Corporate Governance in Nepal Essay

â€Å"The first gaping imbalance in the emerging markets private equity equation was the accuracy timeliness, and transparency of financial and operating information provided to investors, and the willingness of managers to subject themselves to some degree of accountability to outsiders. Even in the best of circumstances, relationships between investors and the managers of their portfolio companies are complex and often contentious, but the absence of sound corporate governance practice has sharply accentuated that tension. Nowhere does this issue become more problematic than with family owned firms. Although widespread in all countries, family ownership tends to be even more prevalent in developing countries. The prototype is an entrepreneur who has built a successful business with virtually no capital or shareholders beyond his or her immediate family and close friends. Absent any accountability to outside shareholders, the interests of the owner and the firm are indistinguishable, and financial accounts are frequently intermingled. These traditions of autonomy, secrecy, and independence run deep within the corporate culture of most developing country firms, rarely challenged until the need for outside capital becomes imperative. Few entrepreneurs, for example, have ever undergone an independent audit or adhered to international accounting standards that are the prerequisites for virtually every professional investor. The prospective investor is thus at the mercy of the entrepreneur for access to information necessary to make critical judgments about company performance and value. The common practice, for example, of maintaining two or even three sets of accounting records in order to avoid the tax collector frustrates the due diligence team’s task of gaining an accurate picture of performance. Opaque bookkeeping and disclosure habits also may impede access to other important information that might alter investor perceptions of company value, such as environmental liabilities or unresolved legal disputes. As one investor noted, â€Å"One big problem is skeletons in the closet. Many of these great companies have hidden subsidiaries, offshore sales and other tax avoidance schemes.† Nor is the lure of badly needed capital likely to overcome resistance to outside investors who are inclined to push and prod management to make painful changes they believe are needed to increase transparency and enhance company value. It is not surprising, there†

‘I’m ceded †I’ve stopped being Theirs-‘(Emily Dickinson) Essay

The theme of Poem 508 Im ceded Ive stopped being Theirs- is the exploration of the narrators growth from childhood to adulthood, through the development of spiritual consciousness. The reader is immediately made aware that the narrator has undergone a dramatic change. With the use of the word ceded, there is the sense that something has been given away. It is usually territory that is the object of this verb and so its unusual application to a person captures the readers attention. Furthermore, it is punctuated by Dickinsons familiar dash which isolates and emphasises it as if it were followed by an exclamation mark. This expression appears to be an exclamation of relief to be freed from the obligations of the expectations of her parents and this interpretation is supported by her statement -Ive stopped being Theirs-. This is a strong, almost defiant statement, which seems to be a declaration of liberation and individual existence and identity. The forced caesura created by the use of dashes on either side of the statement indicates a rupture. The use of ceded makes it sound as if it is not a person who is being discussed and the sense of the impersonal is further developed in the way that Dickinson refers to The name. The narrator is not taking ownership of the name and emphasises this with is finished using now, implying it was temporarily borrowed. Similarly, the narrator does not take ownership of the spirituality of the Baptism They dropped upon my face. The narrator does not regard it as holy, thereby rejecting the sense of divinity. The narrators childhood is finished And They can put it with my Dolls,. In this phase of life she has no use for the toys. Equally she has no use for The name. It is noticeable that name is not capitalised illustrating its lack of importance for the narrator. In this first stanza, there is also the rejection of and moving on from the string of spools, and threading which are typically womanly pursuits. The narrator used to obediently follow such activities but she daringly declares her rejection of traditional, female roles. The dashes on either side of too give this declaration an anxious, breathless quality, further indicating the narrators audacity. In the second stanza, the reader is alerted to the narrators development and growth; it transcends beyond the physical development of the child to adult,  to the spiritual development culminating into her entering into a covenant with God. The narrator is aware that to have been Baptized, before, without the choice does not have significance. The Baptism before is the imposition of her parents beliefs and values. By rejecting their religious beliefs, the narrator is also rejecting their name and the imposition of feminine activities, thus asserting herself as a strong, adult woman who is free to make her own choices. As in Poem 324 Some keep the Sabbath going to Church-, Dickinson emphasises the importance of choice; in Poem 508, the narrator objects to her parents values and beliefs, together with the religious expression of the community. Similarly, in Poem 324, the narrator rejects the way in which the majority of people choose to observe the Sabbath, preferring to keep it, staying at Home-. The Poem ends with the narrator stating So instead of getting to Heaven, at last -/ Im going, all along. This seems to pre-empt the ending of Poem 508, in which the narrator concludes I choose, just a Crown-, showing that through the course of both poems, Dickinson grapples with the issue of religious belief and its expression, arriving at the conclusion that she will engage with religion in her own way, indicating that both Dickinson and the narrator have grown by the end of the poems. Paradoxically, in her sonnet Tears Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose poetry influenced Dickinson, talks about an unconscious refusal to grow. She advocates that the reader look up! †¦ And leave the vision clear for stars, yet she seems to be refusing to do so herself preferring to keep hold of her grief for fear of again losing what she mourn s for. The narrators second Baptism contrasts dramatically with her first, this time, consciously, of Grace-; her spiritual growth is evident. Gods Grace allows the narrator salvation from Original Sin. By choosing freely to participate in a second Baptism, the narrator is embracing a religious and spiritual life and is Called to my Full. It appears that she is undergoing an epiphany. Through this transcendent experience, the narrator is completed, connecting with the spirituality of God. With the use of supremest, Dickinson is able to convey both God as the Supreme Being and the supreme name bestowed upon the narrator by Gods Grace. By referring to her small Diadem filling up Existences whole Arc, the narrator suggests that her  soul has expanded, thus demonstrating her spiritual growth. In the third and final stanza, Dickinson contrasts the life of her narrator pre-epiphany, with that post-epiphany. My second Rank too small the first- Dickinson makes the reader aware of the enormous impact that the epiphany has had on the narrator. In the previous stanza, Dickinson described how the narrator filled up, and now she allows the reader to see how it has influenced her life, through the direct comparison between the size of her existence before the epiphany and the size of it afterwards. With her words, she creates a picture of the repression of her childhood, symbolising this with the half unconscious Queen- on her Fathers breast. In holding the narrator to him, her father is simultaneously protecting her and repressing her. Dickinsons earlier denunciation of [Their] values, along with her final declaration of the right to choose illustrates a Romantic desire to be herself. Dickinson clearly believes that her first Baptism lacked significance, due to her unconscious state. This time however, the narrator is said to be Erect; literally she is no longer a baby who is unable to stand, and needs the support of her Fathers breast. Furthermore it is a strong visual image, symbolising her full adult status. The narrator has clearly grown through the course of Poem 508; physically she has grown from a baby to a strong, independent woman, yet more importantly, she has grown spiritually. The narrator has been selected by God to be saved from Original Sin and the magnitude and significance of this cannot be overstated. It is evident from many of her poems that Dickinson despises the way in which the Calvinist community placed a greater importance on religious ceremony than on the meaning behind it. The narrator therefore appears grateful that God has recognised her inner spirituality over the ostentatious actions of others which can lack sincerity. The narrators contemplation throughout the poem results in her coming to a conclusion at the end. This is reflected by the rhyme scheme of the poem; whilst the first and second stanzas lack an apparent rhyming sequence, Dickinson employs rhyme and off-rhyme in the third stanza, demonstrating a subtle movement towards a more harmonious existence, thus ending with the optimistic sense of growth. Bibliography McNeil, Helen ed., Emily Dickinson: Everymans Poetry, Orion Publishing Group, 1997http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinismhttp://www.quotesandpoem.com/poems/poeticworks/Browning/Poems_of_1844/11

Local Government Strategy Training Materials Essay - 3

Local Government Strategy Training Materials - Essay Example New managers are required to observe and implement these laws strictly. Examples of such business laws are inclusive of Occupational Act and Safety rules, financial laws et cetera. In relation to New Zealand context, there are rules and regulations that govern the operation of various businesses, hotels inclusive as discussed here in: Part 1 of the New Zealand Local Government Act 2002, explicates the preliminary provisions of the act; it indicates the purpose of this act which involves the provision of a local government authority with the capacity to undertake leaderships taking into consideration the needs of the diverse communities in New Zealand. It further states the specific purposes of the local governments (www.legislation.govt.nz n.d). Additionally, the act provides guidelines and powers for the local authorities that will assist them in making decisions regarding the specific activities they undertake as well as the ways in which they will undertake them. Section 3 (c) of the act promotes a dimension of accountability among the local authorities in their efforts to serve the New Zealand Communities. Consequently, section 3 (d), of the New Zealand Local Government act provides a platform for local authorizes to undertake wider roles that are geared towards meeting the current and future needs of the local communities. The major purposes of the local government within the boundaries of New Zealand are stipulated within this act. Sub-part 1, section ten of this act stipulates that the local government has the authority to undertake democratically oriented decision making processes, taking actions that impact on the local communities. Section ten, subpart 2 of the act elaborates on issues ascribed to good infrastructural quality, proper service provision and the appropriate regulatory measures. It stipulates that such facets should be efficient, appropriate as well as effective. The

Business - Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business - Business Strategy - Essay Example The company is responsible for day to day oversight of ongoing project to track the work performance. It needs to effectively manage the vendors as well as the traders who are related to the project. General contractors provide wide range of services to the clients for a tendered fee and a possible duration of completion of the project under an authorised contract for proposed services. Contractor can charge the fees for its services by hour of work basis, by day or lump sum basis. They generally ask for payment from the clients after completion of each part of the whole project or they can charge in pre-mentioned work duration. General contractors take contracts of new project as well as renovation of an old or damaged project. For this type of services they do an effective site visit fpo0r proper understandings of the current situation of the project which is essential for the projection of required work on that project as well as to estimate the overall cost for the renovation. In the process of estimating the total cost of a project they consider the cost of required raw materials as well as the labour and other possible costs. All these are mentioned in detail in the budget. General contractors who work for government agencies are referred as prime contractor. For a business owner perspective, they hired contractor than a group of permanent employees to get the cost advantage. Contractors provide services in a competitive rate as there is also huge competition in contracting market. Apart from this, the client can release the contractor after one project and they do not need to provide training. Subcontractor Subcontractor works under main contractor and their task and obligations are assigned by the main contractor. In a complex project or a long term project, the main contractor generally hire subcontractor to complete different part of the project. Subcontractors are generally expertise of a particular type of work for project and this they are hired by the main contractor for effective completion of the total work. When a wide range of capabilities are required for a project then subcontracting become very useful. The subcontracting part of a project is generally not under the core competencies of the main contractor and for this reason it may assist to the main contractor in diversifying the overall risk and keeping costs under control. So the general contractor receives a better service from the subcontractor which it could not have provided by itself at a lower risk. Many subcontractor works for same companies which allow them to become specialised in a particular skill. In UK, there need to respond to the frequently changing environment and to service a diverse areas of the infrastructure. It has encouraged the subcontractor community for the flexible and diversified work and they have been providing specialised skills and expertise to many general contractor companies (Wrigleys Solicitors LLP, 2009). Financial Analysis for r ecommendation Table 1: Balance sheet of the company LIABILITIES Amount(?) ASSETS Amount(?) Issued(fully paid up) share Capital 200 Fixed Assets 100000 Revenue Reserves 60000 Depreciation 5000 Loans 200000 Â   95000 Overdraft 120000 Stock and work-in-progress 400000 Estimated Tax payable 20000 Debtors 100000 Trade Creditors 195000 Cash 200 Balance 595200 Â   595200 Table 2: Profit and loss statement of the company Particulars Amount(?) Amount(?) Sales

Media Production - This is England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Media Production - This is England - Essay Example The continuous whisper of ‘war’, soulful blast, and meaningless foreign conflict, which are undertaken for hidden desires and the obscured racism, are a clear reminder of England’s past (Brussat 2013) Location This Is England was entirely filmed in the East Midlands, an irregular landscape of flatlands and estate buildings with poor infrastructure development. Most of the movie’s shooting was done in the residential areas at Nottingham, Lenton, and some parts of St Ann’s. Meadow’s movie production history demonstrates the utilization of countryside region to form spectacular film background. Similarly, Meadow’s in his movie â€Å"This Is England† concentrates much on the countryside as part of the flat landscape, which portrays much of unemployment and few chances of self-development. This environment gives the viewer a chance to meet Shane Meadow’s in his boyhood age of twelve years whose father perishes in the war agains t Argentina (Goldsmith 2006) Themes The death of Shaun father leaves him exposed to tyrants in the streets and school compound whereby one moment a garrulous skinhead schoolmate takes him off course. The fact that Shaun kept his own counsel worsens his anger making it tough for him to get well with other boys, which leads to a lonely self-life in the firsts scenes of the movie. With time, Shaun finds unusual friends who have no taste for education and spent most of their time in criminal activities such as excessive drinking and street fights. Shaun gets a strange haircut to please the gang of skinheads that was much focused on racial antagonism. Fortunately, a conflict arises over the leadership of the gang leading the head of the gang, Woody, to split. Combo an ex-convict takes the readership of the opposing group that seemed to possess racism. The arrival of Combo from prison changes the plot whereby Combo’s numerous fights with blacks in jail led to his acquisition of bel ligerency experience. Combo’s comeback draws boundaries in the gang’s union whereby he challenges the skinheads led by Woody to guard England against external influence and encourages Milky to behave more like an Englishman and not just like a Jamaican (IMDb 2007). During the leadership struggle of the gang, Shaun turns on the side of Combo with a conviction that his father did not die in vain after, which he is trained on combat as well as survival for the fittest techniques. Considerably, â€Å"This Is England† title of the movie and Combo’s entreaty reveal the actual nature of England’s politics and cultural background. A great embrace of English heritage, as brought out by the Combo, shows a sense of social purity and racism. On the other hand, the viewer is able to view England that is struggling to be recognized as being in a mixed state and assimilated by colonial influences, which erode the native English culture and mix it with that of the irs (Goldsmith 2006). However, Meadow’s plot concentrates on the theme where the struggle for heritage gives birth to racism. In a later scene, national front meeting attended by British farmers and factory workers is clandestinely arranged behind a pub, which becomes one of the most scaring parts of the film that is full of engraved terror on what would be the next scene (French 2006) The spilt gang leaders, Combo and Woody, are able to care for honest and bullying skinhead boy under their reign.  

Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Project - Assignment Example The technological as well as development research course produces a quality level that the business gets competitiveness and differentiation in the structure, even though this demands, noteworthy but essential investments. 3 To study the system the analyst needs to do collect facts and all relevant information. The facts when expressed in quantitative form are termed as data. The success of this project is depended upon the accuracy of available data. Accurate information can be collected with help of certain methods/ techniques. These specific methods for finding information of the this system are; Interviews, Questionnaires, Record View and Observations. We shall use interviews since the information collected is quite accurate and reliable as we will clear and cross check the doubts there itself. This method also will help gap the areas of misunderstandings and help to discuss about the future problems. 5 Tactical planning and innovation are at present, essential elements of the aggressive and sustainability of a business. Conversely, framework situations demand the business to be structured to approval to a more and more complicated demand in an open structure, where the idea of quality is to be realized in all their dimensions as well as in continuous assessment. The transformation must be planned, according to the exhaustive investigation of the circumstances and the external and internal conditions that the organization functions. The innovation produces effectiveness and efficiency in the processes of business production; the information handling is essential. The technological as well as development research course produces a quality level that the business gets competitiveness and differentiation in the structure, even though this demands, noteworthy but essential investments. Currently, the system used is manual. It requires a lot of

Introduction and Problem of Practice Research Paper

Introduction and Problem of Practice - Research Paper Example Nursing scholars have moved from developing nursing Meta theories to building theories that encounter specific problems related to nursing practice. Some of theories have been said not to cover completely nursing phenomenon. It may be argued that it is because some countries have little theoretical development. Due to this argument, many believe that the discipline of nursing is less affluent. It has also been facilitated by the transference of American nursing theories to other countries. To expand the nursing theories, theorists have gone to other countries, held conferences and participated in translation of books. Nursing theories have often been founded in the conviction that the nursing body of knowledge should be control or influence clinical practice rather than being defined by it (American Nurses Association, 2010). Nursing theories can be used in differentiating the focus of nursing from other professions (American Nurses Association, 2010). Concepts of theories have been used to guide all phases of the nursing process, including planning, implementing, and evaluating nursing care (Finkelman, 2012). In addition, they have been used in describing and explaining desired responses during practice. Nursing theories makes nurses to be focused on the goal set, hence making them more alert and confidence in their practice. They guide research; validates and modifies the theory, hence enhancing communication. Theories have been used to contribute to the development of the nursing disciple body of knowledge. Some theories are more worthy for certain situations, for example, one theory can be used to a patient in a home health care setting, whereas a patient in an acute care environment will use a different theory (Sabah, 2013). All the approaches are valid as long the nurse recognizes the value and usefulness of nursing theory as a tool for effective nursing practice. There are many theories used in the nursing field to solve problems encountered while attend ing to a patient by the professional nurses. An example of a theory to show how theories have been used in practice; Faye Glenn’s human needs theory, which was set to guide in providing human needs to those in hospital, but also has relevance for nursing care in community setting. Faye Glenn used this theory to promote the image of the nurse who was not only kind and caring, but also intelligent, adept, alert and prepared so oversee that patients receive quality services. This theory influences the nurse’s judgment in the selecting steps, in solving the patient problem and focusing in taking care of the patient. The problem facing the practice; the gap between theory and the practice in nursing has widened over the years. According to Sabah, â€Å"It is becoming difficult everyday for the nurses to administer multiple theories; this is due to conflicting knowledge they posses for use in their daily practice.† In most theoretical pieces of work in nursing, major threads of theoretical thinking are difficult to identify (Sabah, 2013). Problem in the practice that has been encountered is that, many theorists have used the term theory as interchangeable with such terms as conceptual framework, conceptual model, and paradigm. Some theories cannot be applicable when needed in the medical room to a patient (Masters, 2011). Many scholars have stated that the grand nursing theories or the conceptual framew

Gun control in my community and nationally Essay

Gun control in my community and nationally - Essay Example countries like Switzerland and Germany, the rate of gun ownership is three times the number of legal gun ownership in America making gun related violence a matter of motive rather than ownership (Sowell, 2012). Further, this matter encompasses the issues on rules, restriction on the use of firearms, ownership, distribution, and regulations surrounding the same. On one hand, the acquisition of a gun may be for protection purposes while on the other hand, the acquisition of a gun may be for criminal activity. In recent times, policy makers have formulated policies aiming at gun control that are not yet law. With these aspects in mind, this argumentative essay will negate the argument that proposed federal legislation on gun ownership should become law. Presently, critics are of the idea that control of those who carry guns is the suitable approach as compared to controlling the spread of guns. According Watkins from the Detroit Green haven Press, his attribute influenced a bill by Senator Schumer Manchin Toomey on background checks for those intending to buy guns. In recent times, America has witnessed a number of shootings in inner city district schools and public schools where innocent children and civilians have met their sudden demise. This factor has triggered debate on the need to effect gun control measures as a way of preventing further loss of life. According to Killough from CNN, President Obama intimated the need to revisit these regulations in order to replace them with effective laws, but the timing for this was wrong because families were still in mourning. Across America, this bill has received intense backing from quarters that are pro the gun control idea. In the case for school shootings, the question that author ities grapple with is how the kids accessed the guns in the first place. This means that the gun owners have become reckless in how they choose to store their guns. However, most guns in crimes scenes are stolen hence making it hard to

Virtual Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Virtual Learning - Essay Example Pursel and Bailey (2005) focus their attention on how online video games can contribute to the elearning processes and stimulate them. They explore a number of resources demonstrating that there are two primary limitations of online learning. Learners generally lack motivation and they do not interact enough during their online courses. Pursel and Bailey (2005) propose that in order to enhance the elearning possibilities new approaches should be adopted by teachers. The new generation processes information in a different way in comparison to their parents', consequently methods used in online games have to be included in the virtual learning. The author's main purpose in writing the article is to offer an alternative solution in overcoming the decreasing interest and value of courses conducted online. Their attempt presents innovative and facilitating model of the learning within the virtual world. Education is a great asset which transforms communication in a higher level. The benefits of good quality online education, however are not available to the urban sections of society. Pursel and Bailey (2005) provide information only about the U.S. consumers and do not refer to sources about the rest of the world. Yajnik (2005) notes that information technology is such a powerful tool that has the potential to make education available even to people in remote locations. The primary limitations lack of interactivity and motivation deficit that Pursel and Bailey (2005) have to be related to a specific strata from the society and clarifications made about the economic status from the country in questions. The generalizations delivered by Pursel and Bailey (2005) show limited research scope. A problematic issue is that the majority of those who drop out of the online courses do not find them challenging enough. It is of critical importance to emphasize that Pursel and Bailey's (2005) pr oposal to incorporate video games strategies into elearning is directed mainly to satisfy the requirements of U.S. student audience. In countries with developing economies students are willing to engage in all kinds of learning to higher their educational background. Yajnik (2005) suggests that the growth in communication technology in India widens the divide between those who have access and those who do not. The main task of elearning methods is not to increase the social gap introducing video games methodology, but to make it possible for underdeveloped countries to have the same opportunities. Implementing video games in the structure of online courses will create immediate exclusion of certain users. E-learning tutors might not want to risk "information exclusion" of their students by complex design or unaffordable software. Kenya's education minister, Professor George Saitoti (cited in Ogodo, 2007) says that when integrated into educational system the Internet Communication technologies "have the capacities to improve the delivery of education through distance learning, provide access to universal digital libraries, offer ways in which universities can globally compete and offer improvements in academic administration (par. 17)." The elearning technologies offer new ways in which the quality and effectiveness of higher education is delivered. However the way in which elearning will be made constructive depends on the

Environmental Analysis Paper Essay Example for Free

Environmental Analysis Paper Essay Hospitality is one of those lines of business paths that are widespread. In Australia, Brisbane hotel provides a broad assortment of properties-budget, trade, tourist, lavishness, bed and breakfasts and apartments lodging. Moreover, Holiday City Brisbane hotels offer comfort, excellence and enormous worth for the money, perfect for leisure time and commerce travelers. This paper seeks to examine the environmental analysis of Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Higham, 2005, p. 98) 1. Industry Analysis On the foundation analysis unaccompanied, Brisbane market appears to be a suitable market for an augment in lodging supply. On the other hand there are a number of other considerations such as access to capital, augmented building and labour outlay. (Addis, 2006, p. 103) Brisbane is situated on the eastern coast; it is the capital of Queensland-Australia’s head of state tourist area. It is Australia’ best ever growing city region in South East Queensland and occupies 1,140 square kilometers. (King, 1997, p. 88) For a property shareholder, a significant indicator of hotel viability will be value versus building cost. Hotel values have not kept rate with the enlargement in building costs. See more: how to write an analysis of a research paper Hotel values sky rocketed in 1997 before moribund to a cyclical low of $161K per room in 2001. Building costs on the other hand have augmented each year, moribund only marginally in 2001 in reaction to the worldwide financial downturn. (Garling, 1991, p. 100) The low point of hotel values were 62 per cent of building costs and even as they have augmented by around 10 per cent per annum over the last five years double the rate of building costs, the expansion gap is still 20 per cent at present. This gap will differ across the cities of Australia. (Kohen, 1995, p. 90) The porter’s five forces model is a straightforward tool that supports premeditated understanding where authority lies in an industry situation. It also helps to comprehend both the strength of Brisbane existing cutthroat position, and the potency of a position Brisbane is in search to move into. Regardless of the fact that the five force structure focuses on commerce concerns rather than community policy, it also emphasizes comprehensive rivalry for value to a certain extent than just competition amongst existing rivals. (Freeland, 1968, p. 115) The innovative cutthroat forces model as projected by Porter acknowledged five forces which would impact on an organization’s performance in a cutthroat market. These include the following: (Swaffer, 2002, p. 102) i) The Degree of Rivalry The degree of rivalry, which is the most noticeable of the five forces in the hotel industry, helps decide the extent to which the value fashioned by a business will be dissolute through head to head contest. (Cunill, 2006, p. 78) Perth has overtaken Brisbane as Australia’s number one hotel bazaar after having strengthened its bazaar leader position all through each quarter during 2007 to record the uppermost Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) expansion, highest ADR expansion and uppermost tenancy result (82. 5%) for the full year. (Richards, 2006, p. 120) Hotel section analysis in the three main markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane reveal that 5-star hotels are driving the sturdy bazaar performance. All the three cities recorded twofold figure RevPAR expansion during 2007 which is higher than the lower-tier segments. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 115) ii) The Threat of Entry Both the prospective and obtainable competitors influence standard business productivity. The threat of new entrants is frequently based on the bazaar entry barriers. They can take varied forms and are used to avert an influx of firms into a business at any time profits attuned for the cost of capital goes up above zero. (Higham, 2005, p. 104) The most widespread forms of entry barriers include: economies of scale, cost of entrance such as investment into expertise; distribution channels such as ease of admission for competitors; cost compensation not connected to the size of the corporation and government legislation. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 105) In a cutthroat market, all firms fabricate a standardized product. This means the goods presented by a variety of sellers are mainly identical. Since competition is based exclusively on the price, and the merchandise is homogenous, it then follows that buyers will buy from whoever’s product is cheapest, and this is also applicable in the hotel industry in the sense that tourist will choose to check inn to a hotel which they are comfortable with the price; therefore each producers is requisite to take up the least-cost method of fabrication and all surplus profits and losses will in the long run be abolished by entrance to, or exit from the business. (Addis, 2006, p. 108) Australia is in threat of becoming a lattice exporter of tourists in 2008 as strong expansion in outbound travel outpaces inbound tourist arrivals. The recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Overseas Arrivals and Departures data reveals that arrivals have exposed some revival in the primary two months of 2008 (up 1. 7%), outbound travel has augmented by a staggering 14. 5%. (King, 1997, p. 94) The major competitor of Brisbane hotel is Sydney. However this was in the past. Sydney attracts a broad range of commerce events, and these proceedings tend to be larger than regular. Whereas the National Business Events Study (NBES) establish that New South Wales hosted 27 percent of the entire meetings in Australia in 2003, this represented 40 percent of the entire delegates. In terms of standard occasion size, Sydney hosted the biggest proceedings (roughly 162 delegates per event), followed by the Gold Coast (102), Melbourne (96), Adelaide (92), the ACT (89) and Perth (80). (Jamieson, 2006, p. 123) Nevertheless, this position is being windswept as other States are attracting an escalating percentage of intercontinental trade proceedings delegates. Queensland is to some extent differently positioned. Because of its chief coastal resort cities, it has key conference amenities at Cairns and the Gold Coast, as well as Brisbane. When these three locations are taken jointly, it reveals that in the mid-nineties they jointly held only about half as numerous meetings as Sydney. Ever since, their position has augmented considerably and in the epoch 2003-2005 they held about as several meetings as did Sydney. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 110) iii) The Threat of Substitutes A threat from substitutes exists if there are substitute products with inferior prices of improved performance parameters for the equivalent function. They could potentially draw a momentous proportion of bazaar volume and for this reason reduce the possible sales volume for existing troupe. This category also relates to balancing products. The threat of substitution is also influenced by switching costs such as retraining, retooling and redesigning that are incurred when a consumer switches to a dissimilar kind of product or service. (Higham, 2005, p. 111) Brisbane hotel faces the barricade of cost of setting up such as renting or owning building and licensing faced by new-fangled entrant. Even though firms in a monopolistically cutthroat market do face a low barrier to entry, the firms vend differentiated products, therefore causing new-fangled firms harder to be recognized. For example; Pier Nine Oyster Bar and Seafood Gril in Brisbane is a well-liked seafood restaurant. It then follows that a new seafood restaurant may have intricacy attracting clientele because of Pier’s recognized reputation. (Addis, 2006, p. 114) iv) Buyer Power Buyer power is one of the two level forces that control the misappropriation of the value fashioned by Brisbane hotel industry. The most imperative determinants of buyer power are the size and the attention of clientele. Other factors are the degree to which the buyers are well-versed and the attention of the competitors. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 130) Brisbane hotels come in all the shapes and sizes one would expect from Australia’s third biggest city-the enormous names like Hilton, Marriott and Sheraton are all there, all along with loads of self-governing establishments which vary from extremely quirky to absolute dirty. Similar to any bed where you relax your head, you acquire what you disburse for. Moreover, at the cheaper end of the range, a flawlessly contented room in an essential visitor hotel in the heart of the city like the Nomads will place you back about $80 a night at reserve rates, whereas a two bedroom suite in the historical 5 star Conrad Treasury Casino will cost you roughly $220 if you are looking less than two weeks ahead-which is fairly of high-quality for a five star hotel. (King, 1997, p. 101) v) Supplier Power This is a reflect icon of the buyer power. As an end result, the examination of supplier power characteristically focuses primary on the relative size and attention of suppliers comparative to commerce involvement in the inputs supplied. (Garling, 1991, p. 107) The aptitude to charge clientele different prices in line with differenced in the value fashioned for each of those buyers more often than not indicates that the bazaar is characterized by high dealer power and at the same occasion by low buyer power. (Kohen, 1995, p. 97) Brisbane hotel is an outstanding example to other main hotel markets in the steady preamble of new supply, as opposed to gesticulate of new-fangled hotel developments flooding the bazaar once the market conditions become encouraging. A slow but stable flow of new stockpile goes a long way towards sustainably increasing the market without causing occupancies and revenues to fall. (Cunill, 2006, p. 91) 2. External Stakeholders and Broad Environment External stakeholders These encompass real land agents, state visitor offices, developers, financiers, body business service providers, hotels with a strata title attention and administration human rights brokers. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 118) The assortment of community schemes is echoed in the range of lawmaking schemes that subsist across Australia. One of the basic differences across jurisdictions is the terms and lawful jargon used to explain key features in Brisbane hotel. This difficulty poses realistic problems for stakeholders in general and for practitioners who are required to function athwart state boundaries. (King, 1997, p. 117) Broad Environment This consists of four significant factors such as current social forces, global economic forces, global political forces and technological innovations. (Garling, 1991, p. 114) i) Current social forces Given that travel was a requirement for numerous workers at the turn of the century, it then follows that homosexuality action in countryside contexts and urban public spaces was inextricably associated. The features of superior population areas, clear in Brisbane hotel and larger local areas were also noticeable in lesser urban settlements. (Higham, 2005, p. 116) ii) Global economic forces Australia’s four principal city lodging markets enjoyed a record year of tenancy levels in 2007, with the outlook for 2008 being evenly as optimistic in spite of far from ideal national and worldwide market circumstances. (Kohen, 1995, p. 101) Australia Bureau of statistics (ABS) data released for the full year 2007 shows that for the initial time the internal city hotel bazaar of Brisbane has achieved tenancy levels over 80% averaged all through the year. This performance underscores Australia’s confrontation to the universal monetary slowdown as trade travel remains burly. High occupancies are also a side-effect of the capital boom, which is supporting Brisbane hotel markets as local centres for these resource-based state economies. (Addis, 2006, p. 122) With continuous expansion in accommodation demand, thanks to affluent economic environment and sturdy market essentials, Australia’s chief city markets of Brisbane will see occupancies linger high and proceeds increase. (Garling, 1991, p. 119) The majority multicultural cities are Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities are well-known for the diversity and quality of universal foods available in their many restaurants, and Melbourne particularly promoted itself as a hub for the arts therefore posing a threat for Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 134) iii) Technological innovations True commerce innovation does take place through a variety of mechanisms such as commerce strategy, organization practices, procedure alteration, and assets investment in new-fangled plant and equipment. To be familiar with this, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) by now has events of technological innovation. (Cunill, 2006, p. 103) iv) Global political forces The worldwide hotel business recorded optimistic growth in standard daily rate and proceeds per obtainable room for the month of July 2008; this is according to the statistics from Smith Travel Research (STR). Moreover, fashion hotels are an element of a speedy development in the market for lavishness recognized customer products. This was incorporated prior to the political situation that arose in Australia. (Higham, 2005, p. 121) 3. Factors that Influence the Sector’s demand and cost structures i) Technological innovation This has debatably been the leading factor in determining fiscal services of Brisbane hotel in the past two decades. Systems for dealing out, communicating and sturdy information are an indispensable element of the infrastructure sustaining fiscal activities. (Kohen, 1995, p. 112) Technology has connected markets around the globe and opened cross-border delivery of both wholesale and retail fiscal products. This has created a competitive advantage to Brisbane hotel in Australia. (Freeland, 1968, p. 119) ii) International Integration This has resulted prior to technological advances and as a result there has been a rising tendency towards international integration amongst financial markets. In numerous areas of the Australian bazaar, predominantly those connected with across-the-board funding, international markets have replaced home markets as the main source of finance. A result of globalization is that competition between fiscal service providers occurs internationally to a certain extent than at the state or local level. Globalization has spawned a production of institutional shareholders who control huge portfolios and have particular loyalty to products and state marketplace thus boosting Brisbane hotel financial status. (Swaffer, 2002, p. 125) iii) Changing customer needs Markets developments have also been fashioned by changing customer needs. In Australia, the most clear of these has been the enlargement of enforced superannuation and the accompanying enlargement in the finance administration business. This has resulted to Brisbane hotel modifying their products and services so as to satisfy the customer since the customer is the king. (Freeland, 1968, p. 121) iv) New Entrants These factors have encouraged new-fangled entrants and innovative ways of doing business. For instance, unlike a decade ago, hotels and construction societies are at present extremely aware of the competition that they face from securitizes. This has made Brisbane hotel and other industries formulate strategies of dealing with new entrants. (King, 1997, p. 126) 4. Strategic Issues facing Organizations in hotel sector i) Location Brisbane is a low-lying terrain mass positioned in a floodplain. Nevertheless, this has worked to the benefit of the hotel. Brisbane is located along the Brisbane River and is neighboring to the Great Dividing Range and the Moreton Bay. This has generated a lot of income since it serves as a tourist attraction base. (Garling, 1991, p. 122) ii) Climate Geologically, Brisbane hotel is situated contentedly in the State’s Southeast corner, at the oceanfront of the Pacific Ocean to the east. Because of this, it then follows that many inhabitants and vacationers from Melbourne and Sydney come over and expend winter in Brisbane thus boosting the hotel’s revenue. (Higham, 2005, p. 128) iii) Events and Festivals Several events and festivals have also boost up tourism in Brisbane hotel. For instance; Brisbane River Festival is usually held in the middle of September every year. In addition to this, Brisbane is becoming a well-liked sports destination in all of Australia and not just in Queensland. It has previously hosted the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup and still hosted a number of events for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. This has generated a lot of income for the Brisbane hotel. Moreover, Brisbane is proposing to support and hold the 2024 Olympics. This will generate the country lots and lots of revenue. (Jamieson, 2006, p. 136) Conclusion The event trade in Australia continues to thrive and events are more and more viewed as vehicles for the facilitation of local growth. Regions may be fashioned for various reasons, counting economic purposes, and debatably such economic purpose will decide the most suitable set of local restrictions, the types of local organizations that will be established and the kinds of local policies and programs that will be implemented. Moreover, technological innovation, international integration, changing customer needs and new entrants have contributed towards the hotel formulating strategies in order to satisfy their customers and as a result Brisbane hotel has maintained a competitive edge thus earning profitable foreign exchange from the tourists.

7th Record Label Business Plan Marketing Essay

7th Record Label Business Plan Marketing Essay My business plan is to set up a music record label (7th Records) that will be based in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. It will be a corporation whose major focus will be to capture the very talented but financially handicap artists/bands. 7th record will sign talented but financially handicap local artists/bands within Nigeria and will be involved in every developmental phase required for the success of these artists/bands from music production, promotion to marketing. In a report by Dozie Olamide (Fingers, 2009), it is said that one out of every ten local artist have the funding required for an album production and the existing labels do not make matters easy for these financially handicapped majority who may later end up doing street Rap battle instead of making good use of their talent. This category of artist will be our major target. There are six major record labels presently enjoying 90% of the industrys market share and these labels focus on financially viable musicians for their success (Entertainment weekly, 2008). They also rip off these artist/band by adopting a 50:50 record deal i.e. for every profit made from the CD sales they will have 50%. This has been a way of extortion from artist on the part of these labels. 7th Record will be an exceptional, goal oriented and unusual but sustainable business model for a record label. Our main strategy will be focused on capturing the very talented locals who do not have the finance to produce an album and we will introduce a 30:70 record dealing term. As a result, 7th record will also have an in-house studio that will be run by veterans in music production business. This idea is aimed at producing classy and marketable albums that will not only yield good profit but will also serve as a good means of market penetration. In the Nigeria entertainment industry, there is no laid down pattern for return on investment; your success depends on your strategies. Popularity and Fans acceptance is the determining factor and key element for sales. 7th record will require a start-up capital of $23,580 for the first year. It will be funded by me together with some support from my immediate family members. A breakdown of the financial requirement in presented in the later part of this Business case. 1.1 Start-up Funding 70% of the start-up fund will be from me and the remaining part will be from my immediate family members who are fully in support of this project. Required start-up capital $23,580 Izekor Osagie Lee $16,506 Family members $7,074 Total funding $23,580 1.2 Industry Analysis The Nigeria Music industry is dominated by a few large Record labels that before now enjoy a monopolistic market share (Fingers, 2009). These record labels control over 90% of the CD (compact disc) sales in Nigeria. A report (Fingers, 2009) shows that Kennis music presently enjoy 32% of the market share, Lockdown entertainment 18% Mo-Hit 14% Question mark 12%, Chops record 9%, Hex records 5% and the other smaller labels share the remaining 10%. Most of these record labels take the shot gun approach to market penetration i.e. they sign up a lot of different artist/bands hoping a few will make it all the way to the top. On the artists/bands that gained commercial recognition, there are huge windfalls of profits to be made off them by the record label. The remaining 10% made up of junkyard record labels; rely on the junk local artist to make sales. They rarely get patronage by the popular artist and commercially viable bands which lives them without a competitive power in the Nigeria music industry. It is funny to know their market penetration strategy is based on luck. My findings shows 7th record have a very lucrative market to participate in. Our success in the industry is very achievable knowing we have got a few challenging labels to compete with and these competitors themselves have very weak competitive strategy compared to the strategies we will employ as discussed in the later part of this report. 1.3 Product and Services 7th record will be a Nigeria based record label for a selected group of Nigeria based artist/bands. The label will also house the 7th studios were all music production work will be done. It will operate as a full record label and will provide everything that is required for producing, Mixing, Mastering, promoting and marketing a music album of any signed artist/band. It will also adopt a business philosophy developed by Fred Okundaye (Fred, 2007) which states that for long term sustainable growth it will be more successful for a label to sign up just a few artist/bands and promote them equally than to sign up a bunch and hope one gains commercial success enough to float the rest of the bands. After careful investigation I bought into this philosophy and have chosen to adopt it although it is quit appealing to a few band or artist. It will create room for both 7th label and the prospective bands/artist to adopt an intimate and specialized focus on what the entertainment market wants. Instead of competing with the existing labels, 7th records will adopt a flexible, intimate approach where they concentrate on talented local artist/band. By working with only a few bands at once, 7th record will be able to offer a much more specialized and attentive level of service for their customers. This will be their competitive edge against other labels, something unique. We will enforce the ideology that expression will be the key to producing a good album while hard work will be the key to promoting just a few of them (signed artist/band), as both factor is an essential element that will guarantee success in the entertainment industry. Operations will begin first with the production of compilation CD for the signed artist/band. This CD will feature many different local artist/band. There will be no charge for a band to place a single (a track from their previous album) on the CD. It will be an avenue for creating awareness for these artists/bands before they are finally signed. It is essential to do this because the more popular your artist the better. During the period when this compilation CD is being processed, 7th record will be arranging modalities for networking purposes. Our first target will be local TV and Radio studios. To get air plays for the CD mostly depends on your relationship with the key decision makers at the various stations. 7th records will also be working with major retail outlets developing strong relationships with them so that as some of the bands become popular and consumer interest grow there will be assurance for sales. 7th record will also build relationships with clubs and event companies to provide room for concert placements and gigs for our prospective artists/bands. Bearing in mind that live performance is one major way to win the loyalty of fans and achieve fanfare. After 7th record attains these heights it will become attractive for well known artists to sign up with the label. We will also embrace diversification in our choice of who and what to produce. 7th record will not only focus on one genre of music and embrace diversity in the music industry. We will focus on the key element of improvisation that is found in a wide range of genres. Improvisation is a way of expressing ones self during a performance. Its a way of adding free flow change or spontaneity to a performance. Most times improvisation occurs when a band is playing a pre-defined song and each member of the band deviates from the original laid down pattern to do something that they find interesting at that moment. This is a way to please the crowd during a music performance but care has to be taking else the song can be ruined. Â © Copyright BizTree. 2006. All rights reserved. Protected by the copyright laws of the United States Canada and by international treaties. IT IS ILLEGAL AND STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO DISTRIBUTE, PUBLISH, OFFER FOR SALE, LICENSE OR SUBLICENSE, GIVE OR DISCLOSE TO ANY OTHER PARTY, THIS PRODUCT IN HARD COPY OR DIGITAL FORM. ALL OFFENDERS WILL BE SUED IN A COURT OF LAW. Â © Copyright BizTree. 2006. All rights reserved. Protected by the copyright laws of the United States and Canada and by international treaties. IT IS ILLEGAL AND STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO DISTRIBUTE, PUBLISH, OFFER FOR SALE, LICENSE OR SUBLICENSE, GIVE OR DISCLOSE TO ANY OTHER PARTY, THIS PRODUCT IN HARD COPY OR DIGITAL FORM. ALL OFFENDERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SUED IN A COURT OF LAW.1.4 Competition From my visibility studies I found out about some already existing labels but my focus will be on the major key players in the industry and they are Kennis music, Lockdown entertainment, Mo-hit records, Question mark, Chops record and Hex records. Dozies (2009) article reported that Kennis music presently enjoy 32% of the market share, Lockdown entertainment 18% Mo-Hit 14% Question mark 12%, Chops record 9%, Hex records 5% and the other smaller labels share the remaining 10%. During my investigation I discovered that all six major labels focus on CD sales and they presently employ the 50:50 sharing term for all profit made. One of the up-coming stars PC Dre in one of my interviews described this as a term of extortion by most Nigerian label. He said the 50:50 terms benefit the labels more than it does to the artist/band. 7th record will take advantage of this gap and provide a 30:70 sharing model as against the 50:50 by other existing labels. This will be aimed at market penetration and product attractiveness. Another gap I realized from my investigation was that the major concerts organized by the big multinationals features 80% of foreign artist (vanguard, 2008) because the quality and standard of the available bands seldom meet their own standard for the concerts. This I found to be the inability for these existing labels to fully brand the available talented locals to meet international standard required by such multinationals. 7th record will look beyond the local market and try to penetrate the global entertainment industry but with focus on the Nigeria music industry where it will become a part player. This idea is to match the standard of any signed artist/band with that of their counterparts oversea. To further give a clear presentation of our potential competitor and their competitive strength, a table is presented below in that regard. Competitor Name Strength Competitor Name Strength Kennis music Finance Networking Hex record Finance and club house performance Lockdown entertainment Networking Mo-hit record Finance and popularity Chops record Popularity Question mark Location 2.0 7th records Business Model In order for 7th record to succeed, a lot of sweet equity will be required with little to no revenue stream or profit for the first year. This is very difficult to adopt by most start-up businesses but for any business to succeed in the entertainment industry it has to create attraction for patronage else people wont have the chance to know what you have to offer. In the case of 7th record, it will be useful that these realistic expectations are established upfront and it will not be an unwelcome future surprise. Additionally, the investors (family members) are aware of these parameters and have given the go ahead. I know this will take a lot of effort to pull off, with reasonable expectations up front and the right management to execute on the business model, it will be a reality. Â © Copyright BizTree. 2006. All rights reserved. Protected by the copyright laws of the United States Canada and by international treaties. IT IS ILLEGAL AND STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO DISTRIBUTE, PUBLISH, OFFER FOR SALE, LICENSE OR SUBLICENSE, GIVE OR DISCLOSE TO ANY OTHER PARTY, THIS PRODUCT IN HARD COPY OR DIGITAL FORM. ALL OFFENDERS WILL BE SUED IN A COURT OF LAW. Â © Copyright BizTree. 2006. All rights reserved. Protected by the copyright laws of the United States and Canada and by international treaties. IT IS ILLEGAL AND STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO DISTRIBUTE, PUBLISH, OFFER FOR SALE, LICENSE OR SUBLICENSE, GIVE OR DISCLOSE TO ANY OTHER PARTY, THIS PRODUCT IN HARD COPY OR DIGITAL FORM. ALL OFFENDERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SUED IN A COURT OF LAW.2.1 Management For a start, 7th records will be owned and managed by me together with 8 other staff members I have carefully selected with regards to their functionality. Their duties will be; Manager To manage all human and material resources to achieve the company goal Assistant Manager To assist the manager in decision making and to work in the managers stead in an event of unavailability Secretary To handle all administrative duties Accountant To carry out all financial obligations Public relation personnel To run logistic assignments and customer care Producer/Studio Engineer For all studio production work Marketing Personnel For all post production work ranging from promotion to sales Major qualifications are not actually required but experience will be a key employment criteria. Every employee must have the working experience in the business for a period of not less than 4 years. This is because 7th record will focus on veterinary abilities of her employees for the success of the prospective artist/band. It will be a very distinct advantage over competitors. The chain of logistics will be a direct report model where all departments report directly to the Manager or the Assistant when the Manager is unavailable. 2.2 Objectives 7th records aim at becoming the number one record label in Nigeria To provide fair contract terms for the signing of local artists/bands To produce albums that will compete with that of our counterparts oversea To become a household name in the Nigeria entertainment industry within three years. To be the first Nigerian record label to sign foreign artist based on the standard and quality that the label will attain within the next three years. 2.3 Vision Our vision is to produce artist/bands that will become world icons in the global entertainment world. We will produce albums that can be nominated for Grammy as has never been heard of a Nigerian artist. 2.4 Mission Our mission is to bring out the best in local Nigerian artist/bands by providing them with all necessary resources required for quality music production and strong networking for good album sales. 2.5 Keys to Success We will choose promising artists/bands to promote 7th record will work hard to, explore and have fun We will maintain a gradual and flexible approach to profit making. It will be of no importance to sign up too many artists/bands within a specified period; otherwise the effectiveness of promotion will be diluted. 3.0 Company summary 7th record is a start-up corporation that will be based in Lagos Nigeria. The location was so chosen because Lagos is a centralized city in Nigeria. Its easily accessed from all part of the country as compared with other cities. This idea is aimed at market penetration and for competitive advantage as against major competitors. 3.1 Start-up requirements The label will be run in my house for the first year. All arrangement for start will be that for the first phase of the business, 7th record will obtain a license for owning a label from the regulating body and purchase the following; Legal (Licensing) 4 Computers 4 printers Various printed materials Mixer Amps Sound processors Speakers Recording software furniture Air conditioners Start-up Requirements Start-up proposed Expenses Legal $350 Office Stationery $600 Website development $1,200 Insurance $150 Equipments $5,200 Furniture $1,350 Other $230 Total start-up Expenses $9,080 Start-up Assets Cash Required $12,000 Start-up Inventory $0 Other Current Assets $0 Long-Term Assets $2,500 Total Assets $14,500 Total Required $23,580 Start-up Funding Start-up Expenses to fund $9,080 Start-up Assets to fund $14,500 Total Funding required $23,580 Assets Non-cash Assets from Start-up $2,500 Cash Requirement from start-up $12,000 Additional Cash Raised $390 Cash Balance on Starting Date $12,000 Total Assets $14,500 Liabilities and Capital Liabilities Current Borrowing $0 Long Term Liabilities $0 Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) $0 Other Current Liabilities (Interest-free) $0 Total Liabilities $0 Capital Planned Investment Izekor Osagie Lee $13,500 Family and Friends $10,080 Other $0 Additional Investment Requirement $0 Total Planned Investment $23,580 Start-up Expenses $9,080 Total Capital $14,500 Total Capital and Liabilities $14,500 Total Funding $23,580 4.0 Market Analysis Nigeria has a population of over 120 million people and record shows that at least 85% of this figure patronizes music whether directly or indirectly (Entertainment weekly, 2009). The key factor that controls Market share in the Nigeria music industry is CD sales and Fan loyalty. 7th record will channel her strategies to gaining strong relationship with most record stores and consumers/Fans at live shows. Since these market segments are the main source of revenue in the industry, a clear visibility studies shows that they are also the means of market penetration. 4.1 Market Segmentation Record retailers- They have direct link with the end consumers through the selling of CDs. 7th record has indentified the need to build a cordial relationship with Tee Jay the major record retailer in Nigeria. This will create a channel for the marketing of our signed artist/band without fear of pirating. Consumers at Live Concerts- This segment have the greater market penetration power as it has the ability to affect the sales of CD also. It focus on Fans at live concerts. The number of people at a concert determines the revenue that will be generated from ticket sales. They normally purchase the CD of the bands they are viewing while at the show. 7th record will ensure that her signed artists/bands are well groomed for live performance. The concept of improvisation and meeting the expectation of their fans will not be taken for granted at any level. Fans are attracted to bands that keep the stage rocking. This will be an ideology that will be a watch word for our prospective Artist/Band. Market Analysis (pie) 5.0 Strategy and Implementation 7th record have mapped out ways to leverage the available competitive advantage after careful analysis of the gaps in the way and manner other major record labels carry on their operations as well as their terms and conditions for signing an Artist. We will be more flexible in our dealings with our prospective Artist and provide them with better and more profitable terms. We will also create a vast networking means to ensure wider awareness and acceptance from fans. Lastly, we will employ aggressive marketing strategies were record retailers will be granted better discount for every CD sold as against the percentage given by other competing labels. 5.1 Marketing Strategy 7th record have recognized that sales of CD is fan (consumers) driven so we have arranged for series of tours for our prospective artist/band. This will help to create awareness for their albums. We will development our label visibility through the release of various compilation CDs on selected media houses and clubs. Once our artist/band gains spot light in the industry, the label name will be on the lips of every fan. Gradually the acceptance will shift from the artist to the umbrella (7th record) they are under. In that case 7th record will not only depend on the success of an artist/band like other labels do but on her brand name. Get artist/band prepared for live performance Arrange Tours Gain fan loyalty Release compilation CDs Ensure media and club play Launch individual signed artist/bands personal albums Coddle the CD retailers Arrange for concert fixing 5.2 Competition Strategy One of the challenges most labels face is signing too many artist/band at a time. 7th record will cut down on the number of signings that will be done at a particular period to ensure that the needed resources are available to meet requirement for quality delivery. We will also increase the signing term from 50:50 adopted by the existing labels to 30:70. We so chose to adjust the terms for signing because it will not only boost the growth pace of the financially handicap but also create an attraction to the commercially viable artist/bands. We will take responsibility of the welfare of our artist and give fair attention to every signed artist/band. Unlike some major labels, 7th studio will be free to all signed artist. It will provide flexible studio times where an artist is not compelled to hurry up production to save cost. They will instead be advised to take their time to produce songs of good commercial value. 7th record will organize talent hunt reality shows to assist financially handicap but talented locals. This will be a tool to create more awareness as a start-up business. 5.3 Sales Strategy Our sales strategy will focus on the two market segments. We keep close relationship with affiliated record retailers and provide them with more attractive discounts per CD. 7th record will introduce online CD sales as never been adopted before in the Nigeria industry. The idea will go beyond just downloading to online purchase and delivery. It has been discovered that fans tend to patronize an album more immediately after a concert performance. We will employ this strategy for CD distribution during and after any concert performance. Another channel for generating revenue will be from contract buyout. At some point there will be possibilities for some of our signed bands to receive an offer from another label for the purpose of profit making. These labels will have to pay an amount that will decide upon if such contracts will be considered. As a result all our singings will be patented to avoid breach in contract at any point in time. Our studio will be commercialized to labels or artist/band who wishes to do production work. They will buy studio sessions and pay production fees. Other services would be; Studio time Mastering and Mixing CD production (recording, labeling and max producing a CD) Other assisted services 6.0 Sales Forecast As I earlier discussed, the success of a record label greatly depend on its popularity and Fan acceptance. As a result, a graphical representation will present a clearer picture of my sales forecast. 7.0 Milestone Several procedural steps have been established to achieve all laid down plan. These steps are time framed and responsibilities have shared among the will be staffs. Milestone Start date End date budget Staff responsibility Business plan completion 12/05/10 15/06/10 $0 Manager Label licensing 18/06/10 19/06/10 $350 P.R.O Signing of artist/bands 25/06/10 Open to decision $12,000 Entire management Arrangement for Tours 15/07/10 22/07/10 $0 P.R.O Production of first compilation of CD and Networking with key players in the Media industry and record retailers 01/08/10 31/08/10 $1,250 Producer, and P.R.O Promotion and marketing of music albums 02/09/10 continuing $6,200 Marketing personnel Arrangement for Live concert performance 08/09/10 continuing $0 Entire management 8.0 Monitoring and Evaluation After the successful establishment of 7th record label, every operation will be under little or no supervision as a result of this fact, before employees are absorbed they will go through an interview where they will be asked to sign an agreement stating their employment will be held on the ground of result delivery i.e. if for any reason gap is experienced in any department drastic measures will be taken that may lead to a staff member losing the job. This is not a way of acting cruel but to enhance seriousness on the part of our employees.

A Love Story :: essays research papers

It all started when I was 16 years old. While I was playing outside on my farm in California, I met a boy. He was an average kind of boy who teased you and then you chased them and beat them up. After that first meeting in which I beat him up we kept on meeting and beating each other up at the fence. That only lasted for a little while though. We would meet at the fence all the time and we were always together. I would tell him all my secrets. He was very quiet he would just listen to what I had to say. I found him easy to talk to and I could talk to him about everything. In school we had separate friends but when we got home we would always talk about what happened in school. One day I said to him that a guy I liked hurt me and broke my heart. He just comforted me and said everything would be okay. He gave me words of encouragement and helped me get over him. I was happy and thought of him as a real friend. But I knew that there was something else about him that I liked. I thought of it that night and figured it was just a Friend kinda thing that I was feeling. All through high school and even through graduation we're always together and of course I thought of it as being friends. But I knew deep inside that I really felt differently. On graduation night even though we had different dates to the prom I wanted to be with him. That night after everybody went home I went to his house and wanted to tell him that I wanted to see him. Well, that night was my big chance and all I did was just sit there with him watching the stars and talking about what I was going to do and what he was going to do. I looked into his eyes and listened to him talk about what his dream was. How he wanted to get married and settle down. He said how he wanted to be rich and successful. All I could do was to tell him my dream and cuddle next to him. I went home hurting because I didn't tell him how I was feeling. I wanted to tell him so bad that I loved him but I was too scared and frighte! ned.

Comparing Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer, The Story of the Salem Witch T

Comparing "Salem Possessed" by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, "The Story of the Salem Witch Trials" by Bryan Le Beau, and "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman" by Carol Karlsen The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 spread just about as fast as the Black Plague. This epidemic caused chaos among neighbors in a community. The chronology of events describes an awful time for colonists from June 10th to September 22nd of that year. The books "Salem Possessed" by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, "The Story of the Salem Witch Trials" by Bryan Le Beau, and "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman" by Carol Karlsen all describe these events and provide varying explanations for the epidemic that plagued Salem Village. This review will look at the facts that surrounded the trials and then using those facts will look at the cause stated in each book for the hysteria to compare and contrast with one another. The trials themselves began following an instance involving Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam, 3 young girls in the village. (Dufour, 248) The girls were caught performing fortune-telling rituals in the woods outside the village. The claimed at the time that they were trying to find information on the type of man that would be most suitable for them to marry. Soon after this event the girls began to experience hysterical type fits. These fits prompted Reverend Samuel Parris, the father of Betty Parris, to call on authorities to find an explanation for the fits. The explanation they found was very simple: witchcraft. As the months went on more girls began to experience the same sort of events. It was only after intense questioning that the girls revealed the names of those afflicting them: Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good... ... arguments and sufficient evidence to back it up. The remaining problem lies in the fact that there are no survivors to tell the accurate and unbiased story, if such a story exists. In 1692 Salem Village got its "15 minutes of fame" and proved to people the extents humans will go to for the sake of conflict and religion. It should teach a lesson every human being needs to learn, the smallest incident can lead to hysteria of epidemic proportions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974. Dufour, Ronald P. Colonial America. Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing Company, 1994. Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial America. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 1987. Le Beau, Bryan F. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.

The Yalta Conference :: essays research papers

The Yalta Conference was one of the most important events in history, let alone, this century. It took place from February 4 to February 11, 1945, at Yalta, Crimea, a port/resort. The three main individuals at this meeting were Churchill of Great Britain, Roosevelt of the United States and Stalin of the U.S.S.R, known back then, and now known as Russia. This meeting was to discuss the post war effects. The publics opinion of this was of a great Anglo-American- Soviet friendship. The agreement that as achieved at the conference was that a Coalition government would be set up in Poland. This guaranteed free election in Poland. It also gave eastern Poland to the Soviet Union and in return, Poland would receive land from Germany. Germany on the other hand was divided into four zones which were Great Britain, United States, France, and the Soviet Union. Germany had to pay all reparations of the war but not to the extent of World War I. One other major decision made in the conference was the creation of the United Nations. This was a new world organization which worked for world peace as did the League of Nations. Along with the Soviet Union, Byelorussia and the Ukraine were admitted into the United Nations. Since Russia had influence on there voting, the United States was given 3 votes to be equal with the Soviet Union. After the conference, American public opinion was very high and all of the Allied nations responded favorably. There were also secret agreements that were made but kept secret until the end of the war. It was said that the Soviet Union were to enter the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe. This was necessary in order for The Soviet Union to regroup because of the heavy causalities in Europe. The Soviet Union had a great advantage in the secret agreement. It received much land and did not have to do much in the end for it because of the use of the atomic bomb which ended the war much earlier then expected and the Soviet Union did not even have to fight Japan. In the classroom simulation of the Yalta Conference, the same results were not reached. The Soviet Union was not able to get most of its demands because in the classroom, most of the student looked at communism was not looked at very favorably.

Economic Development and Environmental Protection

This paper argues on both theoretical and empirical grounds that, beyond a certain point, there is an unavoidable conflictbetween economic development (generally taken to mean ‘materialeconomic growth') and environmental protection. Think for a moment of natural forests, grasslands, marine estuaries, salt marshes, and coral reefs; and of arable soils, aquifers, mineraldeposits, petroleum, and coal. These are all forms of ‘natural capital' that represent highly-ordered self-producing ecosystemsor rich accumulations of energy/matter with high use potential (low entropy). Now contemplate despoiled landscapes, eroding farmlands, depleted fisheries, anthropogenic greenhouse gases,acid rain, poisonous mine tailings and toxic synthetic compounds. These all represent disordered systems or degraded forms of energy and matter with little use potential (high entropy). The main thing connecting these two states is human economic activity. Ecological economics interprets the environment-economyrelationship in terms of the second law of thermodynamics. The second law sees economic activity as a dissipative process. Fromthis perspective, the production of economic goods andservices invariably requires the consumption of available energy and matter. To grow and develop, the economynecessarily ‘feeds' on sources of high-quality energy/matter first produced by nature. This tends to disorder and homogenizethe ecosphere, The ascendance of humankind has consistently been accompanied by an accelerating rate of ecological degradation, particularly biodiversity loss, the simplificationof natural systems and pollution. In short, contemporary political rhetoric to the contrary, the prevailing growth-oriented global development paradigm is fundamentally incompatible with long-term ecological and social sustainability. Unsustainability is not a technical nor economic problem as usually conceived, but rather a state of systemic incompatibilitybetween a economy that is a fully-contained, growing, dependent sub-system of a non-growing ecosphere. Potential solutions fly inthe face of contemporary development trends and cultural values Ecological disturbance and nature tourism. THE purpose of this article is to consider the role of disturbance as a crucial ecological consideration in landuse planning for nature tourism. Incorporation of ecological insights into the environmental-planning process offers hope for rational and sustainable development. Nature tourism has been proposed in recent years as a solution to the dilemma that developing countries face in conserving their biological heritage and concurrently improving the economies of local human settlements. In Mexico, nature tourism has become a favored mechanism for development, especially on the Yucatan peninsula. Recognizing the immense value of its coastal natural communities, Mexico has recently established several large biosphere reserves to preserve natural resources and to accommodate and support human settlements. The experience of sprawling, high-impact Cancun, with more than one million visitors annually, has encouraged the government to reassess its development goals. One example of Mexican openness to sustainable conservation-development projects is the innovative, cooperative effort of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras to establish Ruta Maya, a low-impact design to promote tourism based on natural and archaeological treasures (Garrett 1989). In the Yucatan, two long, relatively pristine barrier peninsulas, Rio Lagartos and Celestun, are being identified as opportune sites for nature tourism. Both have high conservation value and were designated special biosphere reserves by the government in 1979 because of their floral and faunal diversity. Both have small human settlements based on fishing and salt extraction. The protection concept known as the Mexican modality, in which local villages can coexist with both conservation and tourism, is an ambitious development plan. Through trial and error, it is becoming clear that development must be guided by ecological understanding if degradation of natural systems is to be avoided. Sites worth visiting are often those that cannot endure heavy human use, and if irreversible environmental degradation results from nature tourism, both conservation of biological diversity and sustainable tourism will fail. Although political and economic considerations usually far overshadow ecological concerns, conservation of natural resources will not succeed if ecological insights are ignored in planning for nature tourism. To retain the integrity of ecosystems, ecologists must convey the most useful information about the dynamic physical and biological contexts of natural communities, including information about the effects of human change on natural disturbance regimes. Important shifts in ecological theory in the past several decades could change perspectives on planning decisions. Fundamental models of community organization throughout the history of ecological thought were rooted in the idea of equilibrium, and most principles applied to managing natural areas have been based on the notion of stability. Many recent empirical studies offer evidence that the natural world is not static, that natural disturbances are common to many environments, and that most landscapes are not in equilibrium, at least for the short term. Planners and developers of tourist facilities, along coastlines, for example, have mistakenly assumed that the physical context for hotels and roads was a stable place. RECENT ECOLOGICAL THOUGHT From its beginnings, ecology has been the study of nature as a stable, orderly system. Natural communities that were undisturbed by people were generally thought of as pristine and immutable, composed of interdependent and harmoniously arranged species assemblages (Botkin 1990). This idea was based on a long tradition in Western culture that envisioned nature as orderly and was embodied in the phrase â€Å"balance of nature† (Glacken 1967). Largely through the writings of Frederick E. Clements (1916) early in the twentieth century, the notion of natural communities as naturally occurring assemblages of species in harmony with local climatic regimes became ecological dogma. If a community was disturbed, damage would be repaired along a predictable continuum toward the climax community. Later, equilibrium became an explicit assumption for most ecosystems, a steady state to which a system returned if a disturbance altered its balance (Connell 1978). Dissenting voices proposed that species act independently of one another and that perturbation is a common event in many natural communities (Gleason 1917; Watt 1947). Strong evidence for the commonness of disorder in nature has come from a large body of literature documenting the profound and pervasive effects of a multitude of disturbances–fires, floods, windstorms, alluvial erosion, landslides, grazing, insects, and invasion of exotics (Veblen and Ashton 1978; Bormann and Likens 1979; Sprugel and Bormann 1981). It is now believed that all ecosystems are somewhat dynamic and that, in some, severe or even catastrophic disturbance is a regular occurrence. Natural disturbances were once assumed to retard the orderly progression of species replacement †¦ THE PROBLEM: Sulfur dioxide is a major source of air pollution world wide, and a major contributor to the problem of acid rain. SOME SOLUTIONS: 1) The technology exists to produce cleaner burning coal, but this process is very expensive. ) Inorganic sulfur can be removed from coal by washing it, but this will not remove organic sulfur, and the process is also very expensive. 3) Coal gasification converts goal to a gas in order to remove the sulfur. The gas produced from the sulfur can then be used to augment supplies of natural gas. This process is not yet competitive enough. 4) Scrubbing removed the oxides from the gases in the smoke stakes, but is also an expensive producer. Looking at these solutions, it would be easy to conclude that th ere is no win win solution when it comes to sulfur emissions from coal. However, in Germany they did find a solution that is win-win. AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION: â€Å"A German company in 1980 purchased coal-scrubbing technology and improved on it†¦ rather than disposing of the calcium sulfite rich sludge the company further processes it to produce building materials such as sheet rock or wallboard, which are sold worldwide. Another innovative approach to removing sulfur has been taken at a large coal burning plant near Mannheim, Germany. The smoke from combustion is cooled, then treated with liquid ammonia.. he sulfur-contaminated smoke is cooled in a heat exchange process that allows the chemical reaction between the sulfur rich smoke and ammonia to take place†¦ waste heat from the cooling towers is used to heat nearby buildings, and the plant sells the ammonium sulfate in a solid granular form to farmers to use as fertilizer. Thus, Germany, in response to tough pollution control regulations, has substantially reduced its sulfur dioxide emission s, and in the process it has boosted its economy. â€Å". Increasing recognition that the overall goals of environmental conservation and economic development are not conflicting but can be mutually reinforcing, has prompted calls for ‘environmentally sustainable’ economic development. Although there are difficulties in defining sustainable development in an analytically rigorous way, there is still a need to evolve a concept of sustainability that both distinguishes it from other post-war meanings of development and is useful for practical analysis and policymaking.

Comparison of Wuthering Heights & Madame Bovary on the Conventions of Popular Romantic Fiction.

The novels, Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary both vary on the conventions of popular romantic fiction. Wuthering Heights does this in several ways. For example, in the ever standing issue of social standing in novels of Bronte's era. Catherine is of a much higher social standing than Heathcliff, whose social standing was first elevated by his adoption by Catherine father, Mr Earnshaw, and then degraded after the death of Mr Earnshaw by Hindley. This aspect of the novel is relatively conventional.Social standing has always been a big issue for the couples of the fiction of that era. What made the situation between Catherine and Heathcliff different, however, is that they didn't triumph over it as is the convention of other romantic novels, like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Instead, Catherine married the man who was of better social standing, and who would elevate hers as well, Edgar Linton, instead of Heathcliff, whom she is quoted to say ing that it would â€Å"degrade [her] to marry Heathcliff now. â€Å"Another way, a more significant way, that Wuthering Heights varies on convention is the characters. The characters of Wuthering Heights are far from the conventional characters in romantic fiction. Catherine, as the novel's lead female character, is conventionally beautiful and strong willed, is also conflicted, violent and temperamental, much unlike the conventional heroine, who is usually more moral. Edgar, who is the ‘rival' of the story, is a far cry from the conventional rival, who is usually so obviously wrong for the heroine.Edgar Linton, instead, is a well-mannered and virtuous gentleman, who truly loves and cares about Catherine. After her death, he buries her in a spot overlooking the moors, a place he knew Catherine loved, and was even buried beside her after his death. Heathcliff is probably the best example of this point. He is possibly the most unconventional male lead in fiction history. The conventional character being a man of virtue and grace, a person more like Edgar Linton. Heathcliff, on the other hand is a hard man, cruel and vengeful. He vows and exacts revenge on many occasions in the novel.He punishes Hindley for his own cruelty towards him over the years when he returns successful and wealthy. He punishes innocent Isabella, in place of Edgar, who he blames for Catherine's illness. He even punishes Catherine by eloping with Isabella, for her betraying him by marrying Edgar. He holds on to his hatred, and his plan for revenge extended to next generation. He is cruel and threatening, even threatening to hold Nelly prisoner when she stopped him from seeing Catherine, scaring her into agreeing to bring her a letter from him.Of course, the most significant way that this novel varies on convention is the extent of Catherine and Heathcliff's love for each other. It is, after all, their love that has made Wuthering Heights one of the greatest love stories in history. They loved each other their entire lives, loved to a point where they felt like they were the same person. A feeling Catherine expressed more than once in the novels, â€Å"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am.Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. † when speaking about her decision to marry Edgar Linton instead of Heathcliff, and again, â€Å"My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being† when speaking to Nelly about being separated from Heathcliff.Their love for each other that went to such an extent is unconventional by all means. Heathc liff on the other hand, showed the extent of his love for Catherine numerous times in the novel, for example, when she lay sick before him, and he told her that while he could forgive her for causing him pain, he could never forgive her for the pain she had caused herself. Even in this way, their love is shown to be unconventional from the love between other couples in popular fiction. Heathcliff's love for her is not the conventional fluff, and instead is something that ran much deeper.He could forgive her for the years of torment he had endured, but could not come to forgive her for being the cause of her own pain. This brings us to the second novel at hand, Flaubert's Madame Bovary. In contrast to Heathcliff and Catherine's deep love for each other, the situation in Madame Bovary is quite different. Emma's feelings for Charles Bovary is hardly passionate, first based on her own fantasies about marriage and then practically non-existent. Instead, she is disgusted by him, seeing hi m as inferior, unattractive and less than she deserves.A feeling made clear by Flaubert's description of a mealtime in the Bovary household from Emma's point of view early in the story, â€Å"But it was above all at mealtimes that she could bear it no longer, in that little room on the ground floor, with the smoking stove, the creaking door, the oozing walls, the damp floor-tiles; all the bitterness of life seemed to be served to her on her plate, and, with the steam from the boiled beef, there rose from the depths of her soul other exhalations as it were of disgust.Charles was a slow eater; she would nibble a few hazel-nuts, or else, leaning on her elbow, would amuse herself making marks on the oilcloth with the point of her table-knife. † Charles' adoration of her, on the other hand, is overwhelming and blind. He adores her to a point where he doesn't see the obvious signs of her infidelity. The man Emma really adored, Rodolphe, is enraptured only by her beauty, and he grew tired of her.A polar opposite to Heathcliff and Catherine's love, the relationships between Emma and her lovers are lustful, selfish, and lacks any regard for the other person. This lack of real love or passion, and Emma's infidelity is what makes Madame Bovary a unique read in terms of romantic fiction. Romantic fiction is conventionally a love story between two people. Madame Bovary, instead, in the story of a young woman who is desperate to fulfil her impossible fantasy of love, and the men who becomes involved in her search in making that fantasy real.Flaubert explains her misconception of love and expectation with â€Å"Love, [Emma] felt, ought to come at once, with great thunderclaps and flashes of lightning; it was like a storm bursting upon life from the sky, uprooting it, overwhelming the will and sweeping the heart into the abyss. It did not occur to her that the rain forms puddles on a flat roof when drainpipes are clogged, and she would have continued to feel secure if she had not suddenly discovered a crack in the wall. The presence of Heathcliff and Catherine's unending and unconditional love for each other, or Emma's utter lack of real love in her relationship with her husband, or Rodolphe's towards her, makes Wuthering Heights a more conventional love story in comparison. Madame Bovary sets itself apart even more with the constant presence of Emma's infidelity and the lust that surrounds her. Similarly to Wuthering Heights, the characters of Madame Bovary are also very unconventional compared to the characters of popular romantic fiction.Emma, the story's heroine, much like Catherine, made the choices in her life that would be the cause of her own pain. Emma, although like Catherine, is beautiful as is the convention, unlike the conventional image of a female lead in a romantic fiction novel, is instead, selfish, morally corrupt and unappreciative of her life's blessings. Charles is also a character that is very unconventional.He is portrayed to be a weak and pathetic man, madly in lot with a woman who is disgusted by him, and yet so blinding is his adoration of her that he cannot see it. He is incompetent, stupid and unimaginative. The first time he says something meaningful in the novel, is toward the end, when he is speaking to Rodolphe, he blames fate for the sad life he has, earning him only Rodolphe's disdain, certainly a far cry from the conventional male lead, masculine, strong and charming.A far cry also from the Heathcliff's character, who although was cruel, was also intelligent, competent and strong willed. Rodolphe, himself, is world's away from the rival of Wuthering Heights, Edgar Linton. Rodolphe is shrewd and manipulative, seducing Emma with an almost strategic precision, only to abandon her when she falls into debt. These two books are obviously, far from the conventional love story, and it is the fact that they are so far from conventional that makes them the classics they are today.

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Vera Bitsch Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University, 306 Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824 Tel: +517-353-9192, Fax: +517-432-1800, [email  protected] edu Paper presented at the 19th Annual World Forum and Symposium of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Budapest, Hungary, June 20-23, 2009 Acknowledgements This study was supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Hatch project #0191628. The author would also like to thank the Elton R.Smith Chair in Food & Agricultural Policy at Michigan State University for supporting the participation at the IFAMA World Forum and Symposium. Copyright 2009 by Vera Bitsch. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. Personnel Management Research in Agr ibusiness (Executive Summary) One of the challenges faced by agribusinesses in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor.However, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries. Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations do not always scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agribusiness environment. This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries.The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management publications, largely excluding labor market, immigration, and similar analyses. The unit of analysis is the business, not the mark et, society, or other institution. The review covers agribusiness and agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. Research reports and conference papers are included when accessible. With few exceptions, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and agricultural economics research before 1990.Since then research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys. Several broadly based results are emerging. First, many agribusiness managers perceive their personnel management competencies as a weakness, in particular during periods of organizational growth. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, but with respect to the details gaps and misconceptions persist.Third, the peculiar circumstances of agribusiness and farm work r equire specific skill sets and beginning managers could benefit from targeted training. Fourth, although compensation is important, employees’ job satisfaction and retention can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as feedback and appreciation. Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial success measures is complicated and difficult to assess. Few personnel management studies have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Problem Statement One of the challenges faced by many agribusinesses and farms in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor. Although this problem is more pronounced in industrialized and developed economies, growing and transitional economies, including China, also face a lack of interest in agricultural work. In ad dition, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries, neglecting agribusiness.Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures for a growing business. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations often times do not scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agricultural or agribusiness environment. Farm Labor in the U. S. In 2007, U. S. hired farm labor comprised $21. 9 billion or 9. 1% of total production expenses. That was an increase in monetary expenses of $3. billion, compared to $18. 6 billion in 2002, but a decrease in percentage of expenses. In addition, contract labor amounted to $4. 5 billion in expenses or 1. 9% of total production expenses, up $1. 1 billion from 2002. Custom work and custom hauling, which includes machinery costs was up by $0. 8 billion at $4. 1 billion; 1. 7% of total production expenses (2007 Census of Agriculture). Hired labor was the third largest expense group behind purchased feed and purchased livestock and poultry. But farm labor expenses are not equally distributed regionally.According to Kandel, total farm labor expenses amounted to 22. 3% of the cash receipts in California, but only to 2. 5% in Iowa in 2006. The top five states in terms of payroll expenses were California, Florida, Texas, Washington, and Oregon. They account for 42. 8% of the expenditure on hired labor in the U. S. Runyan reported that 1910-19 the share of family labor of total farm employment was 75%; 1990-99 this share had declined to 64%. While total farm employment is declining, the role of hired workers is increasing with increasing farm sizes.However, farm wages rank near the bottom of all occupational groups, second only to private household work (Runyan). This fact may be ameliorated, at least in part, by lower cost of living expenses in rural communities (Gisser and Davila). By agricultural specialization, hired labor is most important for horticultural 3 operations (tree nurseries, ornamentals, fruit, and vegetables) and in dairy farming, followed by livestock and poultry farming; hired labor is least important in field crops.Objectives This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in agriculture and agribusiness in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries. The goal of the review is to extract the lessons learned and derive guidance for both agribusiness management practice and future research. The specific objectives are to (1) analyze the state of the art of personnel management research in agribusiness, in particular agricultural production, including an analysis of research methods; (2) determine the ain themes with respect to (a) research questions and (b) empirical fields; and (3) summarize empirical results to (a) provide a f oundation for manager training and decision support and (b) serve as a roadmap to future research projects. Procedures Geographically, this paper focuses on the United States and Canada and the review is limited to publications in English. The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management questions, largely excluding labor market, migration, immigration, and similar analyses.Labor market, migration, and immigration studies are important to understanding the agricultural labor problem and a considerable amount of work has been done on these questions (see, e. g. , Devadoss and Luckstead; Ise and Perloff; Martin and Taylor; Taylor; Tran and Perloff; Walters, Emerson, and Iwai). Less work has been published on personnel management functions and the use of different management practices in agribusiness. Personnel management functions include practices to recruit, train, manage, organize, evaluate, compensate, discipline, and terminate employees, as well as, questi ons of job satisfaction, motivation, and retention.Therefore, the unit of analysis is the agribusiness or farm, not the market, society, or other macro institution. The review covers agribusiness and management journals, agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. In addition, research reports and conference papers (gray publications) are included when accessible and relevant. 4 Articles reporting on empirical research, as well as, review articles were content analyzed with respect to the objectives outlined above.A qualitative analysis method was used to determine the personnel management questions addressed, the research methods, the empirical field, the specific results with respect to the questions addressed, and the broader implications of each article. Only articles meeting the criteria summarized above are included in the discussion of the main themes and in the summary tables. Furthermore, although this paper is based on a com prehensive review, it cannot claim to include every study in this field. State of the Art Before 1990, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and gricultural economics research (Howard and McEwan; Rosenberg and Cowen), with very few exceptions (e. g. , Adams, How, and Larson). For the agricultural field, personnel management research basically began in the early 1990ies, but many of these studies are difficult to access, because they have been published as conference or working papers, or in trade magazines, not in peer reviewed journals. Until the end of the 1990ies, studies remain few and common themes are yet to develop, with the possible exception of job attitudes, which appear as an early focus (e. . , Adams, How, and Larson). Additional themes emerging later include managers’ conceptualization of the personnel management functions, managers’ personnel management competencies and practices, and the relationship between personnel management pra ctices and organizational outcomes. Few studies focus on one particular personnel management function; more studies encompass a broad array of functions and the related management practices. Exceptions are studies of the management and preferences of migrant workers and of compensation (table 1).Compensation studies in agribusiness frequently are limited to a description of actual wages and their distribution, sometimes not including benefits, and not relating compensation to organizational outcome variables (see, e. g. , studies cited in Maloney and Milligan). Examples of compensation studies, which transcend this limitation, are a pay method and performance study (Billikopf and Norton), a study of the effect of compensation and working conditions on retention (Gabbard and Perloff), and studies of the relationship between wage, production technologies, and farm size (Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. . Gabbard and Perloff found that for the same monetary investment employ ee benefits increase the probability of retaining good workers more 5 than higher wages. Strochlic et al. also found benefits to increase retention. No relationship between wages and retention rates was found by Miklavcic, as well as Strochlic et al. Considering that, regardless of the personnel management model used (see Delery and Doty for the universalistic, contingency, and configuration models), specific management practices cannot e considered to function in isolation and independent of other practices. Conclusions based on such studies of singular practices would be limited. Therefore, even researchers interested in a particular personnel management function and in comparing relevant practices for this function, would have to take a more integrative approach and describe other practices to provide context. Empirical evidence for the relevance of the integrative approach in agriculture and agribusiness was provided in Adams, How, and Larson; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; and Muger a and Bitsch.Despite many commonalities between different branches of agricultural production, the type and conditions of work vary, as does the dependency on weather and growth cycles, e. g. , comparing vegetable production to swine production. Both researchers and practitioners therefore will primarily look at the research matching their current undertaking most closely. Studies vary in their empirical coverage, with respect to the scope of farming specializations included, from studies focused on a single specialization (e. g. , floriculture) to studies including multiple specializations (e. . , horticulture, including floriculture, fruit and vegetable production), and the scope of personnel management functions analyzed, from single function studies (e. g. , compensation; see above) to studies including selected or multiple functions (table 1). Dairy farming stands out as the specialization most likely to be researched. Given that hired labor plays an even larger role in horticu ltural production than in dairy farming, the reasons for the higher interest in personnel management in dairy research are not obvious.The Journal of Dairy Science published papers of a Symposium: Dairy Personnel Management as early as 1993. In addition to the dairy studies reported in table 1 that address personnel management specifically other studies of dairy farming included personnel management questions in broader studies of farm expansion (Bewley, Palmer, and Jackson-Smith; Hadley, Harsh, and Wolf; Stahl et al. ). These studies found that personnel management competencies are most important for the success of farm expansion, but these competencies are also most challenging for farm managers.After an expansion, managers are more likely to use formal practices with respect to all major personnel management functions (Stahl et al. ), but some 6 problems, such as communication, persist (Hadley et al. ), although managers spend more time on personnel management. Also, personnel ma nagement education for large dairy farms has been emphasized as an opportunity for extension programming (Brasier et al. ).A relatively new arena of research, which cuts across different agricultural specializations, is the interface of personal management and sustainable or organic production. The questions being asked include whether sustainable and organic agriculture are inherently beneficial to employees, whether the commitment to sustainability does or should include a social component, and whether a fair labor certification approach would be beneficial to producers (e. g. Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra; Strochlic and Hamerschlag; Strochlic et al. ). Although a majority of certified organic farmers in California believe that organic agriculture is more socially sustainable than conventional agriculture, there is little support to include criteria on working conditions in the organic certification (Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra). On the other hand, Strochlic et al. found considerable interest in a fair labor certification (59% of respondents).Research Methods of Empirical Studies Considering the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, research methods were expected to be mostly exploratory and qualitative (Bitsch 2000 and 2005). However, research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys administered at the business site or off-site one-on-one or in a group setting, over the phone, or mailed questionnaires (table 2).Fornaciari and Dean found a similar phenomenon in the study of religion, spirituality, and management, where research methods also include many quantitative approaches, despite the early stage of the research field. Reasons for the seemingly early venture into highly structured and quantitative research approaches are more likely to be caused by expectations set up in the qualification process of researchers, professional pressures regarding publication outlets, and differing prestige of certain research approaches in researchers’ professional fields than by research considerations.Although, this review of studies of personnel management in production agriculture and agribusiness cannot claim completeness, the number of studies employing unstructured or moderately structured methods (first two columns in table 2) appears lower than the number of studies employing highly or very highly structured methods (last two columns in table 2). 7However, even many of the quantitative, highly structured studies did not attempt (or accomplish) representative sampling and, therefore, their generalizability can only be judged based on their descriptions of the research approaches and the methods used, and the comparison of results across studies. As a result, researchers and practitioners planning to use studies of either research approach may need to analyze the original sources a nd pay close attention to details, before evaluating the applicability of their results to a different context.Most studies rely on a single method for data collection and multi-method studies are rare. An exception is the case study approach of best management practices by Strochlic and Hamerschlag that employed a variety of methods including semi-structured interviews with farm managers, focus groups with employees, and informal interviews with key informants. Multimethod approaches are likely to yield more valid results, due to the method triangulation involved.The method used most often by personnel management researchers in production agriculture and agribusiness is a survey questionnaire (table 2). Questionnaires are administered in a variety of ways, most frequently in person, which is more likely to garner to reliable results than mailed questionnaires, given the sensitivity of many personnel management questions, but also requires more resources. The number of studies using a mailed questionnaire is surprisingly high, considering the difficulty of developing a questionnaire that is fully understood by potential research participants.Other methods used frequently are moderately structured interviews either in an individual setting or set up as group discussions. Although resource intensive, these latter approaches are more likely to gather reliable data and allow for in-depth study of research questions than the more highly structured approaches, given the early stage of the field, the lack of common understanding of personnel management terms of potential research participants and researchers, and the multitude of interactions etween personnel management practices. Managers’ Conceptualization of Personnel Management Functions As early as 1967, Adams, How, and Larson observed that some farmers seem to have much fewer difficulties in finding and keeping the workforce they needed than other farmers in a comparable situation. Their research showed that this difference was not a chance occurrence, but that these farmers had invested considerably in the relationships with their workforce and carefully developed their personnel management practices.Similarly, Rosenberg and Cowen 8 found dairy managers’ assumptions about their workforce to correlate with their milk output, and suggest that those assumptions guide the choice of organizational structure and the management practices. Hence, it may be concluded that managers’ perception of which personnel management functions need to be given attention and which practices are available to them, will be the determinants of their management choices.After 2000, a renewed effort to delineate the field of agricultural personnel management resulted in three studies using focus group discussions to identify management practices in different areas of agricultural production and services, to describe their advantages and drawbacks from managers’ perspective and to critica lly review these practices. As a research method, focus group discussions are useful to integrate research and extension goals.The interaction between research participants and between research participants and the researchers triggers learning processes. In addition, relationships are developed and reinforced, which not only increase openness during the research process, but encourage participation in educational programs. During the research process, knowledge deficits can be diagnosed (Bitsch 2004). Bitsch und Harsh convened five focus groups with managers and owners of greenhouses, tree nursery operations, and landscape operations in Michigan.The study showed that horticultural managers conceptualize personnel management and its challenges and opportunities along the management process: recruiting and selection, training and development, performance appraisal and discipline, careers and relationships, and compensation. For the research participants, hiring immigrants and labor l egislation were also important HRM topics. In addition, Bitsch et al. convened four focus groups with dairy farmers and managers.Their perceptions of personnel management functions were similar to the horticultural study, and differences were mostly due to the more seasonal character of labor needs in the earlier study. Discipline was more important in dairy farming, because the continuous availability of work creates the need for terminating and replacing some employees who do not perform at the expected level. Seasonal operations often deal with these employees by providing less work to them, laying them off before the end of the season, and not recalling them for the following season.While horticultural managers considered working conditions mostly as an image problem in recruiting, to dairy managers working conditions were a permanent stress on employees. 9 Labor laws and regulations were less important in dairy farming, because few operations had their practices audited by gove rnment agencies at the time of the study. Finally, Bitsch and Olynk (2008) convened six focus groups with owners and managers of pork farms in Kansas and Michigan and reanalyzed the transcripts of the second study.Results of this study served to refine the framework of agricultural personnel management developed based on the first two studies. The most significant extension is an additional set of personnel management practices regarding the performance management function. Performance management describes the daily, informal interaction between managers and employees, including informal feedback, task-related communication, setting priorities, and dealing with problems. Although these practices are important in the day-to-day management processes, there has been little discussion about them in the literature.Also, working conditions were extended to include the organizational structure, and the social environment at work was established as another arena to be monitored and consciou sly managed. The resulting framework of agricultural personnel management includes eleven management functions: recruiting, selection, hiring immigrant employees, training, working conditions and organizational structure, social environment, performance management, discipline, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor law and regulation.Managers’ Personnel Management Competencies and Practices In a recent study, Stup, Holden, and Hyde identified competencies in different management areas on the senior and the middle management level of dairy farms through group discussions and then surveyed different managers about their comfort level with respect to these competencies. While managers were generally confident about their competencies, senior managers were least confident about their personnel management competencies (4. 95 on a 7-point Likert scale, 1=very low, 7=very high, n=41). Middle mangers ranked themselves second lowest in personnel management competencies (4. 1, n=22) and lowest in community service and public relations (4. 05, n=20). Bitsch and Olynk (2007) developed a typology of required personnel management skills for successful management in animal agriculture based on ten focus groups with dairy and pork farmers and managers. The typology consists of five skill sets: motivator, housekeeper, model employee, counselor, and change agent. This typology shows a number of commonalities with 10 the Competing Values Framework, used in general management education (Faerman, Quinn, and Thompson), but also industry specific differences.The motivator with the ability to train and motivate others, and to provide constructive feedback and the housekeeper with the ability to control, to lead, and to discipline others build the core of agricultural personnel management skills and also likely other production enterprises. In addition, the ability and willingness to be a model employee plays a surprisingly large role in agriculture. The function of the counselor, to support employees with their personal problems at work and beyond, was discussed less frequently by the research participants, but is necessary to prevent problems and to sustain employee productivity.The change agent initiates or implements innovations in the production process and was mentioned mostly by managers of larger farms. The authors point out that to be successful managers need to command a complete repertoire of skills including skills from each of the five types and not limit themselves to skills from only one type, for example, out of familiarity with certain behaviors (Hutt and Hutt). The role and the functions of middle management are a field of agricultural personnel management with few studies, but increasing importance.Not only did the share and impact of hired labor increase with increasing farm sizes, and personnel management became more important, but supervisors and middle managers are also playing a larger role. Billikopf (2001) interviewed far m supervisors in California and found them to struggle with personnel management tasks. Bitsch and Yakura employed a case study approach to develop a grounded theory of agricultural middle management (see Bitsch 2005, on grounded theory applications in agribusiness; see Glaser and Strauss on the foundations of grounded theory).The participating middle managers described an unexpectedly large number of different personnel management practices. Bitsch and Yakura suggested that these practices can be clustered into two basic types: traditional practices and participative practices. Traditional practices include reprimanding employees, orienting and training employees, monitoring and controlling employees, and dealing with conflict. Participative practices include accommodating employees (e. g. flexibility in schedules, task and team assignments), managing relationships with employees, providing information and goal setting, listening to employees, providing appreciation and feedback, r ewarding employees (non monetary), modeling work behavior, peer control, manager-induced team building, and training by coworkers. 11 Although this typology shows similarities with McGregor’s Theory X and Y, Bitsch and Yakura underline a significant difference. For the participating middle managers, using traditional or participative practices was not correlated with individuals.Each manager used both traditional, as well as, participative practices. The authors suggest that management success corresponds rather with the number of practices individual managers command than with the type of practices they use more frequently. McGregor had assumed that participative managers would be more successful. Bitsch and Yakura pointed out that some managers did use few practices, whereas others were using the full breadth of the described practices. Given that day-to-day management consists of many different management situations, anagers with a more complete repertoire are more likely to choose suitable practices. Employees’ Job Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is considered both a goal in itself, as well as, a means to reduce turnover and increase motivation and performance. Although meta-studies found a smaller relationship between job satisfaction and these correlates than expected, several studies of job satisfaction in agriculture have been conducted during the past 50 years (see Bitsch and Hogberg). One of the more frequently applied models is the empirically grounded two-factor model by Herzberg et al.This model is particularly suited to structure the analysis of job attitudes and their context. Empirical evidence that indeed job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are caused differently as predicted by the Herzberg et al. model is scant (Bitsch 2007). Independent of the theoretical models and the research methods several common results emerge from studies of job attitudes in agriculture. Porter pointed out that half of the dairy far m employees surveyed in New Hampshire saw appreciation of their work as the most important factor for their performance.In addition, they mentioned open communication with their supervisor, good records, and control of the work situation; Porter concluded that financial incentives are less important. Adams, How, and Larson found financial incentives to be important for a satisfactory employer-employee relationships, but stressed the importance of consideration for workers as human beings, taking into account personal problems of workers and helping to find solutions, and getting the right fit of worker and job (see previous section for middle managers’ practices for a similar finding).Bitsch (1996) in a study of tree nursery apprentices in Germany found that a large majority did desire higher wages, but almost half also 12 desired increased appreciation, more training, and more responsibility for their tasks. More training was also requested by Spanish speaking dairy farm emp loyees surveyed by Maloney and Grusenmeyer in New York. Surveying New York dairy farms, Fogleman et al. found that employees were least satisfied with the factor managers had most control over, that is performance feedback.Billikopf (2001) had found supervisors in all branches of agriculture to be mostly satisfied with their jobs. More detailed case studies with horticultural operations found for employees without supervisory responsibilities (Bitsch and Hogberg) and also for supervisors (Bitsch 2007) that the same factors seem to contribute to job satisfaction, as well as, to dissatisfaction, depending on their availability and characteristics.For both groups of employees, job security, achievement, technical competency of the superior, and personal relationships at the workplace were more likely to be perceived as positive. The work itself and organizational procedures and policies were perceived as ambiguous, contributing to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Compensation was perceived rather negative, more negative by employees without supervisory responsibilities than by supervisors; the latter are likely to be higher paid and more likely to receive benefits.Employees without supervisory responsibility perceived their work/life balance more positive than supervisors; the latter are also less satisfied with their working conditions. Mainly, this was due to the fact that employees with supervisory responsibilities were expected to be available for work whenever required, whereas employees without supervisory responsibilities were given more flexibility. An earlier study in Germany, also had found that horticultural employees value flexible scheduling and benefit arrangements (Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich).Relationships between Personnel Management Practices and Organizational Outcomes Relationships between personnel management practices and various organizational outcomes, such as productivity (Rosenberg and Cowen), profit (Adams, How, and Larson), or co mpetitiveness (Chacko, Walker, and Asar; Mugera and Bitsch) have often been assumed, but infrequently been empirically researched. Owners and managers of agricultural operations also testify to a relationship between personnel management practices and farm level outcomes (Bitsch et al. Strochlic and Hamerschlag). The few studies attempting the empirical description and measurement of these relationships in production agriculture and agribusiness have found limited evidence. 13 Rosenberg and Cowen tested several personnel management practices’ and management assumptions’ impact on dairy farm productivity, including prevalence of Theory Y assumptions (McGregor), upward and downward responsibility diffusion, employee selection procedure, employee assessment criteria, and employee performance feedback, along with record use and herd size.In addition to record use, the authors found that Theory Y assumptions and the amount of feedback provided to employees impacted producti vity. Feedback has also been found to be important in employees’ job satisfaction (Bitsch 1996; Fogleman et al. ). Although management assumptions are likely to guide organizational structure, personnel management practice choice, and managers’ communication and interaction with employees, the study did not provide evidence of the relationship between assumptions and particular practices.Stup, Hyde, and Holden analyzed several personnel management practices of successful dairy farms in Pennsylvania, including milk quality incentives, performance reviews, employment of Spanish-speaking employees, use of standard operating procedures for milking, feeding, and reproduction tasks, continuing training, and use of job descriptions. Except for continuous training of employees, farm success did not differ significantly for farms using compared to farms not using these practices.While differences in definitions between Stup, Hyde, and Holden, and Rosenberg and Cowen and little overlap regarding the management practices researched, make it difficult to compare both studies, it should be noted that Stup, Hyde, and Holden did not find performance reviews to be significant. Chacko, Wacker, and Asar compared perceptions of agribusiness managers with respect to the contributions of different technological and personnel management practices to their competitiveness. In general, managers ranked technological practices higher than personnel management practices.However, job security and measures of training and development were among the top ranked management practices. Job security has also been emphasized in job satisfaction studies (Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch 2007). Training has been found to stand out in Stup, Hyde, and Holden and has also been emphasized in job attitude studies (Bitsch 1996; Maloney and Grusenmeyer). Based on managers’ perception of particular technological and personnel management practices, Chacko, Wacker, and Asar also aggregated pr actices in a factor analysis and regressed these factors on perceived competitiveness.The regression analysis showed personnel management 14 factors to contribute to a higher extent to different measures of competiveness than technological measures. The employee commitment factor (job security, sharing of profits and gains) stood out as contributing to most competitiveness measures. Mugera and Bitsch used a resource based perspective to analyze whether personnel management practices and the personnel itself constitute a competitive advantage for dairy farms (see Wright et al. for a general discussion of the application of the resource based theory to personnel management).The authors conducted case studies with dairy farms to analyze the integration of personnel management practices with each other (e. g. , practices regarding recruitment, selection, training, and compensation) and their outcomes (e. g. , voluntary turnover and termination). The case studies provided empirical examp les of the applicability of the resource based theory and evidence of the use of personnel management practices as a competitive advantage. The authors emphasize that studies of isolated management practices may lead to misleading results, due to the importance of the integration of practices with each other.Therefore, they recommend an integrative approach to researching and changing personnel management functions. Strochlic et al. surveyed 300 organic farms of various agricultural specializations with respect to their personnel management practices and organizational outcomes. They found significant relationships between an overall labor conditions score and 5- and 10-year retention rates, several occupational safety related practices and person-days lost due to accidents and injuries. No relationship was found between the surveyed management practices and supervisory costs or access to sufficient labor.Conclusions Personnel management research in agribusiness has increased over t he past 20 years, but the field is in an early stage of its development. Although agribusiness managers and organizations are demanding more decision support and training in personnel management, a rapid increase in research volume cannot be expected. The number of researchers giving this field more than cursory attention is relatively small compared to other agribusiness fields. Research funding is limited or unavailable for many agribusiness related personnel management questions. Peer reviewed articles are rare, because ublication outlets lack sensible reviewers for this field and many editors do not perceive it as a priority. 15 Notwithstanding the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, several broadly based results are emerging. First, many managers on different hierarchical levels perceive their personnel management skills as an area of weakness. This weakness becomes more visible during organizational growth, when additional employees are needed and tas ks change from production orientation to management, including management of more personnel. Growth processes have been researched mainly in dairy farming.Despite managers’ perception of a lack of personnel management competencies, participation rates in educational programs targeting such skills are not very high. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, and potential challenges and risks, at least regarding the big picture. They acknowledge all textbook personnel management functions (recruiting, selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation, discipline, and labor law and regulation), although they do not necessarily practice conscientious management with respect to all of these functions.For example, performance evaluation and discipline are rarely practiced. Also, gaps and misconceptions persist with respect to the details of each practice and potential alternative practices, and typically t he details decide the success of these practices. On the other hand, managers perceive a need for additional practices, rarely discussed in the literature, with respect to performance management, the social environment at the workplace, working conditions and organizational structure, as well as, hiring immigrant employees.Third, not only are the personnel management tasks outlined above numerous and often times difficult to balance, but they also result in challenging requirements with respect to the breadth and depth of management competencies and practices. Due to the peculiar circumstances of agricultural work, including long hours and family relationships, requirements of managers are not less stringent, but rather more demanding than in other sectors. Various new and unexpected tasks need to be mastered by newly promoted individuals who normally are not prepared to deal with these tasks.Learning management in agriculture is often limited to imitating the supervisor (Hutt and H utt) and training in many cases consists of â€Å"sink or swim† (Bitsch and Yakura). Many farms could improve their HRM practices through preparatory and accompanying training of their supervisors and managers. On the other hand, given their lack of training, managers have acquired and are using a surprisingly large number of traditional, as well as non traditional, HRM practices. 16 Fourth, compensation is important, as can be expected, considering the low level of agricultural wages compared to other occupational groups.However, incentive systems are not necessarily preferred by employees (Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag). In many cases, job satisfaction can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as providing more feedback and appreciation for tasks well done. Similarly, many farms could use training and employee responsibility for task performance to increase productivity and job satisfaction. On the other hand, in general, employees seem satisfied with their work and specifically with its context.Flexibility, especially for employees without supervisory responsibility, and positive personal relationships at work, particularly with superiors, contribute primarily to job satisfaction. As Adam, How, and Larson stated, â€Å"Such relationships seem to be the end result of a combination of policies and practices on the part of farmers and of a genuine liking of farm work and their employers on the part of employees† (p. 60). Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial measures of organizational success is complex and difficult to assess.Few personnel management studies in production agriculture and agribusiness have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. In particular, isolated practices do not usually show a statistical relationship with financial measures or even intermediate measures, such as produ ctivity, retention, or supervision costs. Although this is to be expected according to the integrative model of personnel management, it hinders the development of manageable research projects that can be analyzed and described in a standard form.Additional problems stem from the lack of data availability and changing conditions and actors who also continuously develop new practices and strategies. Compared to twenty years ago, when Howard and McEwan declared the absence of personnel management research in the agribusiness field, managers and researchers have more to build on today. A suitable framework of personnel management functions in production agriculture has been developed (Bitsch and Olynk 2008), on which manager training and future research can build.This framework must be broadened to encompass the agribusiness value chain as a whole. Groundwork has been done to describe and conceptualize what managers do in their day-to-day practice to motivate and lead employees, and wh ich competencies they need to acquire to be or become successful managers of personnel. In addition, a lot more is known about how 17 agricultural employees perceive their work and its context and where they see improvement needs. Nevertheless, differences and commonalities between production agriculture and the broader agribusiness environment need to be explored further.Also, future research will have to develop methods to establish the relationship between personnel management practices and organizational outcomes and to analyze specific practices in their organizational context more indepth. Education and training of production agriculture and agribusiness managers, both in the classroom and beyond, can and has started to build on a growing body of empirical research, instead of solely relying on results from other industries and large organizations, which may or may not be applicable in the industry settings.Specific results from many of the studies discussed have been used to develop personnel management programs for managers in production agriculture, both in terms of determining educational needs, as well as developing and organizing program content tailored to managers’ experience and understanding. 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Scope of Personnel Management Studies and Personnel Management Functions Analyzed in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Studies Focused on One Farm Specialization Studies Focused on One or Few Personnel Management Function(s) Dairy Immigrant employees Harrison et al. ; Maloney; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Stup and Maloney Floriculture Recruiting and selection Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek Swine Compensation Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. Vineyards Compensation Billikopf and Norton Studies Encompassing Selected or Many Personnel Management FunctionsDairy Bitsch et al. ; Fogleman et al. ; Hutt; Hutt and Hutt; Mugera und Bitsch; Porter; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Stup, Hyde, and Holden Swine Howard et al. Floriculture/Greenhouse Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich Maloney and Milligan Horticulturea) Bitsch (2004); Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Miklavcic; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Livestockb) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008) Studies Encompassing Multiple Farm Specializations Horticulturea) Compensation Billikopf (1995 and 1996) Compensation and working conditions Dunn; Gabbard and PerloffAgriculturec) Adams, How, and Larson; Billikopf (2001); Chacko, Tree nursery production Wacker, and Asar; Howard; Bitsch (1996) Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Strochlic et al. a) Horticulture indicates two of more of the following specializations: floriculture and greenhouse, fruit, nuts, vegetable, and vineyard produc tion. b) Livestock indicates two of more of the following specializations: dairy, beef, swine, and poultry production. c) Agriculture includes at least one horticultural and one livestock specialization, as well as agribusiness. 23 Table 2.Degree of Structure of Research Approaches and Methods Used in Personnel Management Research in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Unstructured or Little Structure Individual Methods Examples Unstructured interviewing Billikopf (2001)a); Hutta); Hutt and Hutta); Strochlic and Hamerschlag Moderately Structured Interview schedule Adams, How, and Larson; Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Howard; Mugera and Bitsch; Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Highly Structured Administered questionnaires At the work site: Billikopf (1995 and 1996); Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich; Fogleman et al. Howard et al. ; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Hyde, and Holden At a housing site: Dunn Over the phone: Billikopf (1996); Malo ney; Maloney and Milligan; Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek; Strochlic et al. Group Methods Examples Unmoderated group discussion Stup and Maloney Moderated group discussion Very Highly Structured Mailed questionnaire Billikopf and Norton; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Miklavcic; Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Yu et al.Secondary data analysis: Gabbard and Perloff Questionnaire administered to individuals in a group setting Bitsch (2004); At school sites: Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch (1996) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008); Bitsch et al. ; Harrison et al. ; Howard; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Strochlic and Hamerschlag a) Studies where the method was not described sufficiently to categorize by the level of structure were categorized as unstructured. 24