targets to maximize income of the hotel industry. The second method focuses on generating revenues. Richard asserts that to achieve maximum revenue collection, the manager should ensure classic accommodation of their clients. Moore alludes that managers should always strive to make a lot of gains and cut the expenses (PKF Hospitality Research). Richard Moore emphasizes that managing the hotels staff is the heart of success in hotel industry. Without a good relationship between the staff and the management team the hotel business heads to doom. Richard says that the managers should not only pay attention to market rates alone. There should be a well and close-knit relationship between the top management team and the subordinates. As a way of explanation, Moore insists that managers should always be physically available and accessible. He says that distinct factions are the cause of failures in most hotel industry. Moore asserts that learning about the subordinate names, their families,

Computers That Simulate And Reflect Human Behaviors Essay - 1

Computers That Simulate And Reflect Human Behaviors - Essay Example The development of relational artifacts has highly facilitated the manipulation of users into believing that computers have emotions and empathy thereby evoking feelings and intimate relationships within beings. The article, in conclusion, asserts that the resulting meaning of liveliness and authenticity attached to these computers are erroneous since robots are simply based on programmed codes. According to Turkle (2007), the modern generation of computer continues to distort the traditional meaning of human-computer relationship with regards to authenticity and liveliness. However, the key question should query the basis of the meanings being debated upon. To me, human perception of authenticity and liveliness with regards to relational artifacts has majorly been underlined by the nature of the feedback as interpreted by the observer but not on the inherent properties of the sources. Therefore, despite the wrongful contextualization of computer and human being relationship, users are rightfully guided by their behavioral desires and the subsequent feedback suitably marched by these  computers.

Health improvement in nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health improvement in nursing - Essay Example In order to improve health in nursing, nurses require collaboration with other different bodies, such as governments, the local communities, as well as their patients.Nurses utilize various strategies, which will promote positive health and well-being of individuals. Therefore, nurses are core in health improvement, and these are committed to their patients and aim at improving the health status of their patients, including those who suffer from long-term conditions. Nurses also provide care to the marginalized in society, and participate in a variety of public health programmes. Nonetheless, different people today need health improvement, but sometimes might lack to access it. Therefore, this paper will focus on overweight people with a BMI of 25-30kg kg/m2.Overweight people need health improvement and promotion, mainly because, today this is a worrying health issue, as a great number of people are overweight. The large number of overweight people is therefore, an indication that en ough efforts have not been adopted to address this health issue. In order to improve health for this group of people, it is important to increase their awareness of sugar intake, as is an important aspect that is overlooked by most overweight people, while some lack reliable information about this. Diabetes is experienced today at a higher rate compared to past decades. When one is overweight, they are at risk of being diabetic. Therefore, the increased prevalence of diabetes shows that one of the root causes, which is excessive weight in people, has not been given the attention it needs for improvement. Globally, the prevalence of diabetes is expected to hit a high of 552 million people by the year 2030. In 2011, prevalence of diabetes stood at 366 million people (Diabetes UK 2011). On the other hand, the UK is one of the countries, which is registering increased cases of diabetes every year. In the year 1996, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK was 1.4 million. However, this number has increased to 2.9 million, and it is expected to reach 5 million in 2055. This therefore, makes diabetes to be one of the health challenges in the UK today (Diabetes UK 2011). In order to improve this case and promote good health of the people in the UK, it is crucial that information about diabetes, its cause and effects, and prevention be disseminated to the whole population, to increase their awareness so that they can adopt the correct preventive and control strategies (Diabetes UK 2011). The most prevalent diabetes type in the UK is Type 2 diabetes, which is highly associated with being overweight or obese. Initially, this affected people aged above 40 years, but today, this affects even young people and children (Public Health England 2013: London Health Improvement Board 2011). Nonetheless, the number of obese and overweight people in the UK keeps rising, thus the rise in the prevalence of diabetes (Diabetes UK 2011). Similarly, government records from the UK department of health show that in England, 61.3% of adults are overweight and obsess, in addition to 30% of children. Evidence also shows that overweight or

Contemporary Issues In Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Contemporary Issues In Marketing - Essay Example Marketing has over the years emerged as a prime business concept and pertinent organisational function. It has been observed that marketing is a key towards attaining desired level of success for every company. With the emergence of 21st century, technology has started to play a vital role for the organisations to prepare their marketing mix related strategies and also their overall product assortment (Brown, 2001). In the 21st century, the traditional approaches related to marketing have started to depict their limitations owing to the fact that companies have quite less amount of direct contact with their existing as well as prospective customers. The aspect of information which is quite readily obtainable through the advent of internet has made consumers to become more passive as well as homogenous. Therefore, companies are increasingly finding the need to devise strategic initiatives to retain their customer base. Customer need identification has become one of the leading strategies incorporated in marketing to derive competitive advantage. Companies are also attempting to create inimitable marketing strategies to lure the customers towards their offerings which would in turn enable them establish their brand recognition in the market (Kamei, 2000). In order to comprehend the changing scenario in marketing in the 21st century, Tesco Plc has been selected.Tesco was founded back in 1919 as a m arket stall in London’s East End. From its foundation to till now the company’s business has attained tremendous growth in its global operations. Presently, the company functions in fourteen markets of Asia, North America and Europe. It employs over 500,000 people and serves 10 million customers worldwide in a single week (Tesco Plc, 2012). The company’s headquarter is located in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Tesco is committed to offer the best shopping experience to its diverse range of customers. Moreover, the company is determined to serve its varied customers, communities and partners in best possible way (Tesco, 2012). At present, the company is regarded as one of the largest and successful food retailers operating in the United Kingdom along with its operations in more than 2318 stores located across the world. The company sells more than 40,000 food items in its distinctly located superstores. Additionally, the company is also engaged in clothing and no n-food product activities (University of Exeter, 2004). The 21st century has witnessed drastic socio-economic changes along with information technology changes. These changes help various organisations to overcome a few of their limitations related to business operation and provided organisations with numerous opportunities to expand their business and earn substantial profit. These changes along with the globalisation and liberalisation process have drastically influenced the business doing processes including marketing. The changes brought new ideas and terms in the marketing sector such as E-Commerce and have reasonably influenced marketing ethics as well as the concept of brand and brand development have got tremendously popular among the organisations and widely distributed customers. E-Marketing Marketing is a broad concept, apart from selling and purchasing of tangible or intangible (services) goods, it comprises all those activities that are related with selling and purchasi ng of goods and services. The present marketing concept significantly varies from those of the traditional concept. The recent development in the marketing segment has given a birth to E-Marketing, relatively new term which has increased the scope of marketing and has provided business and customers a convenient way for interacting with each other. Electronic marketing or E-marketing essentially refers to utilisation of marketing techniques through electronic media, particularly

Training and Development Relate to Human Resource Essay

Training and Development Relate to Human Resource - Essay Example Formal mentoring can also be subject to monitoring by Human Resource managers and others within an organization to make sure objectives are met. Informal mentoring is more of a natural relationship that develops between two individuals with mutual respect, who become involved in the relationship on a purely voluntary basis. Such mentoring is more common and usually more flexible in nature. There is a lack of outside influence and structure, with participants defining the skills and behaviors taught, within their own time frame. There has been much information gathered from mentored involved in such relationships, though not as much from mentors. Manda Rosser (2005) identifies characteristics of mentoring relationships in her study of CEOs a mentors who have been previously mentored. First, most of them recognize the value of such relationships, as many described such relationships as helpful to their current positions and professional skills. Second, most identify mentoring relations hips as long-lasting, often over periods of several decades. Even when the mentoring has negative results, those studied admit that the mentoring relationships Mentoring and Apprenticeship Training HRM420 Term Paper 2 are valuable learning tools. One executive talks about his own mentoring relationship as one in which he was hurt and taken advantage of. Because of the experience, he mentors with an attitude of fairness and giving. Another executive describes mentoring as â€Å"perhaps even one of the most important things that can occur in developing others. Mentoring is giving of yourself. There is no expectation of return†(Rosser, 2005, p.547).

3.Define foreign direct investment (FDI). Discuss and evaluate five Essay

3.Define foreign direct investment (FDI). Discuss and evaluate five different effects (positive and negative) that FDI can have on host country economies - Essay Example This assignment will cover the definition and effects of foreign direct investment on the host country’s economy. Foreign direct investment refers to a form of investment, where a company from one country decides to make a physical investment in another country by putting up an industrial unit in another country. The direct investment in machinery, buildings and equipment contrasts a portfolio investment that is considered as making an indirect investment (Gregory 1997, p. 33). Currently, with the rapid growth and transformations in global investment patterns, the definition has widened to include the acquirement of a lasting management interest in an entity outside the investing company’s home country. Going by this definition, therefore, Foreign Direct Investment may take various forms such as; direct acquisition of a foreign entity, building of a facility, or investing in a joint venture with a local firm. One of the principal effects of the foreign direct investment is diffusion of technology. A foreign direct investment encourages the entity seeking investment in the foreign country to use different technologies in the production process (Razin 2008, p. 64). The firm uses its own technology in buildings and the way of doing business. In so doing, people in the host country acquire new technologies and skills from the foreign entity, which they apply in the production process. Use of the acquired skills and technology in the production process assist the host country increase its productivity. Through the increment in production, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the host country is increased considerably, which promotes economic growth (Moran 2005, p. 64). FDI provides the host country with increased physical stock. The increase in the physical stock increases the productivity rate of the host country. This adds up to the country’s income. In addition, the FDI provides the host country with finances for investment, which adds up to

Consumer Price Index Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Consumer Price Index - Essay Example Controlling inflation has been no doubt one of the most challenging tasks faced by major economies of the world, mostly them being the third world economies. Another way of explaining the concept of inflation is that as it rises, each particular unit or currency will be able to buy comparatively lesser quantity of goods as compared earlier. People often mix up the consumer price index with inflation and consider both of them to be the same thing. However, to understand it in very simple words, the percentage change in CPI is what gives a figure for inflation in a particular economy. Measuring inflation is a difficult problem, however it is done by determining the price of a â€Å"basket of goods† from time to time. This basket of goods contains those goods which are mostly consumed by households. A price index is determined this way which can be defined as the price of this basket of goods today and then consequently the movement is this price index gives the figure for inflation. Determining the values for the consumer price index, it can be concluded that during the course of previous 12 months the â€Å"all item index† rose by by three percent before any account was made for seasonal adjustments. Similarly the CPI witnessed a 1.5 percent increase in the previous year, 2010. Since the overall CPI is determined by movements in the price of the â€Å"basket of good†, one needs to consider how these individual items effect the overall price index. Energy prices witnessed a 6.6 percent increase in the current year which was a comparatively lower figure to 7.7 percent in the previous year. Similarly, the gasoline witnessed a 9.9 percent increase in the year 2011, compared to about 13.8 percent in the previous year, 2010. The household index on the other hand rose to 1.8%, being up from 0.8 percent in the previous calender year (Ball,

Strategic Management Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management Essay Introduction For a company to succeed in its businesses, strategic management must be its main agenda. Managing multinational companies can be a hectic job and can end up in disarray if not well structured. Strategic management is based on a company’s top brass of management. The top management of the company is always at the center of decision making process on behalf the real owners of the company. This set up is in charge of mobilizing resources and structuring the company to match the external business environments. Formulating policies, planning and setting of objectives is the management’s concerns. Strategic management also deals with the achievement of the company’s vision through fast tracking the mission, programs and projects. In strategic management, there is a deliberate effort by the management to strike a scorecard that is balanced through evaluating the general performance of the business and the steps toward the achievement of the business’ set objective. Strategy in any business or company is in line with the expectations of all the stake holders of the business and must be based on the stakeholders’ objectives. Most multinational companies that have managed to be main players in the global business market have history of effective strategic management measures and settings. Such companies include the Coca-Cola Company, the Toyota Company, and the Hyundai Company among other multinational companies. Strategic management is the backbone of a successful multinational company or global business. Witcher Chau (2010) Background study For any company or business to be competitive in the market, there must be a high level and a well coordinated strategy management which is the fundamental aspect of tactics and goal setting. Strategic management is always vital in offering the direction to the business and its ultimate success. In business administration, strategic management and strategic consistency between the business and its environment needs to be struck. In various companies, strategic management is always undertaken by a management team which is mostly comprised of a Board of Directors among other stakeholders. Amason (2010) Different companies employ different strategic management approaches in trying to stay competitive in the business environment. The management boards in different companies apply different processes of evaluation and controlling the businesses and the various industries that are involved with the company. This is the case in two leading automobile companies, the Toyota and Hyundai companies. In assessing their competitors’ strategies, the two companies use various strategy management processes. Despite executing different strategic management forms, both companies consider basic factors in strategically managing their businesses. Such include the size of the organization and the need to adapt to the changes of the business environment. In order to achieve the objectives of any company, there are various aspects and concepts that need to be explored. A strategic management which is more structured may be employed in consideration to the size of the company, operations, requirements and the views of the stakeholders. Strategic management plays a very important role in shaping the way a business is run or the success and achievements of a company. Nevertheless, strategic management is always tied to the goals, vision, mission and the objectives of the company. In managing a company, the management board or team do work towards the views and expectations of the owners of the company or business. Hitt, Ireland Hoskisson (2009) Toyota Motor Corporation The Toyota Motor Corporation is based at Toyota at Aichi in Japan. The multinational company is an automaker with a large employee base of over 400000 employees with the largest manufacturing capacity of automobiles and specifically the famous vehicle brand ‘Toyota’. It terms of world revenue, the Toyota Company sits at the eleventh position and had manufactured an estimated 200 million vehicles in July 2012. Founded in 1937 as a family company by Kiichiro Toyoda, the company has been keen to strategically manage its businesses. The Toyota Company has had a choice of leadership that has embraced the benchmark of quality, perfect practices and corporate responsibility in the wake of stiff competition and technological advancement in the global market. Borowski (2010). The strategies of the company have been deeply rooted in principles that have continued to improve the respect for people, their strategy framework as been gearing towards waste cutting, positive attitude building and maximum utilization of the inherent talents of the workers. The Toyota Company has managed to create an impression of social responsibility in the global market. The company has exploited a number of strategies with a view of being the best company in terms of product quality and service provision vis-a-vis matching growing customers’ needs and technological advancement. The management board of the Toyota Company has been vigil to clinch any opportunity in developing and growing the company’s worth, a strategy that has gone a notch higher to see the company explore options of developing hybrid cars among other market strategies. The underlying strategy of the Toyota Company is rooted in rewarding merit and identifying faults in an attempt to perfect the product and service delivery. Through this basic strategy, the Toyota Company has managed to propel its influence and achieve an extensive customer base. Magee (2008). Strategy and management The success of the Toyota Company is attributed to its strategic management formula that has made them to remain competitive in the automobile market while maintaining the quality and efficiency of their products. The philosophy of management at Toyota Company has continued to evolve over a long period of time. This management philosophy has been built on the original value of the company which was centered on ‘Lean manufacturing and the concept of production in time. These two concepts have been vital in the development and growth of the company. The Toyota Company strives to produce designs of cars that are exclusively ideal and perfect. In its lean manufacturing policy, the company aims at achieving a customer ideal production which will eventually cumulate to customer satisfaction. In this quest, the Toyota Company has been producing different models of cars in order to meet the demands, taste and different preferences of its customers. Hino (2006). This has enabled the company to remain competitive and to have a wider market area. The business strategies and managerial values have been collectively convened into a single structure referred to as the ‘Toyota Way’. a. The ‘Toyota Way† The ‘Toyota Way’ was one of the strategies that the Toyota Company adopted in order to help them stay ahead in the automobile industry. It is a set of values guidelines of conducts that all the employees at Toyota are expected to embrace. The strategy had two main pillars; Continuous improvement and Respect for People. Liker Jeffrey (2011). All the conduct guidelines and values of the Toyota Company are summarized into major principles of embracing challenge, striving to improve their services and products, respect to customers, teamwork and a ‘go and see’ slogan. This is a strategy that the company has employed to ensure that the employees not deviate from the main objectives of the company thus enhancing success in business thus working as a driving force towards an achievement. Liker (2003). The strategy has also aided the formation of identity and has kept the spirit of quality and service which has helped the company to be outstanding among other automobile manufacturers. Alongside the Toyota Way are four other components that complement the strategy. These components include management decisions that are based on long term deliberations and a comprehensive problem solving process. Further, the aspect of focusing on the development of the people has added a lot of value to the organization. Consequently, the Toyota Company has embraced the art of organizational learning through solving the root problems continuously in the organization. Ono (1988) b. Worldwide establishment The Toyota Company has used a world presence strategy that has made them be a common household name in terms of automobile development. Through intensive marketing and strategic management, the company has expanded tremendously thus establishing factories in a majority areas in the world that deal with assembling and manufacturing of different types of vehicles. The Company has set branch factories in countries like South Africa, Turkey, Japan, India, The United States of America, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, and Columbia and has recently established factories in Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, Argentina, Pakistan, Vietnam, Russia, Egypt and Mexico. In this manner, the company has been able to meet the rising demand for automobiles and have provides a large variety of automobiles thus giving the customers the large variety to choose from. This is a strategy that has ensured that the products of Toyota Company are accessed by most people around the globe. The strategy of worldwide establishment does make a company to be widely known and become easier to be identified with. c. Electric technology Strategic management is all about exploring the possible options that can assist a company to be elevated above its competitors. This means that every implemented strategy needs to be suitable to effectively achieve the mission, feasible to ensure that it is applicable and that the strategy is accepted by the stakeholders. The management team at Toyota Company has explored the application of electric technology which is feasible, acceptable and suitable. In this respect, the Toyota Company has gone a long way in releasing hybrid electric vehicles into the automobile market. It has been the first company to introduce and sell hybrid electric vehicles, thus shaping the face of the automobile industry. In 1997, the company introduced the Toyota Prius and started producing vehicles that were smaller but maintaining the luxurious touch. Such cars like Lexus and Camry were received into the automobile industry with excitement, a sign of an effective strategic management implementation. Anderson Judy Anderson (2010). In 2012 October, the Toyota Prius became the hybrid car that was best sold in the whole world and this earned the Toyota Company about 2. 8 million units. This high sale was replicated in most parts of the world. Later in 2012 October, the company was the first to manufacture a passenger car that was hybrid and a motor vehicle hybrid that was one plug in model. This model was availed to around 80 regions and countries worldwide. The company has an aim of achieving the launch of a 20 hybrid vehicles models at the end the year 2015. Hyundai Motor Company. The Hyundai Motor Company has been a main player in the motor industry just like the Toyota Company. It is a multinational automotive company with it’s headquartering in South Korea in Seoul. Founded in 1967, Hyundai is ranked the forth in terms of automobile manufacturing having sold about 3. 6 million vehicles in the year 2010. Hyundai is the largest automobile company that is integrated with an employee base of around 75000 people working in the factories worldwide. Hyundai Company has applied strategic management in its success story. The company has set up 6 development and research centers across the world. The company has also an established center in California for designing automobiles specifically for the markets in the United States of America. Hyundai Company has applied various forms of strategy to remain equally competitive. The Hyundai Company has been able to establish a system of quality management which has gone forth to help the company achieve the status of a major player in automobile industries and machineries globally. In this sense, the company has realized a top class service provider status. Lansbury, Chung , Sok Suh, Kwon Ho Kwon (2007) a. Product development. Hyundai has strived to improve the quality levels of their products through application of unique procedures. The company has applied pilot production vis-a-vis researching by center engineers in an aim to meet the desired levels of production. The pilot production is a strategy that Hyundai Company used to avoid problems during the production of automobiles in mass. Through the large pilot plants, Hyundai Company is able to ensure there is quality in the production of its models. The company is also striving towards achieving a perfect product quality in order to be at the helm of profit making. Henry (2008) b. Outsourcing Outsourcing has been part of Hyundai’s strategy to maintain the quality of products they offer. This is a strategy that amalgamates various parts manufacturers who manufacture specific automobile parts before the parts are assembled by Hyundai to form complete automobiles. This strategy contravenes the Toyota policy whereby the manufacturing of the automobiles is done wholesomely by the company. The Hyundai Company outsources companies which make parts. The outsourced parts are sub-assembled into some modules which are further assembled into final automobiles. This strategic management aspect has made the Hyundai Motors Company to save a lot in terms of profits. Through outsourcing, the company has been able to shift its concentration more on marketing and product development and not to worry about the production of parts. This aspect of the Hyundai production model has been advantageous to the company as it accumulates more resources and channels them towards marketing and improving on its products. c. Advanced philosophy and Quality innovations strategies The achievements made by the Hyundai Motors have been as a result of quality innovations. The company, through strategic management organs, has weathered the challenges of hostile and competitive business environment through application of innovation. There has been an increase in customer satisfaction which has proved that the Hyundai Company has the ability to marshal massive shares in the market. As a result of aggressive and intensive innovations, Hyundai has come up with vehicles which meet the customers’ demands, wishes and comfort. This has been in line with the achievement of the company’s objective of meeting customer satisfaction and bringing ultimate elegance, enjoyment and creating confidence in its customers. The style and luxury that is aimed at by the Hyundai Company is thereby achieved. This strategy has ensured that Hyundai Company stands out in terms of class and design, making its products popular among people worldwide. Despite the growing fierce competition in the automobiles industry, Hyundai Company has managed to stay at the top in terms of quality and market base as a result of its management philosophy which is advanced. Its strategy has ensured that there is a clear cut for the future of the Company not leaving the customers behind. Hyundai’s philosophy has seen an increased favor among the customers due to its striving to make products of good quality and its main goal of laying emphasis on the satisfaction and efficiency of its products to the customers. Hyundai has continued to be a global brand name in automobiles. This has been boosted by the fact that the company has been creating an impression of fairness and transparency in terms of the acceptable and expected business ethics. d. Expansion of production Hyundai Company has employed the strategy of market expansion as a way to ensure it achieves its main objectives. It has increased the shares of its export in the market internationally and domestically. During the economic recession in the year 2009, Hyundai still managed to export 1. 3 million vehicles amidst a production capacity of 1. 6 million units. This strategy ensured that the company stayed at the top of automobile manufacturing and assembly industries when other players were diversely affected by the recession. Its marketing strategy and management strategy strength is further exhibited in the company’s success in increasing its market shares in the United States of America. This has gone a long way in improving on the quality of the company’s products. Hyundai has also extended its competitiveness in engaging in overseas businesses since the late 1990s. It has established its products in Alabama, Montgomery among other areas. In North America, Hyundai’s plant was ranked second in the level of productivity. e. Electric vehicles Just like the Toyota Company, the Hyundai Motor Company has embraced the use of electricity in the manufacture of vehicles. The company has introduced a hybrid electric automobile to match the increasing technological advancement. In 2008 November, the company introduced the first electric car which was facilitated by the technology of lithium polymer battery. In applying the electricity technology, Hyundai Company aimed at achieving sophistication, style and class in order to remain as competitive as possible. Chris, Masrur, Gao (2011). The strategy of applying electricity technology has ensured that the company has been at par with the other automobile producers to ensure that it does not lose its grip on the top spot in the global business. Society of Automotive Engineers (2000). Conclusion. Strategic management has been the center of interest for both the Toyota and Hyundai automobiles companies. Both have gone out of their way to establish global markets and have embraced the use of electricity in automobile development. Toyota Company manufactures its own vehicles from scratch while the Hyundai Company opts to outsource for parts manufacturers in order to reduce the costs incurred. The role of strategic management is evident in the two automobiles companies as both do have a team or a board of managers that is always tasked with the responsibility of formulating policies to help the company grow to transcendent heights. The board reviewing possible strategies in the companies does work towards actualizing the aims and objectives of the companies. The owners’ wishes can never be ignored in the strategic management process. References Allen C. Amason (2010). Strategic Management: From Theory to Practice. NY: Taylor Francis. Anthony Henry (2008). Understanding Strategic Management. NY. Oxford University Press. Arkadi Borowski (2010). Report on the Toyota Company. UK: GRIN Verlag. Barry J. Witcher, Vinh Sum Chau (2010). Strategic Management: Principles and Practice. UK: Cengage Learning EMEA. Chris Mi, M. Abul Masrur, David Wenzhong Gao (2011). Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Principles and Applications with Practical Perspectives. UK: John Wiley and Sons. Curtis Darrel Anderson, Judy Anderson (2010). Electric and Hybrid Cars: A History. UK: McFarland. David Magee (2008). How Toyota Became #1: Leadership Lessons from the Worlds Greatest Car Company. UK: Penguin Group. Jeffrey Liker (2003). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the Worlds Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw Hill Professional. Liker, Jeffrey (2011). The Toyota Way: Management Principles and Field book (eBook). NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson (2009). Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization: Cases. Canada: Cengage Learning. Russell D. Lansbury, Chung-sok So, Chung-Sok Suh, Sung-ho Kwon, Seung-Ho Kwon (2007). The Global Korean Motor Industry: The Hyundai Motor Companys Global Strategy. Seoul. Taylor Francis Satoshi Hino. (2006). Inside the Mind of Toyota: Management Principles for Enduring Growth. Productivity Press. Society of Automotive Engineers (2000). Hybrid electric vehicles. Society of Automotive Engineers. Nov 1. Taiichi Ono (1988). Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Tokyo: Productivity Press.

Youths Financial Knowledge Education In Malaysia Economics Essay

Youths Financial Knowledge Education In Malaysia Economics Essay CHAPTER 1 In the Introduction parts, the contents are breakdown into several subtopics. There are Financial Knowledge definition, background of research, justification, problem statement, research objective, research scope and limitation and organizational research. To better understanding of this study, under the background of research, there are three different types of scenario in Malaysia related to the topic which consist of Youths Financial Knowledge Education in Malaysia, The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Malaysia, and Youths Debt and Spending Pattern in Malaysia. 1.2 Defining Financial Knowledge Financial knowledge enable individuals to navigate the financial world make informed decisions about their money and minimize their chances of being misled on financial matters (Beal and Delpachitra, 2003). The need for financial literacy has become significant with the deregulation of financial markets and the easier access to credit as financial institutions compete strongly with each other for market share, the rapid growth in development and marketing of financial products, and the Governments encouragement for people to take more responsibility for their retirement incomes. According to Vitt et al. (2000), financial knowledge is defined as the ability to read, analyze, manage, and communicate about the personal financial conditions that affect material well-being. It includes the ability to discern financial choices, discuss money and financial issues without or despite discomfort, plan for the future, and respond competently to life events that affect everyday financial decisions, including events in the general economy. Hogarth (2002), described the consistencies in behavioral terms, stating that individuals who are financially literate are: 1) knowledgeable, educated, and informed on the issues of managing money and assets, banking, investments, credit, insurance, and taxes; 2) understand the basic concepts underlying the management of money and assets; and 3) use that knowledge and understanding to plan and implement financial decisions. In recent years, financial literacy has gained the attention of a wide range of major banking companies, government agencies, grass-roots consumer and community interest groups, and other organizations. Interested groups, including policymakers, are concerned that consumers lack a working knowledge of financial concepts and do not have the tools they need to make decisions most advantageous to their economic well-being. Such financial literacy deficiencies can affect an individuals or familys day-to-day money management and ability to save for long-term goals such as buying a home, seeking higher education, or financing retirement. Ineffective money management can also result in behaviors that make consumers vulnerable to severe financial crises. From a broader perspective, market operations and competitive forces are compromised when consumers do not have the skills to manage their finances effectively. Informed participants help create a more competitive, more efficient market. As knowledgeable consumers demand products that meet their short and long-term financial needs, providers compete to create products having the characteristics that best respond to those demands (Braunstein and Welch 2002). 1.2.1 The Importance of financial literacy Financial literacy is important at many levels. Certainly, it is most important for the individual who must make complex and expensive financial decisions on behalf of him/herself and of dependents (Mandell, 2006). The need for financial literacy has become increasingly significant with the deregulation of financial markets and the easier access to credit; the ready issue of credit cards; the rapid growth in marketing financial products and the Governments encouragement for its citizens to take more self-responsibility for their retirement incomes (Marcolin and Abraham, 2006). Students who lack financial knowledge have increased financial difficulties that continue into later years. It found that students with less financial knowledge had more negative opinions about finances and made more incorrect financial decisions. They pointed out that having a low level of financial knowledge limits students ability to make informed decisions (Ibrahim et al, 2009). The need for financial skills has grown rapidly over the last decade because financial markets have been deregulated and credit has become easier to obtain as financial institutions compete strongly with each other for market share. The ready availability of credit cards together with easier access to personal loans, interest free and other payment options, has led to an increase in spending on consumption and a rapid rise in both personal and household debt levels. Moreover, the development and marketing of financial products and services has grown rapidly (Beal and Delpachitra, 2003). The credit card indebtedness issues and bankruptcies have got serious attention from media. It is alarming that it was reported the majority of the individuals who went bankrupts were from the age between 20s and 30s (Arif, 2004). This might lead to stress and also might affect the productivity of future potential workers. Increasingly, most of the individuals are in charge of securing their own financial well-being after retirement. This can be shown by the shifting from defined contribution pensions, which makes todays workers have to decide on how much to save and also how to allocate their retirement wealth. Source: Malaysia Department of Insolvency (2010) The complexity of financial market had increasing and become more complex, and individuals are facing with proliferation of different kind of investment products. The opportunities of investment have been expanded beyond natural borders, which permit individuals to invest in different range of assets. However, the difficulties to navigate the new financial system and the consequences of mistake that probably can be devastating, it is seem that individual to be questioned of how well equipped do they have to make financial decision. The most important thing before financial decision to be made is that the individuals also to be questioned on how much do they know about economics and finance. Numerous factors have led to a complex, specialized financial services marketplace that requires consumers to be actively engaged if they are to manage their finances effectively. The forces of technology and market innovation, driven by increased competition, have resulted in a sophisticated industry in which consumers are offered a broad spectrum of services by a wide array of providers. Compelling consumer issues, such as the very visible issue of predatory lending, high levels of consumer debt, and low saving rates, have also added to the sense of urgency surrounding financial literacy. Other important demographic and market trends contributing to concerns include increased diversity of the population, resulting in households that may face language, cultural, or other barriers to establishing a banking relationship, expanded access to credit for younger populations, and increased employee responsibility for directing their own investments in employer-sponsored retirement and pension plans. 1.3 Background of research 1.3.1 Youths Financial Education in Malaysia The National Youth Development Policy of Malaysia defines youth as people aged between 15 and 40 years. Malaysias national education policy has been formulated in the context of the countrys aim to attain developed nation status by 2020. The education system has been reformed to ensure the development of a highly educated, highly skilled and strongly motivated professional workforce. Consumers can effectively participate in the economy if they are properly informed and have the requisite knowledge and skills. Enhancing the levels of financial literacy is being accorded high priority in many countries, including Malaysia due to the current environment of rapid change in technology, product innovation, deregulation and greater competition that have dramatically transformed the financial system. This new environment has created a greater need for consumers to be equipped with financial knowledge and skills to make sound financial decision and to promote consumer activism to drive competition, improve efficiency and performance of financial institution as well as enhance the potential for the economy to prosper (Lian, 2008). Bank Negara Malaysia has embarked some approach to enhance the financial capability of consumers, e.g. developing and disseminating educational materials financial products and services through booklets and websites. To raise the financial capability of consumers to enable them to make informed and confident decisions on financial matters, Bank Negara Malaysia initiated consumer education programmes for adults, including young adults, known as bankinginfo and insuranceinfo in 2003. These programmes are intents to: Promote greater understanding of, and more informed decision on financial products and services Enable consumers to have greater access to reliable information, thus able to take greater responsibility and management on their financial matters. Under the programme, youngsters are educated on a wide range of issues to equip them with the necessary knowledge ad skills to manage their financial matter effectively. The components of the programme are tailored to the level of understanding of each target group. These include knowledge and skills on: Planning Saving and budgeting Spending Buying tips and comparative shopping Financial products Features of financial products and services (banking, Islamic banking, insurance and takaful), risks and liabilities involved, salient terms and conditions as well as rights and responsibilities as a financial consumer Credit and debt Borrowing and debt management, and rights and responsibilities as borrowers and guarantors Risk management Basic insurance and insurance planning Market awareness Avenues for redress, illegal schemes, currency related matters, role and functions of financial players and credit bureau In the beginning of 2007, students aged 17 attending the compulsory National Service Programme are taught various aspects of financial management such as budgeting, managing spending by making smart financial choices and banking information to enable them to have a better appreciation of money management. Annually, a total of 120,000 students are involved in this programme (Lian, 2008). For institution of higher learning, the Credit Counseling and Debt Management Agency, which is a subsdiary of Bank Negara Malaysia, is collaborating with the public universities to incorporate the subject of Personal Finance into the curriculum. Once introduced, financial education with emphasis in personal finance will be provided as a mandatory subject to undergraduates from the age of 20 to 24 years old, with the aim of preparing graduates to face the challenges of managing their finance wisely at the start of their careers (Lian, 2008). While the Government is trying to put things in order to help us get out of the middle income trap to reach a high level income society, there is still a missing link. We need to start looking into a national strategy to help Malaysians improve their personal financial literacy and develop the necessary skills to keep their personal financial matters in the proper perspective. Financial literacy is important to everyone. Financial stress is not biased based on race, age, gender, marital status or different income groups. Just because a person might be below the middle-income group doesnt mean he or she may need financial education more than others. Just as likely, the children of wealthy parents need to be educated to maintain family wealth. Similar to reading and writing literacy, financial literacy is necessary to all. When a nation has a high level of financial literacy, it is easy to promote healthy financial ethics and values across different generations, from young to the old ( Yip, 2010). 1.3.2 The Use of ICT to Disseminate Personal financial knowledge in Malaysia. The Asia Pacific Region has experienced the rapid growth rate in ICT especially in telecommunication sector in the last couple of decades. The evidences can be shown, for instance in South Asia where the compound annual growth rates for fixed lines and cellular phones are 20% and 78% during the period of 1990 to 2000. The same progress can also be seen in the Central and South East Asian countries where the cellular penetration rate has increased significantly amid the relatively lower growth in the fixed line penetration rate. In addition, Asia region in general has also been largely supported by the enlargement of the Total factor Productivity (TFP) which increases about 1.65% per annum due to the rapid investment in telecommunication sector up to 2003. The business environment in the sector is showing the more promising environment given the independent role of the national telecommunication regulator in many countries and market liberalization which simultaneously give incentives for the new entrants to compete into the market (Rohman and Bohlin, 2010). The extent of the effects of ICT has been shown to vary between countries. In general, the developed countries have shown more significant positive effect on productivity growth compared to the developing countries. Initial study on ICT development in Malaysia based in the development of telecommunication infrastructure development and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, impacted a positive effect on the economy as a whole (Ramlan, 2001). Malaysia is preparing to be part of the Information Age in the new millennium by transforming itself towards a knowledge-based economy. Recognizing that ICT and multimedia will be the future enabling tool to increase the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of the eonomy, various initiatives were taken to promote the use and development of IT during the review period. The National Information Technology Agenda (NITA) was formulated in 1996 to provide the framework for a coordinated and integrated approach in developing the strategic elements comprising human resource, info structure and IT based applications. To provide the catalyst for the expansion of IT and multimedia industries, the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was launched (Ahmed, 2008). The decision to achieve a developed country status by the year 2020 using ICT as the vehicle is further strengthened by the development of MSC which is the national ICT initiative. Financial education website Duitsaku.com In line with the development of IT and the growing usage of computer among younger population, Bank Negara Malaysia in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has created an interactive financial education website in October 2004, to enhance financial literacy among students. Students can participate in interactive financial games, contents, quizzes, financial calculations and other activities related to personal financial management. Currently, the website has attracted more than 85,000 members (Lian, 2008). The existence of ICT in real life is not only making human life easier, but also in the education perspective. ICT could spread out the financial knowledge to youth in an easier way. As many youth starts to use internet to browse the financial knowledge instead of playing online games, in such interactive website could provide youth a basic financial knowledge. The use of ICT to disseminate financial knowledge definitely will help in increasing the youth knowledge about financial thing. Therefore, the percentage of failure in managing such their personal finance in the future will be decrease. 1.3.3 Youths Debt and Spending Pattern in Malaysia There have been two clear shifts in the way Malaysians spent money over the last decade, the first being that they spent less on basic items like food and more on discretionary ones like restaurants, hotels and personal care. The second, their spending on services outpaced that on goods. These shifts in household spending reflect the fact that people grew more affluent over that period, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said in its 2010 annual report. The main factor is the growing affluence of Malaysians, supported by the steady rise in disposable income and accumulation of wealth. Between 2004 and 2009, nominal per capital gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 6.8 per cent annually, with mean monthly gross household income rising by 4.4 per cent annually from RM 3,249 in 2004 to RM 4,025 in 2009. Favorable demographics were also a factor, given Malaysias relatively young and large working-age population. The younger set tends to spend more on non-essential goods and services. Greater financial deepening also played a role, with BNM explaining that greater access to credit allowed individuals to fund discretionary spending. In the period between 2000 and 2009, household debt grew at an annual rate of 13.5 per cent. Meanwhile, technological innovations encouraged consumer spending in areas like Internet services, mobile communication equipment, data services, cable television services and audio visual equipment. These trends in spending are, apparently, consistent with that observed in other countries. The trends also seem to indicate that as income rises, the share of expenditure on basic necessities tend to decline while that on services tends to increase, BNM said (Malaysiandailynews, 2011). The BNM report showed that between 2000 and 2009, Malaysian spending on discretionary items (such as restaurants and hotels, communications, recreation and culture) was particularly strong, followed by spending on miscellaneous goods and services (such as personal care, financial, insurance and other services). The share of these components of income-sensitive spending rose to 34.7 per cent of total household expenditure in 2009, from 26.5 per cent in 2000. In contrast, the proportion of household expenditure on basic necessities has declined gradually since 2002. Spending on food items as a share of total household expenditure fell to 21.8 per cent in 2009 from 24.1 per cent in 2000. Similarly, the average household spending on housing and utilities fell to 16.7 per cent in 2009 from 21.7 per cent in 2000 (Malaysiandailynews, 2011). Malaysias consumer lifestyle has been evolving and changing due, in part, to rising affluence and education levels. Malaysian also has a strong shopping fetish, especially during the weekends and on public holidays. However, the consumers comes in three categories: those whose purchasing power is high enough to go on periodic shopping sprees, people who shop for necessities, and bargain hunters (Pricewaterhouse Cooper, 2006). According to the Malaysian Communication a Multimedia Commission, the number of internet users in Malaysia reaches 9.9 million as of end 2004 and 13.2 million at the end of first quarter 2005, representing almost 39% of the nations total population in 2004. Internet shopping has gained popularity form 24% of internet users as a percentage of the Malaysian population in 2002 to 28% in 2003. At least one-third of internet users have purchased items online and the bulk o this spending went to consumers goods such as books, CDs, clothing and flowers (45%), computing product (18%), and travel products (7%) (Pricewaterhouse Cooper, 2006). In Malaysia, The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the period January to March 2011 increased by  2.8 per cent  to 102.2 compared with that of 99.4 in the same period last year. When compared to the same month in 2010, the CPI for March registered an increase of 3.0 per cent from 99.4 to 102.4 and when compared with the previous month, the CPI increased by 0.1 per cent. The index for Food Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food for the month of March 2011 showed increases of 4.7 and 2.3 per cent respectively as compared to the same month in 2010. For the period January to March 2011, the index for Food Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food increased by 4.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. Comparison made to the previous month for Non-Food showed an increase of 0.1 per cent while the index for Food Non-Alcoholic Beverages remained unchanged at 103.7 (figure 1). The CPI for main group in Malaysia, for the year 2010-2011 is shown in appendix Moreover, the credit cards loan is another hot issue. In Malaysia credit cards were first introduced in the mid-1970s (Loke, 2007). At the early stage, credit cards were only issued to professionals or those considered successful businesspersons by card issuing companies. By the end of 1970s, an estimated 20,000 cards were issued. During that time, owning a credit card was considered a symbol of prestige. However, with the passage of time, eligibility criteria for obtaining credit cards have been increasingly relaxed. As a result, the number of cardholders reached to about three million by the turn of the last century. The proliferation of credit cardholders has brought an indiscriminate spending by users with many side effects. Many Malaysian consumers seem to display excessive buying behavior, commonly known as compulsive buying. Easy availability of credit and compulsive buying has led to many adverse consequences such as addiction to shopping and excessive debt (Ahmed et al, 2010 ). . Another noteworthy feature of card users in Malaysia is that they use the card to grant loans for themselves. It is easier to obtain credit cards in Malaysia rather than applying for personal loans, which requires the applicant to comply with more formalities like providing guarantors or collaterals. It was reported that outstanding debts from credit card holders amounted to RM15.719 billion by the year March 2009 (RM or Ringitt Malaysia is the local currency, 3.40 RM was approximately equal to 1 USD at the time of study). By the year 2009 outstanding credit card debts accounted for 1.35 percent of the total loans outstanding or 11.41 percent of the total consumer credit (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2009). On a more serious note, 6.43 percent of the outstanding debts had to be converted to non-performing loans. An alarming increase in the number of credit card holders seeking bankruptcy a proceeding over the years was also reported (Ahmed et al, 2010). 1.4 Justification The purpose of this paper is to review some of the factors that contribute in the use of ICT to disseminate personal financial knowledge on youths debt and spending behavior in Malaysia. The contribution of this paper may not just benefit of personal or individuals solely, it may also benefit institutions that provide Information ICT. Some of the young people in the country had well equipped about the financial knowledge, but some are not. By knowing such as young generation will be the future potential worker, it is suggested that they had a well equipped knowledge about financial thing. With the rapid changing of technology and complexity of financial products, the role of ICT in order to spread out the knowledge of financial related, here come problems when different people perceive the ICT contribution differently. This problem is critical to understand what are the factors that cause those youths views differently towards ICT in order to disseminate the personal financial knowledge and action can be taken to solve the problem in order to gain a better financial planning in the future time specifically on the youths debt and spending behavior. Hopefully, the result of this study will bring awareness on what are the factors that affect the use of ICT application to disseminate the personal financial knowledge. Besides, the ICT firm can take this golden opportunity to identify the factors that lead to the perception of youths to increase customer satisfaction towards the overall development of the ICT. Moreover, the government can take advantage of this study by understanding the reason that lead to youths perception on the use of ICT to disseminate personal financial knowledge and take action by implement some act to fix the situation. Thus, it can help them to manage their debt and spending properly to minimize any financial matter later on. It is also said to be benefit to the Malaysia country as the youths knowledge become higher can lead to the increasing of productivity in the country. With emphasis focused in the main issues on (objective), ICT will play its role to disseminate personal financial knowledge among youth and contribute substantial improvements on youth perception about the importance of financial knowledge on their debt and spending behavior. 1.5 Problem Statement In Malaysia, topics on personal finance are still considered minimal. If there are programs or activities on it, they were never addressed directly to the young consumers specifically those in between aged 15 to 40 years. There are a lot of credit card indebtness issues. The literature indicates that high school seniors are unprepared to deal with finances when they graduate. The emphasis in the high school curriculum is on preparation for college or on the acquisition of skills to obtain a job and to earn an income. The high school curriculum does not focus on how to effectively use the income in dealing with financial matters such as bank accounts, investments, mutual funds, mortgages, credit cards, loans, social security, insurance and taxes. Only if a student has taken a course in consumerism, finance or in economics while in high school would he or she be exposed to topics dealing with every day financial issues (Manton, 2006). With the emphasis of ICT being provided and the rapid changing in technology, as well as the proliferation of financial instruments and services in the market, the nature question on this study is Does ICT able to disseminate the following personal financial knowledge: budgeting knowledge, saving knowledge, spending knowledge, debt knowledge, and investment knowledge on youths debt and spending behavior? 1.6 Research Objective To measure the interest and capability of more financially sophisticated individuals to engage in personal financial planning and to identify reasons why individuals fail to plan appropriately This study is important to ensure that young generations are well equipped with at least basic knowledge of personal financial knowledge. The proliferation of financial services industry makes financial products are more complicated to be understood by novice customers. Knowing that this young generation will be part of future human capital, it is important that they are knowledgeable and are able to make decisions without imperiling their financial status (citation). To examine the extent to which personal financial knowledge were considered by youngsters to be value for their future debt and spending behavior. Generation Y has a relatively high level of disposable income, much of the research seems to indicate that Generation Y consumers have a low degree of financial literacy (Palmer, Pinto, and Parente, 2001). The new environment with rapid change in technology, product innovations, deregulation and greater competition, has created a greater need for consumers to be equipped with financial knowledge and skills to make sound financial decision and to promote consumer activism to drive competition, improve efficiency and performance of financial institutions as well as enhance the potential the economy to prosper (Lian, 2008). To explore which factors affect the most of youths attitude and behaviors to acquire financial knowledge by using ICT and how does ICT relates to these factors Categorized as one of the developed countries, Malaysia is not missed being one of the regions whereby financial literacy level is at the bottom end. Prior to millennium era, percentage of society knowledge on issues such as budgeting, saving, investing and insuring were minimal. There are so many books, seminars and institutions that provide information on basic financial management catering to those who want to improve their financial standing. In fact, financial institutions are actively promoting their range of services which include investment consultation and other areas attached with proper financial management. However, those who do read on the subject matter or seeking for professional advise are normally professionals, semiprofessionals or those who are familiar with money management. There are almost no programs or seminars targeting those of children and young adults. As a consequence, the familiarity level on finance among these young groups is very limited except for wh at they learned thru experience, family or even peers (Ibrahim et al, 2009). 1.7 Research Scope and Limitation The main purpose of this study is to examine the use of ICT to disseminate personal financial knowledge on youths debt and spending behavior in Malaysia. This paper will be more focus onto how does the youths perception on acquiring personal financial knowledge or financial literacy by using the ICT application. The distributions of questionnaires are the one that will be the primary data in this study. The questionnaire will be distributed to those target respondents based on youth age in Malaysia which is between 15 to 40 years old. In this study, 200 respondents will be randomly selected based on their difference in age, gender, race, marital status and educational level. For the study method tools, the questionnaires will be distributed among private and public university students in Malaysia. 1.8 Organizational Research The chapter 1 of the research project is introduction. In chapter one, it includes overview of chapter 1, research background and research questions, research objectives, significance and justification of the study, research scope and limitation, and organizational of research. While in chapter 2, dependent variable and independent variables will be the foundation to the building of theoretical frameworks and developing hypothesis. Literature review or past study will be used to build up chapter 2. Chapter 3 is the chapter of research methodology. At first, research framework and hypothesis are developed in order to predict the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. Then, it will follow by questionnaire development which is explaining how the questionnaires will be developed. The next elements in chapter 3 are sampling plan, data collection method and techniques of analysis.

Models of Personality and Effect in Organisations

Models of Personality and Effect in Organisations Saarthak Sankalp INDEX Topic (Jump to) Personality Personality Models Predicting Personality with Social Behaviour Importance of Corporate Brand Personality Traits Role of Personality factors in Coping with Organizational Change Challenges and Concerns with Personality Assessment in Indian Context Conclusion Bibliography Personality The work personality is derived from the Latin word persona, which was used to describe the different roles or disguises performed by theatrical performers. Personality can be defined as an individual’s unique characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Gordon Allport defined personality as – â€Å"the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment.† Personality Models Many models have been given by various researchers to analyse the personality. The latest personality models are as follows :- Myers-Briggs Type Index (MBTI) The MBTI is a personality ideal based on Jung’s theory of psychological kinds developed by Briggs and Myers and consists of four dimensions of preferences which are as follows:- Extroversion (E) vs Introversion (I). This dimension gives an insight about the orientation of the individual. Extroverts are said to be more concerned with the practical realities than with the inner thoughts. Introverts, though, gaze more into the inner-self and are pre-occupied with their own thoughts. Sensing (S) vs Intuition (N). Persons who have more sensing dimension rely more on that can be observed and are considered to be bent towards what is real. Persons having more intuitive dimension rely extra on their non-objective and unconscious perceptual processes. Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F). A preference for thinking indicates the individual uses more of logic and rational procedures to make decisions and action. People having more feeling dimension gave more emotional replies to events and give preference to established subjective processes. Judgment (J) vs Perception (P). The judgement-perception preferences were developed to indicate if rational or irrational judgments are dominant after a person is interacting with the environment. In decision making the judgmental person uses both the thinking and feeling, while the sensing and intuition processes are used by the perception people. The Big Five Personality Model The Big Five is the commonly used term for the model of personality which describes the five fundamental factors of our personality. It was defined independently by many researchers based on the factor-analyses of the personality traits. The five traits are commonly referred as OCEAN. The five personality traits are as follows:- Openness to Experience: It is the openness to innovative ideas, new experiences, curiosity, adventure, appreciation for emotions and art. Conscientiousness: Tendency to be coordinated and dependable, display self-discipline, target for attainment, acts dutifully and does not prefer spontaneous behaviour. Extraversion: Affirmative emotions, sociability, assertiveness, energy, talkativeness and the tendency to pursue stimulation. Agreeableness: Traits of a person who is obliging and compassionate rather than dubious and antagonistic towards others. It is additionally a measure of one’s helpful and trusting nature, and whether the person is calm and composed. Neuroticism: It refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control in a person. The traits to easily give in to anger, anxiety or depression. Score on all the five factors are used to describe a person’s personality Kolbe Conative Index (KCI) KCI is considered a personality model which is different from MBTI and FIRO-B as it measures instinctive behaviours of an individual that appear while that he/she tries to achieve goals. The KCI classifies the instinctive behaviours into four categories: probing, patterning, innovating and demonstrating. Each category has its corresponding ‘Action Mode’ which are as follows: Fact Finder (FF): Probing instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to the information gathering. Fact finders are concerned with strategies, research and details. They establish priorities for making decision by collecting and analyzing data. Follow Through (FT): Patterning instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to structure. People controlled by FT seek structure, and plan and schedules in advance. They react in a sequential manner. Quick Start (QS): Innovating instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to the way to deal with risk and uncertainty. Quick starters initiate changes, take risk, and they are innovative. Implementor (IMP): Demonstrating instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This action mode is related to the way to handle space and tangibles. People having this action mode are good at using space and materials, develop constructs, and easily use hand on equipment. Kolbe Action Modes Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behaviour (FIRO-B) Schutz developed the FIRO-B personality model. The intensity of the interpersonal needs of inclusion (I), control (C), and affection (A) are measured by this model. The individual’s social need of interaction and belongingness is defined as Inclusion. The need for power and influence is defined as Control, and can be related to leadership. The need for intimacy and friendship is defined as Affection. How much each of these three needs can be described into 2 dimensions of expressed (e) or wanted (w). The degree to which one behaves in that way toward others is defined as expressed while the degree to which one wants others to behave that way toward oneself is described as wanted. The FIRO-B model can be explained by the interaction of expressed and wanted dimensions with the three interpersonal needs, resulting in six categories of interpersonal needs as described in the figure below. Each category is measured with a 10 point scale (0-9). FIRO-B Model Latest researches related to Personality The latest researches related to personalities are as follows:- Predicting personality with social behaviour Personality is a trait which influences the behaviour of a person with other people. Social behaviour can give us a good insight about the personality of an individual as they behave showcase a normative (or normal) behaviour in social interactions. To understand this within the scope of a social behaviour, we consider the actions in the following main groups:- Nextwork Bandwidth (NET): The active involvement in the social networks, the time spent there and activity distribution (uniform or bursty). Message Content (MSG): The variety and amount of messages they are sending, whether they are the links or URLs of websites or the forwarded messages etc. Pair Behaviour (PAIR): How they behave with their friends and relatives, the statistical measures of standard deviations and average of various actions across different followers and friends. Reciprocity of actions (REC): Levels to which there actions are reciprocated by their friends. Informativeness (INF): Information that could be gained from the behaviour with the friends, whether there is same type of behaviour with every friend or whether some friends are favoured over others in specific actions. Homophily (HOM): All the previous features computed for the person’s friend to understand her social circle. Importance of Corporate brand personality traits Corporate brands create a particular image in the minds of the customers and other constituents which can help the corporate to differentiate their brand from others. A number of factors will be responsible for the corporate image like the products a company makes, the actions it takes, and the manner in which it communicates to consumers. A new very important component of corporate image is the corporate brand personality. 60 US brands have been examined and are found to fell into the following five main clusters, â€Å"(1) Sincerity, (2) Excitement, (3) Competence, (4) Sophistication and (5) Ruggedness. Corporate Personality Traits Corporate brand personality is defined as how customer perceives a particular brand – characterstics of consumers who are using it. It can be seen as a means for the customer to express what they really expect or want. Corporate brand personality is more about the perception of employees – both the customer facing and the senior management as they constitute the whole organization. It reflects the actions and values of all the employees of the organization. Corporate brand personality of a 21st century business can be grouped into three dimensions which are as follows:- Heart – It consists of two traits: compassionate and passionate. Mind – It consists of two traits: Creative and disciplined. Body – It consists of two traits: Agile and collaborative. Role of Personality factors in coping with organizational change In reference to the research paper written by R. Ravi Kumar, change is inevitable to any organization. Both external and internal factors can bring about changes to an organization. The work environment is affected to a large extent by external factor such as changing expectations about quality, customer satisfaction and new work force demographics. It is also affected by the internal factors such as the mergers and acquisitions, financial constraints and the necessity to improve productivity. Personality plays a very important role in the job performance of an individual when changes in an organization take place. The personality factors which affect the performance are as follows:- Demographic Variables Age – Age has a negative impact on any kind of change in an organization. As the age increases people don’t like change and try to resist it. Education – The level of education has a positive impact on coping with the organization changes. As more educated can handle the uncertainties better and are more ready for new challenges and opportunities. Tenure – It has negative effect on coping with changes in an organization. People who have served longer in any organization resist the change more than a newly joined. Seniority – Employees at higher level understand the importance of change better than the employees at lower level. One important reason for this is that changes are implemented with the active participation of the senior staff. Independent Variables Self Esteem – It is positively associated with coping changes in an organization. Self esteem consists of two major constituents – ‘competence’ and ‘worth’. Individuals with high self esteem handle the adverse conditions better. Optimism – People who are optimistic are able to accept the organizational change better than pessimistic people. They are able to deal with the adversities with more strength and perseverance. Perceived Control – It is the belief that one can determine one’s own internal state and behaviour, influence one’s environment and/or bring about the desired outcomes. Change Self- Efficacy – There is a very little difference between self efficacy and self esteem. People having self efficacy feel confident in adverse situations. Self-efficacy is their perceived ability to handle change in a given situation to function better. Challenges and Concerns with Personality Assessments in Indian Context In the modern business, personality assessments as part of recruitment process have become vital for the selection of the right candidate matching the organizational objectives. They provide inputs which could be used for the 360 degree feedback and to measure their performance in the organization. In entry level roles like sales and customer relationship personnel in finance, banking and insurance sector, personality is a very important discriminator for job-success. So, there is a huge need for these personality assessments. These days many multi- national companies are conducting non-Indian personality solutions for recruitment in India. But there are many challenges faced by these International solutions in Indian context which are as follows:- Problems in understanding English – The level of English in these international personality assessments is quite is high and most of the Indians are not able to comprehend the exact meaning of the words. For example, a typical question will ask a candidate to choose between sympathetic and empathetic. Most of the candidates could not differentiate between these words. Not in context with Indian Population – Many questions are out of context for the Indian population. One of the questions in such an assessment asks whether they would prefer a holiday in Las Vegas. Average Indian does not understand what it means to have a vacation there. Not in context with entry level candidates – The questions in theses assessments pose situations which favour the candidates who have already worked in that area before, which makes it very difficult for an entry level candidate to get selected. No consideration for cultural differences – People in the west use words like ‘Thank you’ and ‘sorry’ much more frequently than Indians. But that doesn’t mean those Indians which don’t use these words that frequently are any less polite. The assessments fail to understand such socio-economic and cultural differences of India. Not much use for recruitment with little validation – Many such inventories being used have not been validated if they are suitable for job recruitment. Also, some of them are very easy to fake in the process. Conclusion Personality gives a very coherent picture of an individual’s psychological behaviour and differences. It also gives an insight about the human nature and the similarities between them. A lot about personality can be perceived from the social behaviour of an individual. In modern business personality plays a very important role in assessing the right candidate for the right job profile. Performance of an individual in any organization is also dependent on his personality traits. Bibliography Ki-Young Jeong, Bozkurt, Ipek, Sunkara, Surya T.(2012). Creative effective project teams using personality models. Northeast Region Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI) Proceeding, p403-414. Pittenger, David J. (1993). Measuring the MBTI†¦ And coming up short. Journal of Career Planning and Employment, v54 n1 p48-52. Adali, S., Golbeck, J. (2012). Predicting Personality with Social Behavior. Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining (ASONAM), IEEE/ACM International Conference, p302-309. Keller, Kevin Lane, Richey, Keith. (2006). The importance of corporate brand personality traits to a successful 21st century business. Journal of Brand Management, Vol.14 Issue  ½, p74-81. Young-Ei Kim, Jung-Wan Lee Yong-Ki Lee. (2008). Relationship between Brand Personality and the Personality of Consumers, and its Application to Corporate Branding Strategy, Journal of Global Academy of Marketing Science, 18:3, p27-57 R. Ravi Kumar, T.J. Kamalanabhan. (2005).The role of personality factors in coping with organizational change. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 13 Issue 2 p.175 – 192. Aggarwal, Varun. (2009). Challenges and Concerns with International Personality Assessments. Retrieved from the Aspiring Minds website: http://www.aspiringminds.in/docs/challenges_with_international_personality_assessments.pdf Major, Debra A., Turner Jonathan E., Fletcher Thomas D. (2006). Linking Proactive Personality and the Big Five to Motivation to Learn and Development Activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 91, No. 4, 927-935.