Ciara Favorite Artist Music

My most appreciated song on this earth today is â€Å"Gimme Dat†, by Ciara. This is my most appreciated song because this song fits my personality. It has a combination and a justified amount of both dancing and singing. The song itself puts on a certain performance toward the listeners, and it gives meaning to the singer/songwriter. The style of this song is a very up-beat tempo; it’s a hip-hop song. It’s a song that Deejays would play in clubs and at parties; because people can actually feel the beat of this song and turn it into one of their own. The artist of the song (Ciara) is a very well known artist. Ciara is one of the â€Å"sexiest† female hip-hop & R&B artist that are alive and in action today. She has been making music, singing music, and even choreographing music with her artistic styles ever since 2002. Ciara is a great artist and I think that all her fans would agree with me on that. The song titled, â€Å"Gimme Dat† is about Ciara coming back into show biz. Ciara has been away for a while creating her new album, and when she got herself back into the spotlight, she started with this song to let people know that she’s back and ready to do anything. My favorite part of the song is when Ciara says: â€Å"I been gone for too long, but its time to bring it back; gimme dat bass†! When Ciara uses these words together and then begins to dance right along with it it brings so much power to her video, song and performance. That’s what I really like about music; the performance, the power of the song, the meaning, the routines to the song, etc. This is my favorite song because Ciara really puts joy and a shining light into my heart. She makes me feel like I can come right out and do what I want to do, make whatever I want to make and just give my fans the performance they need. I feel inspired when I listen to this song; because I love dancing, I love singing, I love goofing around and giving my audience/listeners something they would want to hear. The song says: yeah, yeah, you like it when I move it to the beat like dat, got that bong up in your trunk, drop them speakers and turn it up, gimme dat bass†! This song just keeps me in my hype mode; it keeps me going every day. Every single moment I listen to it I’m either always dancing to it, singing to it or fantasing about how great it would be to have been in that video or created my own, that’s similar to it; but of course I would try to have the best song ever; and even though Ciara is great I think I can beat her to that one Grammy!

Film Reflection- Race the Power of an Illusion

The informative film, Race The Power of an Illusion, Part 2 focused mainly gun point about Race, A category/ an idea. Assigning meaning based on how we look, different morals, values, beliefs and intellectual abilities. The social construct is mainly created by the society which occurred in the past and still to this day plays a roll in a humans everyday life. This film made me feel overwhelmed by the actions and behaviors because of ones race. It also made very good meaning full connections which have stuck in my head throughout the week.I am able to connect this film in couple ways to my life because where I live at home consists of the majority of dark skin and it kills me to see an individual judge when on the inside everyone is the same. Just like the example the professor gave in class, if you have a brown egg and a white egg, when they are both cracked and sitting in a bowl, there would be no absolute way to tell the difference. The thing which baffles myself is that the film started on by looking at the Declaration and having it show that men are created equal with freedom and equality.I personally am confused because with all the racial happenings occurring then, how could one call that â€Å"freedom’ and â€Å"equality. † Today as we live life, freedom comes up in the dictionary as â€Å"The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. † (dictionary. com) From what I do understand, that is not what it resembled back when the differences of one caused converse. I really enjoyed this film, it left an impact on my life and it was a film that was entertaining with all of the interesting points and comments made.

Evalutale the policies governemets may adopt to overcome market Essay

Evalutale the policies governemets may adopt to overcome market failures arising from the production and consumption of demerit goods - Essay Example Consumption of alcohol by teenagers also makes their parents incur huge medical expenses when the teenagers get sick. Demerit goods can be over consumed in a free market (Kohls 2003, p. 54). It is important to note that a factor that may lead to individual overconsumption is the lower cost of production because the costs are shared with third parties. People also consume more goods compared to what the society produces due lack of regulations that may restrict them. Overconsumption can be reduced with government interventions. For instance, the government can intervene using the market-based approaches such as taxes and subsidies (Owen 2004, p. 128). It can also intervene through command and control strategies such as regulations. Awareness programs and persuasion can also be used to reduce overconsumption and overproduction. The government may impose taxes on demerit goods in order to internalize the externalities caused by the goods. It may impose the taxes indirectly on the organizations. For example, a firm that releases pollutants in a river may be taxed. The tax imposed on such firms should be equal to the external costs incurred by third parties. The external costs incurred by the third party may include medical bills resulting from taking the polluted water from the river. This means that the harms caused by the pollutants produced by the firm are the externalities (Kazi 2008, p. 410). In order to tax such firms effectively, the government should ensure that the taxes imposed on the firms are equal to the harm. The process will discourage them from producing the pollutants because the cost of production for the company will increase (Grant & Vidler 2003, p. 76). In addition, firms will be hindered from producing large quantities of goods that harm the health of individuals. This will in turn help in reducing the quantity of demerit goods produced by the taxed

Follow the instruction to Find an example of art or architecture from Essay

Follow the instruction to Find an example of art or architecture from American history since 1877 - Essay Example Many houses were huge with many rooms, but the floor and walls were full of dirt. Despite the fact that sod houses were full of dirt and mud falling from the ceiling, the society was proud of them. Some people were much comfortable, and they lived even for decades. It indicates that the society had limited resources, and many lived in poverty. In addition, the sod houses were used to keep away dangerous animals, insects, and snakes that outline that people used to live in the forest or bushy grassland. The preparation of sods and construction of houses involved much tedious work which required a lot of efforts. During this time, people worked together as a community in order to combine the effort. It clearly indicates that it was the culture for the people to live in unity. The smoothening of the inner walls by plastering and the use of cooking ports in cooking also shows that the people did craft work (Barns, 1970). Additionally, the use of agricultural equipments in cutting the rod evidenced that the ancient American society relied on agriculture for

Law of succession Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law of succession - Coursework Example However, there are issues that arise in this case, which this paper seeks to discuss. First, Elisa failed to document basic information on the will, but only went to an extent of instructing Mary that she wished her properties to be in equal shares to her children; Damon, Nigel, and Bella. In this case, it would be paramount if the will had basic information that entails name, marital status, children, and address. It is smart to provide basic information before drawing up the will, which act as a clear guide of how the will relates to the testator and his beneficiaries. In this case; it would be essential to outline the intended beneficiaries, their relationship to her, where they lived, and their age, which lack of it would lead to protracted legal claims and redundant confrontations between the deceased later. Following this, Elisa could have carefully considered the emotional and practical impact of the will when it lacks some basic information. As discussed, Elisa’s will lack basic information on the children’s age, Elisa marital status, and her address all, which are indispensable in transfer of the will. Despite having a strong desire to equalize her shares to her three children, there are issues which arise on the will lacking some basic information. In this case, it would be paramount for Elisa to state the age of her children in the will so that in the future, it would eradicate problems attributed by lack of this information. Still, it would be paramount to indicate address and marital status to avoid misconceptions that Elisa was once married hence, the partner demands the inheritance (Francis 2003, p80). Secondly, the case lack an executor who would oversee the distribution of properties as stipulated in the will. Choosing an executor is the most important decision in that he tends to carry out the final wishes. In most cases, most people prefer to pick an adult child or a spouse to neutral third party. However, it makes sense choosin g a neutral third party to carry out the wishes of the will because he would carry out his procedures without favoritism. As indicated in the case, when Elisa died, crisis existed since according to will, the residuary estate should be equalized among her three children, but conflicts emerged of the will having people such as Dante who Elisa had never known. Such crisis would not occur if, there was an Executor who would carry out the wishes of the will. It is indispensable to bear in mind; Mary’s responsibility was to draft Elisa’s will professionally. Nevertheless, making a valid will requires testator to have an executor who would ensure that everyone respects the will. It is crucial to note that, children under the age of 18 years should not inherit parents’ estate. This is the most important reason why it makes sense, having an executor in the will to carry out the final wishes stated (Lifford 2003, p50). Thirdly, an issue arises on, lacking to list all ass ets, their cost, their worth, and their location. Still, the will fails to indicate where Elisa’s children live and their respective age. It is true that a will is a chance to list the basic information of the assets, the intended beneficiaries, and their age. This would prove that the beneficiaries are of the sound mind and memory. Typically, since Elisa wished

Write about movies with solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Write about movies with solution - Essay Example In as much as the movies might be fascinating, keen considerations should be the theme of the movies as they pass extremely relevant as well as pertinent information. The first movie Soylent green is a fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer, which highlights police genres and procedural investigations into a murder of a dystopian wealthy businessperson due to environmental problems. The environmental threats covered in the movie include overpopulation, pollution, poverty, depleted resources, dying oceans as well as the green house effect. The movies find a basis on the survival of people on the many-processed food that people relay on, including Soylent green. With a high population of over 40 million in New York, the housing conditions are unreliable and dilapidated. The city has a characteristic of homeless people found in the streets, which only survives on portions of food produces by Soylent Corporation. The corporation produces a new product in the market Soylent green made of high-energy plankton, more palatable and nutritious than other varieties. In the movie detective, Robert Thorn investigates the murder of William R. Simonson a director of the Soylent Corporation. As the investigations proceed, many things unfold when the New York Governor Joseph Snatini a onetime collaborate to Simonson; orders the closing of the case. When thorn disobeys, he sends him an assassin in a ration distribution facility; unfortunately, the assassin cannot accomplish the task successfully. Thorn then takes oceanography reports together with other researchers such as the exchange corporations. After a thorough research, they find out Soylent green is made from processed human remains. To a further surprise, he also finds out; it is the dead people, which make Soylent green. He survives from an attempted murder spreading the gospel that Soynet green is not food but dead people. Secondly

Developmental Biology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Developmental Biology - Research Paper Example Epigenetic factors refer to changes other than the changes at the level of DNA that lead to changes in heredity. These include DNA methylation which is present in all known vertebrates. This paper aims to study recent literature and studies that have been produced in order to find out the factors that affect aging. For this purpose, literature dated after 2006 has been used in order to ensure that the information is as recent as possible. This study will be useful in developing a better understanding of a vital part of developmental biology that is aging. INTRODUCTION Human race has always been fascinated by the idea of eternal youthfulness and functionality. The physiological and psychological changes that occur with age have always haunted humans and as a result, a lot of time, money and effort have gone into discovering the reasons behind aging in order to avoid the effects of growing age. With the advent of newer technologies, scientists have come to see aging as a process that o ccurs at the molecular level that eventually shows its effect at the level of the organ and later the whole organism. Some of the physiological changes that occur with age include decreased activity of neurotransmitters, a fall in sensory acuity and perception and a reduction in circulatory capacity. These changes lead to the loss of functionality that is associated with aging at the level of an organism. At the level of the organ, these changes occur due to the inability of the existing cells to replace the dying or damaged cells in order to maintain function. Thus, we see several diseases that pertain to specific organs and are closely related to increasing age. The inability to replace the older cells with new ones is a loss of functionality at the cellular level. The biochemical machinery within a cell enables the cell to replicate adequately so that the number of functional cells is always enough to maintain the health of an organ. However, with age, changes within this machine ry shift the balance such that the process slows down gradually affecting the organ hence the organism (Morimoto and Cuervo). Therefore, the real key to unlocking the secret behind aging lies in the factors that affect the cellular machinery. Whether it is the change in DNA, a change in gene expression or a change in the environment of the organism which eventually penetrates his system that regulates aging and to what extent is a question that has been investigated extensively in recent past. This research paper takes a detailed look at such investigations in an attempt to understand how aging is affected by genetic, epigenetic or environmental factors. Aging: effect of genes, epigenetics and environment Genes and aging The field of biological aging has been exploring the effect of genes on aging with a view of not only attaining the capability to slow or stop the process of aging but also to stop the development of several disease that have very strong links with increasing age. H owever, most of these investigations have been carried out on worms, rodents and drosophila on the basis that not only are they easily accessible but also because certain studies suggest that worms, yeast and people have common genes for aging (Callaway). In 2008, scientists from Eovtos Lorand University, Hungary, conducted a research on nematodes, Caenorhabditis elegans, that were deficient

Media Ecology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media Ecology - Essay Example As the physical and social environments have their effect on human society, similarly, in today's era, environments created by media also play an important role on the psyche human society. Therefore, it would not be far from truth if we call the study of relationship between environment created by media and the society as "media ecology". According to the Media Ecology Association, media ecology can be defined as "the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs." Therefore, in this discourse an effort will be made to understand media ecology by addressing following three aspects:- There is a strong interconnectivity between different forms of media. Their effectiveness is along two strings. One is their indigenous and the second is an ability to complement the other form of media. Therefore, each media enables to form two types of environment. One which is formed by a particular media itself and the second one is formed by complementing the other forms of media. To elucidate the above point further, we take example of 9/11. We suppose that when the unfortunate incident of 9/11 took place there was only print media available. We can imagine that apart from the people who got affected, there would not be many who could have known the incident immediately. By the time print media would have conveyed the extent of havoc created by the terrorists, too much time would have been lost to create an atmosphere for global response. Still with graphic details and good script an atmosphere could have been created but for short duration. Too less and too late. Now we include radio (audio media) in the scenario. The explicit detail given in newspaper with live commentary of what all was going on would have created an atmosphere more focused on the event. Add TV (auditory - visual media) to the situation. Continuous pouring of live scenes on TV, descriptive account on radio and detailed news and views in print media created an atmosphere which was bound to last longer than what only one of the forms of media was in operation. The atmosphere is more fueled by the

The Middle Eastern relations with world powers Essay

The Middle Eastern relations with world powers - Essay Example The relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America begun nearly a century ago. This relationship is based on mutual respect and common interests – economic, political, technological and social. The Saudi-US friendship has been through numerous conflicts and crises, but, has grown from strength to strength. The origins of this relationship go back to the personal admiration King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud the Kingdom’s founder, held for President Woodrow Wilson. Oil has always been the major element of the Saudi-US relationship. The Kingdom supplies crude oil to the United States averaging 1.52 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia received quite a number of US companies, which at first came to provide products and services for the oil industry but later entered into other ventures. When Saudi Arabia embarked on an ambitious development program in the industry, healthcare, education, and agriculture, it sought assistance from th e United States. U.S. experts and companies were closely involved in building up the Kingdom’s modern infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, roads, airports, seaports, industrial cities and telecommunications facilities. From that time, United States has partnered with Saudi Arabia in trade for more than fifty years. At present, America exports goods and services worth billions of dollars to the Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in return exports a sizable portion of crude oil to the United States.... Oil has always been the major element of the Saudi-US relationship. The Kingdom supplies crude oil to the United States averaging 1.52 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia received quite a number of US companies, which at first came to provide products and services for the oil industry but later entered into other ventures. When Saudi Arabia embarked on an ambitious development program in industry, health care, education and agriculture, it sought assistance from the United States. U.S. experts and companies were closely involved in building up the Kingdom’s modern infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, roads, airports, seaports, industrial cities and telecommunications facilities. From that time, United States has partnered with Saudi Arabia in trade for more than fifty years. At present, America exports goods and services worth billions of dollars to the Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in return exports a sizable portion of crude oil to the United States. This commercial a nd economic association has resulted in rapid growth, in two way trade. It has increased from $56.2 million in 1950 to over $34 billion in 2005. Joint ventures between American and Saudi companies in fields such as energy, petrochemicals, manufacturing, finance and telecommunications have been formed. An example is Motiva, which is a joint venture involving Shell Oil Company and Saudi Refining Inc. It is one of the major refining and marketing companies in the United States. The US-Saudi relationship extends beyond oil, business and international politics to the people. Thousands of Americans live and work in Saudi Arabia. In turn, hundreds of

Assessment of Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment of Organizational Culture - Essay Example mpanies that strive to be progressive and innovative especially, purposely implement such changes and create such environments that help them to gain strategic advantages in the marketplace. Some of these companies have set benchmarks for themselves for the best practices in organizational behaviour appropriate to creating the right and required organizational cultural characteristics. â€Å"The necessity of innovation is now universally accepted, but beyond their enthusiasm for bright ideas, most leaders know that to be successful over the long term they have to develop a strong innovation culture.† (Morris, Langdon. 2007) Here, we list five companies that have benchmarked the best practices on organizational cultural characteristics that support innovation and change. The first three are acknowledged as being amongst the most innovative companies in the world. The top companies are dominated of course by the American and Japanese. To these we add two more innovative companies from other countries. Apple â€Å"has grown dramatically over a short time, has a forward looking, optimistic culture, seeing itself as a David growing in strength at the expense of a Goliath.† (Ernst & Young) Last year alone saw the release of five major products: Mac OS X 10.5 aka Leopard, iPod Touch, and iPhone 2, iLife ’08 and iWorks ’08, plus witnessed record growth levels. Apple has a history of success in exploiting niche market opportunities. GE has made great strides in innovation recently with the invention of the HD CT scanner that reduces radiation exposure by half, a hybrid locomotive that reduces emissions by a half, and a splendid reengineering of the CF34 jet engine. (Mark Borden, 2008) Perhaps more regarded as innovative in the West than in Japan itself; nonetheless, it helped develop the just-in-time (JIT) approach some time back that enabled it to make breakthroughs in the simplification of manufacturing processes. And, it is still renowned throughout the world for

Economic and Social Development in Post-Independence Jamaica and Barbados Essay Example for Free

Economic and Social Development in Post-Independence Jamaica and Barbados Essay Jamaica and Barbados have socially and economically advanced since their independences. Each country has been able to economically sustain itself without the assistance of Britain, which used to govern the two as territories. But despite the two countries’ self-regulation and reliance, both of the nations are quite poor, and are considered third world countries. Jamaican and Barbadian History Both of the two nations were originally colonized by Great Britain (after being discovered by the Spanish) under the mercantilism policy, which encouraged European colonization of other areas. This was because the policy showed that a nation’s prosperity could be determined by its adequacy in trade, and exports were far more valuable than imports under the policy. So European nations that could not produce particular products on their own would colonize other areas that could, so they could use the goods, and export them to other nations that did not have the means to acquire those particular goods on their own. So many of the Caribbean islands that Britain colonized were exploited because of their warm climates, which allowed them to grow certain crops, such as sugar. This crop was one of the main reasons that Britain had colonized such territories as Jamaica and Barbados. Jamaica’s Independence and its Economic Enterprises Thereafter It was in 1962 that the United Kingdom’s parliament granted Jamaica its independence, after which the nation ceased to be regulated by its European founder. After its independence, the Jamaican government arose, and began sponsoring employment opportunities, though many jobs arose in the private sector. Sugar and bananas were the original crops grown in Jamaica, and exported to locations worldwide, and the cultivation of these crops serves as a major source of employment on the island. The nation’s tropical climate makes it a suitable location for the growing of these crops, which cannot be grown in the United States or Europe, so some of the sugar and bananas in those areas come from Jamaica. Jamaican Exports and Recent Economic Problems Jamaica also has a natural supply of bauxite, which is a source of aluminum ore, and is therefore a valuable product, which employs many people as miners. But recently, the economic status of the island has been declining. Periods of unfavorable weather have led to a sharp decrease in the production of sugar cane and bananas over the last decade, and inflation has been plaguing the island. The recent lack of favorable agricultural activity has been so extreme that the nation has been forced to import products that, if conditions were better, Jamaica could produce itself. But lately, coffee has been another profitable crop that can be grown around the island’s blue mountains area, when sugar and bananas cannot, and it serves as a primary export, and source of national income. Other Industries in Jamaica Jamaica also has an industry concerned with the rearing of domestic animals, and a dairy industry. But that has also been declining, and the nation has actually been importing milk, butter, and cheese from elsewhere. Other smaller cash crops of the island include citrus fruits, such as oranges, and cocoa, but the industries concerned with those crops are considerably smaller than that of the sugar sector. Mining employs a small number of citizens, as does fishing, and foresting, as loggers are able to export lumber to countries that do not have access to the same tropical woods. Also in Jamaica is the manufacturing industry, which usually accounts for just under 20% of the nation’s GDP annually. Tourism has also proved to be a profitable market for the nation, and it serves as a social and economic boost for the nation, but since the turn of the century, tourism has been slower in Jamaica. Barbados’ Independence and Its Trade History Barbados achieved its independence from the United Kingdom in 1966, after which the nation began governing and regulating itself. Since that time, sugar cane has proved to be the greatest contribution to the nation’s employment, and it serves as Barbados’ most significant export. In 1961, five years before the country’s independence from great Britain, Barbados opened the Deep Water Harbour port, located in Bridgetown, which serves as the nation’s main port, and allows large container ships and freighters to export sugar and manufactured products Barbados’ Manufacturing Sector Although sugar was for some time the main source of income for the nation, recently, manufacturing and tourism has been increasing in Barbados. The manufacturing sector began in the 1980s, and continued to be a profitable investment in the country into the 1990s, as certain companies exploited the nation’s cheap labor to save money on manufacturing in the United States and Europe. The United States has proved to be the main trade partner of Barbados, which also relies on certain imports from the United States. â€Å"The United States remained Barbados leading trade partner in 1987 with transactions valued at $189 million ($128 million in U. S. exports and $61 million in U.  S. imports),† an article for Business America, entitled Barbados: economy relies on U. S. for products, investment Business Outlook Abroad reported of the trade status in 1988. â€Å"Moreover, Barbados continued to welcome American investment in virtually all sectors of the economy. In addition to direct investors, in recent years Barbados has attracted a sizable number of American captive insurers, international business companies, and foreign sales corporations largely through a bilateral double taxation agreement. This means that at an earlier time, the economy of the nation was stabilized by foreign investments, and exports that served to preserve trade relations between the United States and Barbados. Trade Alliances and Foreign Investments And with Barbados’ good terms with the United States came the tourism industry. American, Canadian, and European tourists provide the nation with a stable tourism industry that serves as a main source of income on the nation. Foreign interests in the nation that led to the tourism industry was somewhat of an atypical event for a Caribbean country, as most nations in the area have not been able to capitalize on the industry, or attract foreign investors in its markets as Barbados did. Major tourism projects, such as resorts and cruise adventures continue to benefit the nation’s tourism industry, and satisfied tourists keep the industry alive. Federal and Private Programs in Barbados Recently, government-regulated ventures in the nation have been turning into privatized corporations. The government of the nation is not satisfied with the high unemployment rate, so it is trying to encourage small businesses to form, and stabilize themselves, because this should lead to the creation of jobs. But lately, nationally sponsored programs such as offshore banking enterprises, and foreign exchange moderation by Barbados have proved to be effective ways of earning the nation capital. Most manufacturing and sugar cane production, however, is done in the private sector, and is not federally regulated. This allows small businesses and farmers to have steady employment, and the steady production of crops allows the nation to not only export the crops, but use them itself, which decreases Barbados’ reliance on imports from other nations. Both Jamaica and Barbados have been able to maintain themselves to some degree, economically and socially since their independences from Britain. The development of Jamaica, however, was much more typical for a West Indian nation than was the development of Barbados, because Jamaica was not able to draw foreign investors and establish particularly coordinated trade patterns like Barbados was. In this aspect, Barbados was much more successful than were most West Indian nations, as it was able to maintain exports even when economic times were difficult. The Jamaican economy has been experiencing more problems than that of Barbados, and inflation in Jamaica is causing serious problems. Barbados, however, unlike most Caribbean nations, has been able to rebound, and it has a very high rate of tourism, which provides the nation with a steady rate of foreign income.

Soft Computing Based Model for Trip Production

Soft Computing Based Model for Trip Production Synopsis  On  A Soft Computing based model for Trip Production and Attraction 1. Area of the Proposed Research work Computer Science Applications 2. Research Topic A Soft Computing based model for Trip Production and Attraction 3. Aim and Objectives of research work The aim and objectives of this research is to develop a soft computing based model for trip production, trip attraction mode-wise traffic pattern in Delhi Urban area keeping in view the development polices of the Delhi Master Plan 2021. The proposed model will greatly help in analytical study of the resulting traffic pattern and its forecasting for future city plans. For modeling and analysis of urban transportation system, Delhi has been selected as the study zone. Data on urban activities and traffic flow was collected from the concerned agencies. Delhi, being the Capital of India, is the main center of socio-economic, political as well as cultural activities of the country. Delhi acts as a major center of trade and commerce. The major share of travel needs of Delhi commuters is road based transport system. 4. Literature Review This section focuses on the review of Literature for the study. It is comprises of the topics, related to general facts about the urban transport system. The early trip generation models, based on aggregate data, predicted total trips between city pairs. The modeling methods generally include regression models, cross-classification analysis, or a combination of both. These methods still have applications due to their mathematical feasibility, data availability, and ease of interpretation (USDOT, 1999). Kiron Chatterjee and Andrew Gordon (2006), focuses on the alternative for the Great Britain future scenarios in the year 2030 and the implications they have for transport provision and travel demand. Kiron Chatterjee and Andrew Gordon (2006) develop a National transport model to predict the national road traffics. In order to take income as a constraint for estimating trip generation there is no mathematical model under this aspect. Also, in the developing countries like India wide income disparity is there which can also plays a leading role in trip generation process. Gravity models are signifying the idea of establishing trip distributions process. In Gravity model, the entries of the Origin-Destination matrix are understood to be a feature of the trip counts and other parameters. The main problem of the gravity model is in the measurement of travel cost. This model has been corroborated numerous times as a basic underlying aggregate association (Levinson and Kumar 1995). For the analysis zones separated by a sizeable distances, the gravity model can work properly. But, the denominator approaches to infinity as the distance between locations decreases. In year 1947, Dantzig created the Linear Programming problem as well as offered the simplex method as its solution of Linear Programming. The simplex method was come in existence in year 1951. A simplex method is an iterative process which works along the boundaries of the problems in feasible region to find a solution of the problem. Also, the simplex method still remains the widely known solution finding technique for solving Linear Programming problems. But, the available option on the bases of Linear Programming was not successful in practice. Estimation of trip distribution is a challenging task for future period. In order to compare the performance of intervening opportunity model, gravity model, intervening opportunity model Wilmot et.al (2006) was conducted a study. With the help of this comparison of observed trips and predicted trips, the study recommended that the traditional urban transportation planning trip distribution models are able to model trip distribution at the cumulative level, and that all models traditional models have achieved similar performance and they similar bottlenecks as well. Anthony Chen et.al (2012) presented a basic planning tool particularly targeted at small (Metropolitan Planning Organization) MPOs was proposed to model the system traffic for the planning applications. This tool made use of PFE (Path Flow Estimator) for both the base year estimation as well as the future year predictions with some accessible field and planning data that can be available in public domains. For this tool no formal validation is done Richter.et.al (2012) presented a model based on the logit model. The model is complex. The logit modal choice association states that the probability of selecting a mode for a trip is depend on the relative values of numerous factors such level-of-service, and travel time etc. The complex part of employing the logit modal choice model is to estimating the parameters that can be assigned for the variables presents in the utility function, so the accuracy of this logit model is not ensured. Daniel et.al 2013, developed a inter-urban trip generation model for AkwaIbom, Nigeria, which is based on the multiple regression analysis model for forecasting future patterns. However, in a trip generation model, based on regression approach is used due to the somewhat cumbersome formulation of a choice model for frequency choice. The composite variable that would represent the service characteristics of destinations is excluded. Here, the trip generation is not based on utility maximization and the interrelationship between the trip frequencies. 5. Methodology of the research work Following figure 5.1 shows the flow of work and the model development for trip generation (trip production and trip attraction) model presented in section 5.1, the model development for trip distribution model discussed in section 5.2 and model development for Mode-choice model discussed in section 5.3. Figure 5.1: Flow of work. 5.1 Model Development for Trip Generation (Trip Production and Trip Attraction) Trip generation Process widely used for forecasting travel demands. Therefore trip generation Process is divided into two parts: Trip attraction Trip Production 5.1.1. Model for Trip Production Trip Production process focuses on the total number of trips produced from the city. For empirical implementation of the Trip production model, Artificial Neural Network System (ANN) is used on the available data. The model was trained using data of the year 2003 2004 and validated on data of the year 2005. Whole process of model implementation including training and validation is accomplished in the following steps. Socio-economic data of all the zones are collected. ANN in MATLAB is used to train the model on the dataset for the year 2003 and 2004. The mode model result is validated using data set for the year 2005. Finally, trip production model is used for forecasting of the Number of passenger’s trips production for the year 2021. 5.1.2. Model for Trip attraction Trip attraction process focuses on the total number of trips attracted by the city. For empirical implementation of the trip attraction model, Artificial Neural Network System (ANN) is used on the available data. The model was trained using data of the year 2003 2004 and validated with data for the year 2005. Whole process of model implementation including training and validation is accomplished in the following steps. Socio-economic data of all the zones are collected. ANN in MATLAB is used to train the model on the dataset for the year 2003 and 2004 and then The mode model result is validated using data set for the year 2005. Finally, trip attraction model is used for forecasting of the Number of passenger’s trips attraction for the year 2021. While validation, it was observed that the result produced by the model is very close to the actual data. The average error estimated during the validation phase is low and minimum error is only 0.8%. 5.2 Model development for Trip distribution Trip distribution Process traveler origins and destinations to developed a â€Å"trip table† that displays the number of trips going from every origin zone to every destination zone. For empirical implementation of the trip distribution model, Genetic Algorithm is used on the available data Whole process of model implementation including training and comparison is accomplished in the following steps. Socio-economic data of all the zones are collected. Genetic Algorithm model in MATLAB is used to implement this model on the data set to compute trip distribution for all the zones in DUA. Finally, Comparisons with of results of Linear Programming model done Finally, comparison of Genetic Algorithm based trip distribution model with traditional linear programming is made. The result achieved from traditional Linear Programming Based Model is not up to the mark as the number of input variables increases linear programming based model gives infeasible solution. 5.3 Model development for Mode-choice model Mode choice Process Trip distributions zonal interchange analysis yields a set of origin destination tables followed by; mode choice analysis allows the modeler to determine which mode of transport will be used. For empirical implementation of the mode-choice model, Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is used with surveyed data. The model was trained using survey data for the month February 2013 and March 2013 and validated with on the survey data for the month April 2013. Whole process of model implementation including training and validation is accomplished in the following steps. Data collection from survey at different transit stations for different time periods. ANFIS toolbox in MATLAB is used to train the model for one data set of the month February 2013 and then The model parameters are modified using the second data set of the month March 2013 and Finally the mode model result is validated using data set of the month April 2013. The model is implemented using Adaptive Neural fuzzy Inference System for peak period of work trips in Delhi urban area. The machine learning result is found quite satisfactory with validation error being as low as 0.68%. 6. Data Collection Data on house hold population and socio-economic activities such as commercial centers, Government offices, educational institutions, and health care system were collected from Delhi Transport Corporation, Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, C.R.R.I. (Central Road Research Institute) and also for data collection survey were conducted at transit stations where passengers have option for mode choice. 7. Implementation Result For empirical implementation of the trip production and attraction model Artificial Neural Network System (ANN) is used. While validation it was observed that the result produced by these models is very close to the actual data. The average error estimated during the validation trip production and attraction model phase is low and minimum error is only 0.8%. For empirical implementation of the trip distribution model Genetic Algorithm is used. Trip Distribution model is applied on the real set of data which gives acceptable solution which is easily applicable and compared with other models such as Linear Programming model as well. The result achieved from traditional Linear Programming Based Model is not up to the mark as the number of input variables increases linear programming based model gives infeasible solution. For empirical implementation of the proposed model Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is used. While validation it was observed that the result produced by the model is very close to the survey data. The average error estimated during the validation phase is low and minimum error is only 0.68%. 8. Impact of Research The transportation system being multidisciplinary system requires integration and co-ordination of various agencies. This includes STA (State Transport Authority), PWD (Public Works Department), DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation), DDA (Delhi Development Authority) and DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) as well. The following table shows the impact of research in academics and industry. 9. Chapter wise contents Chapter 1 This chapter introduces the research subject giving its background and developments in the last decades. The objective of the present research is stated in this chapter. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on different aspects of this study and presents the contribution by different researchers and deficiencies therein. Chapter 3 presents the methodology of the research in chronological order while describing the model hypothesis and formulation in detail. This chapter also includes the description of soft computing tools used in this research. Chapter 4 describes the formulation and empirical implementation of trip production and attraction analysis for Delhi Urban Area and computational results of this work are highlighted. Chapter 5 describes the formulation and empirical implementation of trip distribution analysis for Delhi Urban Area and computational results of this work are highlighted. Chapter 6 describes the formulation and empirical implementation of mode-choice behavior modelling for Delhi Urban Area .The computational results of this work are highlighted in this chapter. Chapter 7 highlights the comments and conclusion of the research work. This also highlights the utility of this research in industry and its future scope. 10. Bibliography [1]Rodrigue, J., Comtois, C. and Slack, B., (2006), â€Å"The Geography of Transport Systems†, Dept. of Economics Geography, Hofstra University [2]Delhi Transport. Delhi Govt. Retrieved 2014. [3]Anthony Chen et.al, â€Å"Forecasting Network Traffic for Small Communities in Utah†, Report No. UTC-1002, February 2012 [4]Dantzing, GB, 1951, Application of the simplex method to a transportation problem, Activity Analysis of production and allocation, TC. Doopmands(ed.), N.Y. Wiley [5]Peter Guller in SYNERGO, Planning Project Management Zurich, Switzerland. â€Å"Integration of Transport and Land- use planning in Japan: Relevant finding from Europe†, [6]Published in Workshop on Implementing sustainable Urban Travel Policies in Japan and other Asia-Pacific Countries, Tokyo, 2-3, March 2005. [7]Kiron Chatterjee Andrew Gordon 2006 , Transport in Great Britain in 2030, ELSEVIER Transport Policy Journal. [8]Levinson, David and Kumar, Ajay(1995) Activity, Travel, and the Allocation of Time, Journal of the American Planning Association [9]FHWA. Injuries to Pedestrians and Bicyclists: An Analysis Based on Hospital Emergency Department Data. Report No. FHWA-RD-99-078. Washington, DC: USDOT, 1999. [10]Wilmot et.al 2006, Modeling Hurricane Evacuation Traffic: Testing the Gravity and Intervening Opportunity Models as Models of Destination choice in Hurricane Evacuation, LTRC Project No. 03-1SS, State Project No. 736-99-1116, Louisiana Transportation Research Center. [11]Richter.et.al., Modelling Mode Choice in Passenger Transport with Integrated Hierarchical Information Integration Journal of Choice Modelling, 5(1), 2012, page no. 1-21 [12]Ekong Daniel et.al, Inter-Urban Trip Generation Models for the Urban Centers in AkwaIbom State, Nigeria, Journal of Civil and Environmental Research, Vol.3, 2013. 11. List of Publications Paper Title: ‘An Improved Modeling of Mode-Choice Behavior in Urban Areas Using Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System’, is present and published in the proceeding of IEEE International Conference on â€Å"Computing for Sustainable Global Development 05-07 March 2014, New Delhi, published in IEEE Xplore. Paper Title: ‘Artificial Neural Network based model for traffic production and attraction: A case study of all the zones of Delhi Urban area ’, is present and published in the proceeding of IEEE International Conference on â€Å"Computing for Sustainable Global Development 05-07 March 2014, New Delhi, published in IEEE Xplore. Paper Title: ‘Trip distribution Model for Delhi Urban Area Using Genetic Algorithm’, is published in International Journal of Computer Engineering Science March 2012; Vol.2 Issue 3, page no.1-8. Paper Title: ‘A soft computing based model for traffic attraction: A case study of a segment of Delhi urban Area’ is published in Vision and Quest, Research Journal of Science Technology and Management, Issue Jan 2010, page no.42-46. Paper Title: ‘Traffic Generation Model for Delhi Urban Area Using Artificial Neural Network’, is published in BVICAM International Journal of Information Technology, December 2010; Vol.2 No.2, page no.239-244 and having impact factor 0.605. 1/12 (Shivendra Goel) Research Scholar, Shobhit University, Meerut.

Strategies for Entering Foreign Markets

Strategies for Entering Foreign Markets Introduction In todays business world, globalization has a great impact on management decisions, processes and the culture of an organization. The most important external driving forces of an increasing internationalization are the openness to new markets due to liberalization and deregulation, further developments in technologies and logistics, as well as shorter product life cycles, and a homogenous consumer behavior whereas internally the strategic-focused attitude of companies represents an essential factor.  [1]  More and more companies do not only want to stay in a single market but aim to expand into foreign markets as well. Before entering a foreign market, a company has to decide not only on an appropriate entry strategy but also should consider the main steps of the market entry framework presented in the upcoming chapter. The following assignment provides a profound analysis of market entry strategies in the context of international marketing management. First of all, reasons to go international will be presented followed by a market entry framework in chapter 3. Further on, different methods of entry will be discussed stating advantages and disadvantages as well as giving examples of firms which successfully have implemented these strategies. In chapter 5, different timing strategy approaches will be introduced. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn from the preceding findings. Reasons for entering foreign markets There are a variety of reasons why companies decide to go abroad and expand their business operations. Organizations mainly engage in international businesses in order to establish competitive advantages and efficiently adapt to the ever-changing business environment. However, it is rarely the case that firms are just driven by one single factor. In the context of international marketing, proactive and reactive reasons or motivations can be differentiated. While proactive factors are stimulated by internal strategic change, reactive reasons result from environmental shifts.  [2]  Proactive reasons include growth in terms of revenue, sales and customer base, cost savings due to economies of scale or low-cost manufacturing, and reduction of dependency on a single national market as well as alternative sources of labor. Reasons which rather force the firms to expand to foreign countries and markets are described as reactive ones. For instance, domestic markets could be already satur ated or emerging competitors prevent firms from further increase its market shares and therefore, stay competitive.  [3]   Even though most companies highly profit from operating internationally, they are often faced with incalculable risks and challenges. Possible risks are primarily based on a lack of information regarding consumer preferences, unfamiliar business procedures and regulations, as well as human resources management.  [4]   Market Entry Framework A market entry strategy framework serves as a helpful management tool for firms aiming to enter a foreign market. It is highly recommended that companies follow these guidelines to better understand the process of internalization and to specify appropriate action steps for a firm. Generally speaking, the organization has to decide on the following questions: 1) What products or services should be offered abroad? 2) Where (countries, regions) should the market entry take place? 3) What entry strategy should be used to enter the foreign market? 4) How should be operated in the foreign market in terms of marketing programs?  [5]  As it is shown in the figure below, a conceptual framework consists of four main steps. After the decision has been made to enter a new market, a profound market assessment should be conducted. Regarding step 1, the company has to analyze its own resources and capabilities. A SWOT-analysis can help identifying the firms internal and external environment. An other key aspect is to evaluate legal and regulatory considerations as well as existing competitors and to deal with possible political risks and uncertainty. Due to different customer tastes and preferences in other countries and regions potential target groups have to be interviewed and analyzed in order to customize its products to their specific needs and wants. In step 2, the business environment should be closer examined, looking for business partnerships, testing market attractiveness and performing financial and entry barrier analyses to prevent early failure. Not until step 3 an entry mode is selected and implemented and further negotiations with business partners will be continued.  [6]  Critical factor is the entry strategy configuration, defined as the process of deciding on the best possible entry strategy mix.  [7]  Step 4 finally repre-sents the actual operation phase in which strategy and performances are aligned. This means satisfying the international clienteles needs by providing them with the desired products and services and setting adequate prices while remaining competitive. Ultimately, the company has to ensure that performance targets and strategic objectives will be accomplished as planned. Market Entry Strategies In the following the different market entry strategies will be described and advantages and disadvantages will be shown. Exporting Most companies operate within their country; however when they de ­cide to enter foreign territory most of the companies use export as their first approach to go international. Exporting means producing goods in one country and selling them in another country.  [8]  Some companies operate only in one niche market and are successful; however in most cases companies become successful by increasing brand awareness and business stability by entering new markets. Exchanging goods across boarders has grown to be a lot easier throughout the years and therefore exporting has become the simplest and most straightforward way to meet the need of a foreign country. However, when a company chooses exporting as their strategy there are several factors that have to be considered when determining whether to use a direct or indirect strategy. Such factors can be the size of the company, what product the company is going to sell, previous export experience and expertise and business conditi ons in the market the company wants to enter. Companies which have no experience in exporting can reach their foreign customers through intermediaries. This approach is called indirect exporting and is often used by first-time exporters.  [9]  Indirect exporting is when a firms sells its domestically produced goods in a foreign country through an intermediary.  [10]  Intermediaries also called middlemen is usually a firm or person that acts as a link between parties to a business deal. Using indirect exporting belongs to the least risky methods. Companies using this method have the smallest amount of commitment; however on the other hand receive the least profit. Direct exporting is one approach used by companies. A company usually handles its exports on their own and sells its products or services directly to the customers. This method gives the company much more control over their activities. It allows them to start at lower prices, be more competitive on the market as wel l as keep closer contact with clients. Also, using direct exporting gives the company higher returns in investments. The Boeing Company was very successful using this method and is now, not only the worlds largest aerospace company but the number one exporter in the US. On the other hand, the pitfalls for direct exporting are that, it is a lot more risky and they have to invest a lot more time to become familiar with the market.  [11]   Licensing Licensing is another common approach of global marketing. Many companies use this method by offering the right to a trademark, patent, trade secret or other similar valued item of intellectual property in return for a royalty or a fee.  [12]  One example is the company Marvel Entertainment Inc. Marvel has mad millions of dollars in licensing with their superheroes and intellectual property. Marvel has licensing agreements with the film industry, toy industry, computer game industry and many other areas. Spiderman, Hulk and many other characters are famous around the world and can be seen and played with.  [13]  Other specialized forms of licensing are contract manufacturing, management contracting and franchising.  [14]   Contract manufacturing is some sort of outsourcing. A German company for example contracts with the foreign company to produce the products they want to sell in the new market. While the contract manufacturer produces the products, the German company puts the companys brand name on the goods. In the computer and electronic field contract manufacturing is used a lot by companies such as IBM and Dell. Dell and IBM let their products produce by Taiwanese companies. The advantages for using this method are that the capital investment is relatively low; however on the other hand the company will not have full control.  [15]   Management contracting is similar to manufacturing contracting, just that the domestic company is not producing the products in a foreign country, but transfer parts of their management personnel to assist a foreign company for a definite time for a fee.  [16]  Management contracts are especially used in the hotel business. The Marriot or Carnival Hotels and Resorts use this method to enter new foreign markets. This method is also very popular in Asia and many developing countries which need the expertise from professional management. An advantage of managements contracting is the minimum risk for the company, due to low equity investment. Major disadvantages are that the company has to give up a big amount of control as well as flexibility.  [17]   McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks all have one thing in common; they are world wide companies which use the franchise method in order to be serve people internationally. Franchising is a specialization of licensing and both are the most common used method by small and medium size companies. In a franchising agreement, the franchisor sells limited rights to use its brand name in return for a lump sum and share of the franchisees future profits.  [18]  The franchiser assists the franchisee on a continuing basis, through sale, promotion and training.  [19]  The advantages of franchising are that it is less risky and less costly. Franchising is the fast growing method for a market entry a firm whishing to expand globally. On the contrary, the franchisee has to be careful to make all the adjustments necessary. Issues concerning the transferability of products, brands and services should be considered. McDonalds for example had to make adoptions when entering the Indian market beca use of the different culture and lifestyle.  [20]   Joint Venture Joint venture occurs when an international company enters in to an agreement with a local partner to develop a new entity and assets for a finite time by contributing equity.  [21]  A Joint venture may be classified as majority, minority, or fifty-fifty ventures in regard to the equity share of the international company and may be started from the scratch or by the foreign partners acquisition of a partial ownership interests in an existing local company. In most cases, firms choose joint ventures over sole ventures as a result of the restrictive regulatory measures towards sole venture of the foreign investors by the host governments. In the other hand, a Joint venture can also bring positive benefits to the foreign partner through their local partners, because local partners have better knowledge of the host countrys environment and business practices as well as personal contacts with local suppliers, customers, banks and government officials, management, production and marketi ng skills, local prestige and other resources.  [22]  These benefits are the reason why most firms insist on joint venture in some countries like Japan even when a sole venture is open to them. The advantages of Joint ventures are 1) risk diversification and allocation of risks between the partners 2) sharing of resources 3) can be a means of reducing political and other investment risks 4) access to the distribution network. The disadvantages are 1) lack of management control 2) joint ventures negotiations are time consuming, requires a lot of contractual framework and long period of due-diligence3) lack of trust 4) risk of conflict as a result of cultural differences. Direct Investment Direct Investment can be divided into two parts 1) merger and acquision and 2) wholly owned subsidies. These kinds will be explained in the following. Merger and Acquisition: There are two primary mechanisms by which ownership and control of a corporation can change: Either another corporation or group of individuals can acquire the target firm, or the target firm can merge with another firm.  [23]  According to Brealey et al, a merger can be an added value only if the two companies are worth more together than apart.  [24]  There are three classifications of mergers: 1) Horizontal mergers: This is a type of merger where two firms producing similar goods or offering similar services are combined to form an entity. Examples are Vodafones acquisition of Mannesmann and Commerzbanks acquisition of Dresdner Bank. 2) Vertical Merger: is referred to as a combination of two companies in the same industry whose products are required at different stages of the production cycle. The buyers can integrate backwards. An example of forward integration merger is Walt Disneys acquisition of the ABC television network. In which Disney planne d to use ABC network to show recent movies to huge audiences, and an example of backward integration would be Fords acquisition of Rouge Steel Company to reduce risks associated with  the dependency on steel. 3) Conglomerate merger: occurs when companies in unrelated lines of businesses are combined to become an entity. The reason why companies decide to go into this type of merger is to diversify and reduce their exposure to industry specific risks. However, if a conglomerate becomes too large and diverse through acquisitions, the performance of the entire firm can wither. Quellen? Reasons for Mergers Acquisition Economic of scale and scope: Cost efficiency of high volume production are one of the privileges merged firms enjoy, which small firms can only dream about. Larger firms also tends to benefit from economies of scope, which are savings as a result of synergy effect in the marketing and distribution of different types of related products (e.g. computers and printers). Vertical Integration: As a means to improve its products or services, a company might decide to have the direct control of the inputs required to make its products. Similarly, another company might not be contented with the manner at which distribution of it products is conducted, so it might decide to take direct control of the distribution channels by acquiring a major distributive company. Expertise: In order to compete effectively and efficiently, firms often need expertise in particular fields. A more efficient approach may be to acquire the talents as an already functioning unit in an existing firm. Monopoly Gains: Merging with or acquiring a major competitor might enable a firm to reduce competition within the sphere of its operation. There is greater pricing power from reduced competition and higher market share, which could result in higher margin and operating income. Diversification: This is the very beneficial in the issue with conglomerate merger. These benefits are direct risk reduction and liquidity enhancement. Reasons for Merger and Acquisition are 1) to gain cost efficiency through Economic of scale and scope 2) to improve products or services through Vertical Integration 3) to become more competitive because expertise is required acquire talents 4) to get monopolistic advantages and at the same time reduce competitors  [25]  5) with Diversification reduces an investors exposure to firm-specific risk.  [26]   Wholly owned subsidies: Market entry through a wholly owned subsidiary consist of two distinctive strategies: it can be achieved through a Greenfield investment or through an acquisition. Greenfield investment is a form of direct entry mode whereby a parent firm extends its operation in a host country by constructing a new operational base from the scratch. It is remarkable for the complexity and the high cost of its development and implementation. For example, in order to establish successfully in a foreign market, it is expected of a firm to have an extensive knowledge and expertise of the new market, and for this to be possible, a reasonable help from the third parties such as local independent consultants are required, and their services are usually very expensive. The cost of its implementation makes Greenfield investment in a foreign market a very risky mode of market entrance. Acquisition in the other hand offers the fastest means of achieving market power. As explained above, this strategy requires buying a rival firm, distributor, supplier or a firm which is related or entirely unrelated to the acquiring firms industry, in order to gain access to core competencies and achieve a greater competitive advantage.  [27]  The fact that it is easier and more accurate to estimate the outcomes of an investment through an acquisition makes acquisition a less risky alternative in comparison to Greenfield investment. Timing strategies of market entry In this part timing strategies as a different kind of internationalization will be described. Timing strategies could be divided into two categories 1) strategies for market entry in a specific country, called country-specific timing strategies, and 2) strategies for market entry in more countries synchronous, called cross-border timing strategies.  [28]  Some important factors which should be analyzed before a timing-strategy can be chosen are competition in the market, technology, substitute, customer behavior and the market potential as well as market growth. If this is done a company can decide which timing strategy is useful to reach the companys goals.  [29]   Country-specific Timing Strategies A company has to clarify when they want to enter into a new market. Most times the decision for a strategy depends from the strategies of the competitors in the target market.  [30]  Now the first-mover as well as the follower strategy will be described and benefits and risk of each will be identified. First-mover Strategy: Companies those are first into the industry or nation. The advantages of the first-mover are mainly that the firm has a higher awareness level as well as more time for image building in the market. Additionally, the firm gain more and earlier experience which enables them to adapt itself earlier to changing market environmental. Moreover, the firm can recruit educated employees and build up intensive relationships with market entry. Disadvantages are the free-ride-effect, which described early followers who will benefit from the investments of the first-mover. Additionally, the high costs of exploitation of the target market and the high risk of failure.  [3 1]  As an example for a first mover strategy could be named apple. The iPhone, iPad and most of the other products from apple were innovative and the first products in the target industry or nation. Follower Strategy: Companies which follows the first mover or enter the market after it has become established. The advantages of the follower are mainly that the firm can avoid the mistakes of the first mover, have access to reliable information about the market, can profit from the investments of the first-mover hence, cost reduction for example for infrastructure or education of employees. Disadvantages are market entry barriers created by the first-mover, less experiences over the market situation, finding of suppliers and to gain the loyalty of potential customers.  [32]  As an example for followers Microsoft could be named. Microsoft offers a smart phone after the successful iPhone implementation of Apple. Cross-border timing strategies Cross-border timing strategies are the waterfall or sprinkler strategies.  [33]  The Waterfall strategy described a scenario in which a product or a service is gradually moved into the target market while the sprinkler strategy implements a product or service in several countries at the same time.  [34]  Advantages of the Waterfall strategy are that the expansion can take place in a systematic method. Hence resources are needed one-by-one and not at the same time to enter successful all the target market. Furthermore, the life cycle of some technologies or products can be extended and experience can be used for the next market entry. Additionally, it is a relative less risk strategy. Disadvantages of the waterfall strategy could be the long time period implementation. In fast moving markets this strategy might be too slowly.  [35]  Furthermore, the competitors will be warned so that they can build up more market entry barriers for example.  [36]  Examples for the wate rfall strategy are the metro group, which used the experiences of the last market entry when they open a new subsidiary in a new market  [37]  as well as Dell, Benetton and The Body Shop.  [38]  The Sprinkler strategy is has the contrary strengths and disadvantages as the waterfall strategy. Within a short time period the strategy were implemented in lots of target market. The sprinkler strategy generates first-mover advantage. It is a very functional strategy in hyper and time-based competition markets. Disadvantages are the high amount of resources required for entering and the risk of failure because of less knowledge or experiences of the different countries. Examples for the sprinkler approach are Microsoft with its Windows software and Gillette with its Sensor.  [39]   Conclusion In this assignment, the major importance of a well-thought-through selection of a market entry strategy has been shown and different types of entry modes have been presented and further analyzed. Market entry strategies can have a far-reaching impact on an organizations global strategy. Selecting the best entry strategy is a complex decision-making process and involves various considerations. The importance of which aspects should be taken into closer consideration can vary by the strategic goals of a company, by country, and even by industry. Which entry strategy to choose highly depends on various strategic factors like ease of exit, speed of entry, cultural distance, and competitive intensity. Under all conditions, there will be no ideal option. In all cases, methods of market entry should be adjusted to the organizations long-term strategies and goals and should be based on future ambitions as well as on current resources and capabilities. Companies do not only benefit from the advantages, but will also have to cope with disadvantages of a chosen entry strategy. Therefore, compromises often have to be made when going international. Ultimately, todays organizations will ha ve to remain flexible enough to incorporate the high degree of dynamism in an ever-changing business environment. II. Works Cited A: Books Ahlstrom. D./ Bruton, D.G. [International Management]  International Management Strategy and Culture in the  Emerging World, Student Edition, South-Western CENGAGE Learning, Mason 2010  Berk, J. / DeMarzo, P. [Finance]  Corporate Finance, Pearson, Boston, 2006 Berndt, R. / Altobelli, C. F. / Sander, M. [Marketing]  Internationales Marketing-Management, 4. Auflage, Berlin Heidelberg, 2010 Boone, L./ Kurtz, D./ McKenzie, H./ Snow, K. [Contemporary Marketing]  contemporary Marketing, 2nd Canadian Edition,  Nelson Education Ltd., 2010 Brealey, R. A / Myers, S. C. / Allen, F. [Finance]  Principles of Corporate Finance, 8 Ed. McGraw-Hill / Irwin,  New York, 2006 Damodaran, A. [Finance]  Corporate Finance, Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition; Wiley,  New York 2001 Dony, A.G. C. [Marketing]  Market Entry Strategies for consumer Goods Industry in the PR China: An empirical Study on the Beer and Soft Drink Industry. Difo-Druck GmbH, Bamberg, 1998 Hitt, A. [Strategic Management]  Strategic Management Competitiveness and Globalization,  4th Edition, Nelson, New York, 2009 Kerin, R./Hartley, S./Berkowitz, E./Rudelius, W. [Marketing]  Marketing, 8th Edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York 2006 Kutschker, M./ Schmid, S. [International Management]  International Management, 6. Auflage, Oldenbourg 2008 Meffert H./ Burmann C./ Kirchgeorg M. [Marketing]  Marketing Grundlagen marktorientierter Unternehmensfà ¼hrung,  10 Auflage, Wiesbaden 2008 Paul,J./ Kapoor, R. [International Marketing]  International MarketingText and Cases, Tata McGraw-Hill Pub  lishing, New Dehli, 2008 Peter, P. / Donnelly, J. [Marketing Management]  Marketing Management Knowledge and skills, 5th Edition,  McGraw-Hill Companies, 1998  Root, F. R. [Marketing] Entry Strategies for International Markets, Lexington books,  New York, 1994 Weitz, B. / Wensley R. [Marketing]  Handbook of Marketing, Paperback Edition, London, New Dehli,  Thousand Oaks, 2006 Yu, L. [The International Hospitality Business]  The International Hospitality Business Management and  Operations, Haworth Hospitality Press, New York, 1999 B: Internet / Website Niti, B./ Nemer, B., [Businessweek.com] Brand Magic in India, http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2006/id2006 0508_952455.htm, 2006 III. Affidavit This case analysis is the original work of the authors. It has not been presented elsewhere for grading. All sources have been indicated to the best of the writers ability. Ort, Datum Signature: Anja Chan Ort, Datum Signature: Annika Nienaber Ort, Datum Signature: Emmanuel Ofobeze Ort, Datum Signature: Jana Theresa Germeroth IV. Appendix Appendix 1 Waterfall Strategy  [40]   Appendix 2 Sprinkler Strategy  [41]  

Essay --

Efficient Cleaning Services Riding on Technology and Customizations In the last century the humans have adored numerous complexities in their life styles and abodes. We developed intricate detailing and have been using newer materials for the purpose of construction of our homes and workplaces. Such beauty and utility additions have rendered the task of regular cleaning as more typical and difficult at times. Although a number of devices were subsequently introduced in the market for the benefit and convenience of the people but cleaning itself evolved as an established vertical and such a service was supported by dedicated sectoral interventions. Some companies gained global recognition for delivering efficient and technique driven cleaning services in Singapore corporate sector. The cleaning operations have been rendered more advanced with attention now focused on the development of new range of cleaning agents that are both effective and safe also. In fact post cleaning ambient-safety has emerged as a much sought after dimension and this aspect has simultaneously leveraged thi... Essay -- Efficient Cleaning Services Riding on Technology and Customizations In the last century the humans have adored numerous complexities in their life styles and abodes. We developed intricate detailing and have been using newer materials for the purpose of construction of our homes and workplaces. Such beauty and utility additions have rendered the task of regular cleaning as more typical and difficult at times. Although a number of devices were subsequently introduced in the market for the benefit and convenience of the people but cleaning itself evolved as an established vertical and such a service was supported by dedicated sectoral interventions. Some companies gained global recognition for delivering efficient and technique driven cleaning services in Singapore corporate sector. The cleaning operations have been rendered more advanced with attention now focused on the development of new range of cleaning agents that are both effective and safe also. In fact post cleaning ambient-safety has emerged as a much sought after dimension and this aspect has simultaneously leveraged thi...

Essay on Verbal and Situational Irony in The Pardoner’s Tale of Chaucer

The Pardoner’s Tale:  Ã‚  Use of Verbal and Situational Irony  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In â€Å"The Pardoner’s Tale,† Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily.   Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner.   The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story.   By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.   In the Prologue of the tale, the Pardoner clearly admits that he preaches for nothing but for the greed of gain.   His sermons revolve around the biblical idea that â€Å"the love of money is the root of all evil† (1 Timothy 6:10).   Ironically, however, the Pardoner condemns the very same vice that he lives by, as he proclaims â€Å"avarice is the theme that I employ in all my sermons, to make the people free in giving pennies—especially to me†.   Thus, covetousness is both the substance of his sermons as well as the mechanism upon which he thrives. He clearly states that repentance is not the central aim of his preaching, by mentioning â€Å"my mind is fixed on what I stand to win and not upon correcting sin†. Rather, his foremost intention is to acquire as many shillings as he can in exchange for his meaningless pardons.   In this regard, one can argue that although the Pardoner is evil, he is not a dissembler.   His psychology is clearly not guided by hypocrisy because he does not conceal his intentions under false pretences.   Chaucer clouds the genuine nature of the Pardoner’s psychology in ambiguity.   Upon r... ...nations of his thought processes, it is clear that the Pardoner does not practice what he preaches.   It is ambiguous, however, as to whether the Pardoner believes what he preaches, but just doesn’t follow his preaches or whether he doesn’t believe what he preaches at all.   It is evident, though, that the Pardoner has an astute mind.   He is highly effective in what he does.   Although he exploits the church for his own personal designs, he succeeds at obtaining that which he pursues.   The efficacy of his strategy is confirmed by Chaucer’s description of the Pardoner as being a â€Å"noble ecclesiastic† and as being unmatched in his trade .   Thus amidst all of his flatteries, there exists a spark of genius that complements his minimal level of ethics.   This intellectual finesse is the riverbed from which all of the products of his mind flow.

Malaysian :: Business and Management Studies

Malaysian PROTON'S bonnet badge shows a tiger, but a fish might be more appropriate because the state-backed Malaysian car-maker is going from being the largest resident in the small pond of its protected local market to being a minnow in the deep waters of the global car industry. the state-backed Malaysian car-maker is going from being the largest resident in the small pond of its protected local market to being a minnow in the deep waters of the global car industry Malaysia becomes a richer, more discerning car market with lower trade barriers Southeast asia's economy is growing again, and that has triggered record vehicle sales. in Southeast Asia Malaysia is second hootest market after china is clearly the biggest [sales] opportunity for car manufacturers anywhere in Asia. Just 1 in 35 Indonesians owns a car, compared with 1 in 14 Thais and 1 in 7 Malaysians. Right now car purchasers can get loans on a new model with as little as 5% cash up front. That compares with the 20% down payments common just a few years ago. Unlike in China and India, big global auto makers aren't rushing to build manufacturing capacity in high-risk Indonesia. Proton and Perodua are Malaysia's two main domestic manufacturers, claiming over 70 percent of a market where demand is estimated at around 500,000 cars this year. Two other companies also assemble cars locally. While the government continues to encourage small and medium-scale players, there may also be a need to consider steps to consolidate among the many vendors (suppliers) in the automotive industry in order to gain scale, financial strength and managerial talent to expand internationally," Najib Razak told the conference. Political system 1. government While the government continues to encourage small and medium-scale players, there may also be a need to consider steps to consolidate among the many vendors (suppliers) in the automotive industry in order to gain scale, financial strength and managerial talent to expand internationally," Najib Razak told the conference. That suppliers power 2. Malaysia drops duties, adds tax Import duties on cars from outside Southeast Asia will be lowered to 35 percent for knocked-down models, and to 80 percent to 200 percent on fully built models, the government said. Malaysia said it would wait until 2008 to further reduce motor vehicle import duties, to the required range of zero percent to 5 p â€Å"On this basis, the government does not expect major price changes in the cars produced or assembled in Malaysia during 2005.† ercent. Market 1. Malaysia's market is too small to sustain more than one or two domestic car makers, given increasing competition from imports. 2. Malaysia Market Summary Malaysia is a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations

Research Papaer Essay

The terms ‘youth’, ‘teenager’, ‘adolescent’, and ‘young people’ are all used to describe people in the phase of life that marks the conversion from childhood to adulthood. While there is universal agreement on the transition from childhood to adolescence, when exactly adolescence ends and adulthood begins is less clear as the stage of adolescence is culture-specific and therefore different in every society. In some cultures, the transition from teenager to adult could be very short, while, in other cultures it could be longer (Govindasamy et al. 2002). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2009) defines ‘adolescents’ as people aged 10-19; ‘youth’ as those aged between 15-24; and ‘young people’ as those aged between 10 and 24 years old and ‘teenager’ as people aged 13-19 years. Traore (2010) agrees that age has been used to differentiate adolescents from teenagers based on their physi cal development. This study, however, prefer to take females in the age group between 13 to 19 years as ‘teenagers’. In this study, the term ‘teenagers’ was used throughout. The incidence of teenage pregnancy remains high around the world. According to Nanda (2006), teenage females give birth to 15 million infants every year. Thus, teenage pregnancy is a concern from both a human rights and a public health perspective. Teenage pregnancy and its effect on teenage motherhood are among the major societal problems confronting the contemporary global community (Gatara & Muriuki, 2005). In Ghana, for example, one report estimates that nearly one-third of the childbirths recorded in public hospitals occurred to women under 19 years of age (Xinhua, 2006). The prevalence is higher in the rural areas and small- to-medium-sized towns which are often under-represented in the hospital birth statistics. A survey conducted by the UN Regional Institute for Population Studies reported that one out of three girls aged 15 to 19 living in Ghana’s Central Region has had a child (Xinhua, 2006). Similar prevalence of teenage pregnancies have been described for other African countries (Mwansa et aI. , 2004). One study in Swaziland found that females aged 15-19 years accounted for 32. per cent of the total fertility (Gule, 2005). Another study reported that females in the same age group contributed 103 births per 1000 women in the Kenya (Gatara ; Muriuki, 2005). It has been estimated that at least one out of twenty girls is likely to give birth during the school-going age. Data for Botswana also show that by 2004, about 25 percent of girls 15-19 years old were already mothers (Curtis, 2008). Two years later, in 2006, 56 per cent of the girls ha d dropped out of secondary schools in the country due to pregnancy (Mashalaba, 2009). On explaining the factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy, (Anderson, 2001) found that in poor neighbourhoods, teenagers experience less control over many aspects of their lives than the non-poor.. Anderson (2001) has further reported that some impoverished teenage girls consider childbirth as a rare source of self-esteem, or a sign of growing up, while sexual conquest brings a feeling of accomplishment to some teenage boys to whom legitimate opportunities may be blocked (Farley, 2005). The discussion of teenage pregnancy and childbirth therefore, tends to characterise the problem as mainly a feature of the poor segment of society. Besides, a literature review (Lewis, 2006; 2009) shows that aside poverty, factors such as early exposure to sexual activity, lack of sex education, weak parental control and supervision, peer pressure, low self-esteem and the need for self-fulfillment are associated with teenage pregnancy. It is in light of these factors that this study seeks to assess the factors that influence teenage pregnancy and their effects in the Sunyani Municipality in order to help policy makers address the problem. 1. 2 Problem Statement Teenage pregnancy has long been a worldwide social and educational concern for the developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. Many countries continue to experience high incidence of teenage pregnancy despite the intervention strategies that have been put in place. In 2000 approximately 530,000 teenagers in the United States became pregnant, out of which 51% gave birth (Coley ; Chase-Lansdale, 2008). Available literature suggests that in Africa, the total fertility rate has declined to an average of 2. 9 children per woman (Dickson, 2002). A decline in fertility rates has been associated with a high use of contraceptives among women and also the legalisation of abortion in most African countries (Swartz, 2002). Despite the decline in the total fertility rate, teenage pregnancy has been found to be significantly high (Dickson, 2002). The high prevalence of teenage pregnancy in societies characterised by poverty, low education, fewer job opportunities and families headed by mothers who gave birth to their first children in adolescence (Dryfoos, 2006; Macleod, 2009). Teenage pregnancy is also associated with other problematic behaviours such as alcohol and drug use, and early initiation of sexual activity, which have been identified as predictors of pregnancy (Coley ; Chase-Lansdale, 2008). Plant and Plant (2002) argue that risk or problem behaviour is associated with social disadvantage, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, bad housing, fragmented family structure and stressful life events. The youth emulate the behaviour of their parents and of their society, thus social and cultural factors influence patterns of risk taking (Plant ; Plant, 2002). The high incidence of teenage pregnancy has become a major societal and educational concern, as it seems to perpetuate poverty and low levels of education (Furstenberg et al. , 2007; Morgan, 2007). Also due to changing social circumstances and values, teenage pregnancy is a tolerated phenomenon in modern Ghanaian society. Social permissiveness towards sex outside marriage, and absence of serious social repercussions like isolation or exclusion following an out of wedlock birth, contribute to the high rate of teenage pregnancy (Parekh ; De La Rey, 2007). It has also been argued by Preston-Whyte and Zondi (2002) that the high value placed on fertility and education encourages adolescent girls to aspire for both motherhood and academic qualifications. The high cultural value placed on education and fertility is seen as a contributory factor to the prevalence of teenage pregnancy (Preston-Whyte ; Zondi, 2002). Education and the link employment prospects enhances the possibility of improved quality of life and thus may be one of the factors that encourage adolescent to continue with school after child birth (Kaufman et al. , 2001). Even though pregnant teenagers may not officially be prevented from remaining at school, realistically, due to the demands of parenting, they may be forced to drop out of school, for example, in instances where there is no one to look after the child while the teenage mother continues with her schooling. Sometimes the pregnant teenager feels isolated from her peers. She may be embarrassed by her condition and have difficulty fitting in with her non-pregnant peers and as a result may drop out of school. Parenting teenagers often have to deal with strained family relationships. Sometimes parents react with anger to the pregnant teenagers. She may be blamed or ostracised for causing a problem (Cervera, 2004). Consequently, she may not get assistance and support from her family members forcing her to drop out of school in order to raise her child. Based on the aforementioned problems and its effect on the teenager, child, family and the society, this study seeks to assess the factors that influence teenage pregnancy and their effects in the Sunyani Municipality in order to help policy makers address the problem. It has been established that there has not been any similar study concerning teenage pregnancy and their effects on teenagers at the Sunyani Zongo community. Although there have been countless cases of teenage pregnancy in the community depriving affected teenagers from furthering their basic education. The aged in the community based on interaction with the researcher revealed that people come to the community to seek the support of the residents in response to their questionnaires, their projects aimed at other relevant community related problems but none of them is focused on teenage pregnancy. 1. 3 Justification of the Study Little attention has been given to psychological variables and processes that predict the occurrence of teenage pregnancy (Coley ; Chase-Lansdale, 2008). Most literature focuses on social factors, which predispose teenagers to falling pregnant. Pregnancy may cause psychological distress, as it is often associated with dropping out of school, either before or shortly after childbirth (Zondi, 2002). Teenage mothers are more likely to present with symptoms of depression when compared with their non-parenting peers and older mothers (Kalil ; Kunz, 2000). The transition to motherhood puts teenagers at a greater risk for psychological distress because they are socially, cognitively and emotionally immature to cope with the demands of motherhood. This study examines the experiences of pregnant learners, both in a scholastic and personal context. It assesses how these learners are affected by the demands of coexisting motherhood and adolescence. There appears to be little research done on how Ghanaian pregnant adolescent learners perceive their situation and how they cope with the demands of adolescence and of motherhood. The results drawn from the study would form a basis for further research on the psychological effects of pregnancy during teenagers and may also be of value to designing intervention strategies. 1. 4 Research Objectives The study focused on the following objectives. 1. 5 General Objective To assess the factors that influence teenage pregnancy and their effects in the Sunyani Municipality (SM) in order to recommend policy actions for policy makers. 1. 5. 1 Specific objectives This study intended: To assess the influence of socio-economic status on teenage pregnancy; To identify the effect of peer pressure on teenage pregnancy; and To examine mass media exposure and its effect on teenage pregnancy. To assess the effects of teenage pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality. ` To make recommendations based on the findings of the study. . 5 Research Questions Based on the specific objectives of the study, the research seeks answers to the following questions: What is the influence and effects of socio-economic status on teenage pregnancy in the SM? What are the influences and effects of peer pressure on teenage pregnancy in the SM? How does the mass media exposure impact on teenage pregnancy? What are the co nsequences of teenage pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality? 1. 6 Significance of the Study The outcome of this study will provide useful information about the psychological well-being of pregnant teenagers. This will assist mental health professionals in developing appropriate psycho-educational programmes to address the psychosocial challenges associated with teenage pregnancy and motherhood. Furthermore, the findings of the study will help to inform public debate that could lead to the development of appropriate policies on how to deal with the challenge of teenage pregnancy and motherhood. Also victims of teenage pregnancy will get the opportunity to disclose information about their experiences in order to help in their addressing problems. Considering the nature of this study, including student affairs professionals, counsellors or psychologists, and those interested in woman’s issues would be assisted to identify the factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality and their effects on the teenager, the child and the society. Future researchers, who would study into determinants of teenage pregnancy in the Municipality, would also have a complement or a basis for their literature review. Finally, the research is likely to raise questions leading to further research. 1. 7 Scope of the Study For feasibility purposes, the study focused on how socio-economic status; peer pressure and early exposure to sexual activity by the mass media influence teenage pregnancy and their effects on the teenager, child and the society. The study considered school going teenagers who dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality. In the study, a pregnant teenager was pregnant girl aged 13 to 19 years. Besides, psychological effects in this study referred to the presence of symptoms related to somatic complaints, anxiety and insomnia, social isolation, and depression. The current study focused on pregnant teenagers who were drawn from the Sunyani Municipality who attended antenatal clinic (ANC) at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital (SMH) during the period of data collection. 1. 7 Delimitation Even though the study was carried out in Sunyani Municipality, concentration was on teenagers at Sunyani Zongo community considering the fact that they have stake in the topic understudy. This research was conducted within the following parameters: the influence and effects of socio-economic status on teenage pregnancy: he influence and effects of peer pressure on teenage pregnancy:: the influence and effects of mass media exposure on teenage pregnancy: the consequences of teenage pregnancy on teenagers. 1. 8 Organisation of the Chapters The research is in five different chapters. In the first chapter, an insight is given as to what the study is all about with the statement of research problem, research questions and objectives, significance of the study, limitat ions of the study, and the organization of the essay. In the second chapter, an overview of relevant materials related to the study is discussed. In the third chapter, the researcher presents the methodology used in the study; chapter 4 will focus on the presentation and analysis of data, and the final chapter will look at the conclusions and recommendations. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Introduction This chapter reviewed several selected studies which relate to the topic. The chapter focused on literature related to socio-economic status and teenage pregnancy; peer pressure and teenage pregnancy, mass media exposure and teenage pregnancy as well as the effects of teenage pregnancy 2. 2 Socio-economic status and Teenage Pregnancy It has been revealed that teenage pregnancy is often associated with low socio-economic status ( Dryfoos, 2006). Economically disadvantaged teenagers are characterised by low levels of education and lack of employment opportunities (Preston-Whyte & Zondi, 2002). Certain family characteristics have also been identified as factors that put teenagers at risk of becoming pregnant in early life. Factors such as poverty, single parent families –especially the female headed households, poorly educated parents have been associated with teenage pregnancy (Furstenberg et al. , 2007). Teenagers from one-parent headed families are apt to suffer from deprivations that may lead them to seek affection, security and a sense of significance elsewhere (Chillman, 2006). There are two contrasting views on the subject of single parenting. In some sources it is argued that most parenting adolescents have been found to come from impoverished single parent families, which are often headed by a female (Swartz, 2002). In the other source, children raised in single parent families are more likely to have been victims of an unstable family environment, have experienced a divorce or parental conflict (Russell, 2004). Negative family environment plays a major role in contributing to early teenage sexual experience and teenage pregnancy (Cunningham & Boult, 2002; Macleod, 2009). A family’s low economic status with all the factors associated with it, impacts negatively on teenagers’ attitudes towards early pregnancy. Life experiences associated with poverty minimise the perceived repercussions of adolescent pregnancy (Preston-Whyte & Zondi, 2002). Andorka (2008) stated that people with higher income show lower fertility levels at the earlier stage of socioeconomic development than people with lower income. Other basics of economic conditions such as economic security also seem to have a significant influence on teenage pregnancy (Andorka, 2008). A study by Kamal (2009) showed that a significant negative relation was found between teenage motherhood and the wealth index. About three out of four women with a poor wealth index started childbearing before they reached the age of nineteen. Choe et al. (2001) showed that woman’s education was significantly related to the probability of child bearing before the age of 20. The results of a study by Were (2007) also showed that teenage pregnancies were perpetuated by poor educational access as women with low levels of education tended to be the victims of teenage birth. Because educated woman were more likely to participate in the labour force than their uneducated or lower educated counterparts, women who were working also tended to delay their first marriage and first birth compared with those women who were not working. In Ghana, Bogue (2009) argue that education showed a stronger and more consistent relationship with teenage pregnancy. The level of education of women is a socioeconomic indicator which is frequently found to be negatively related to teenage pregnancy. This is because educated women tend to marry and use contraception later compared to women who have a low level of education (Bongaarts, 2008). Furthermore, Cochrane (2009) also stated that education was positively related to more favourable attitudes toward birth control, greater knowledge of contraception, and husband-wife communication. Thus, concerning the context of the study, it assumes that the level of educational attainment of women may affect the timing of childbearing among women. . 3 Peer Pressure and Teenage Pregnancy Preston-Whyte & Zondi (2002) found that schoolmates exerted a lot of pressure on their peers to engage in sexual relations. Some studies have found that teenagers often cite their peers as being of strong influence on their sexual behaviour (Preston-Whyte & Zondi, 2002; Chillman, 2006). Teenagers’ need for approval and a desire to belong to a group makes them vulnerable to peer influence thereby leading to them to teenage pregnancy (Kamal, 2009). Nowadays teenagers’ preferred position is to stay away from their parents, to avoid to be controlled by parents. They rather listen to their peers than to their parents. Bezuidenhout (2002) said that during that time norms and values taught by parents start to fade out and are replaced by liberal sexual values orientated by peers. Preston-Whyte and Zondi (2002) mentioned that peer pressure plays a role in teenage pregnancy. Buga et al. (2006) found that 20% of girls and 10% of boys respectively indicated that they had initiated sexual activity because of peer pressure. Wood et al. (2006) said peer pressure takes a form of exclusionary practices (e. g. sending sexually inexperienced teenagers away when having discussions concerning sexual matters). Again Mfono (2008) indicated that one of the dynamics operative in sexual relations is that girls and young women are under pressure to demonstrate that they are sexually capable of giving birth. Furthermore, Rozakis (2003) believed that many teens are pushed by their friends into doing something they are not ready for, and really do not understand that peer pressure can be a very strong and persuasive force for sexual relations during adolescence. Peer association has been indicated as one of the strongest predictors of adolescent sexual behaviour and teenage pregnancy (DiBlasio & Benda, 2004). Youth that do not engage in sex tend to have friends who also abstain. Those that are sexually active tend to believe that their friends are sexually active as well. Males, particularly those over 16, report more pressure from peers to be sexually active while females report more pressure from partners (Guggino & Ponzetti, 2007). Moore and Rosenthal (2003) pointed to the following ways peer influence can operate: Through sharing of information, which can serve as a guide in decision-making about sex (this may include inaccurate information). Through prevailing attitudes about sexuality (implicitly reflected in their behaviour and serving as a role model or explicitly stated in discussions etc. ). For example, there is some research evidence that the age of first intercourse is related to the perceived peer approval of premarital intercourse (Daugherty & Burger, 2004). 2. 4 Mass media exposure and Teenage Pregnancy Lucas (2004) stated that the age at first marriage is the one of the determinants of fertility and is classed as the intercourse variable. Early entry into marriage or a union is considered to be strongly connected with early child bearing. The supposition is that it will expose women to regular sexual intercourse through the mass media, and therefore increase the possibility of conception (Mahy & Gupta, 2002). Gupta and Leite (2009) stated that access to the media was found to be the most significant predictor of fertility among young adult women in Brazil based on an analysis of DHS data. In this region, the mass media are believed to play an important role in promoting social attitudes about fertility and reproductive behaviours, especially given the country’s linguistic homogeneity (Gupta & Leite, 2009). It can be assumed that women who are used to being exposed to mass media are likely to understand the risks of teenage motherhood, and, as a result, they tend to delay their pregnancies. It is clear from different sources that the media often plays a major role in influencing teenage pregnancy. Parents can hardly consistently monitor what programmes their teenagers are watching. Rozakis (2003) believed that television is the main source of sexual socialization in many teenagers’ lives in the USA. According to A Rozakis (2003), in a single year there were 20, 000 sexual messages on television used to sell almost anything you can imagine: cars, travel, soft drinks, toothpaste, and clothing. Television also shows six times more extramarital sex than sex between husbands and wives. During the absence of any elderly person children become bored and want to experiment with many things including exploring TV channels as source of entertainment. Devenish et al. (2002) agreed that the media also portray sex as fun and exciting. Bezuidenhout (2004) added that sexually arousing material, whether it is on film, in print or set to music, is freely available to the teenager and such information is often presented out of the context of the prescribed sexual norms of that society. Schultz (2004), in his empirical study, suggested that sex educators, social workers, other helping professionals, and parents should work together to counteract distortions that affect adolescents’ sexual development and sexual growth, and professionals and parents need to recognize the reality and power of the media as an influence on sexual growth. All of the above can influence teenager’s behaviour and encourage them to experiment with sex which will lead to unwanted teenage pregnancies (Schultz, 2004). Similarly, Moore and Rosenthal (2003) pointed out that television, films and other forms of media have removed a lot of the mystery surrounding sex by increasingly explicit portrayal of sexual acts, which can provide a model of sexual behaviour. The stereotypic portrayals often do not provide positive role models with hedonistic values rather than responsibility being promoted (e. g. planning for sex being rarely included) (Moore, 2000). According to McCabe (20055), the media’s message is that teenagers should be sexually experienced. 2. 5 Effects of Teenage Pregnancy Teenage pregnancy has been associated with a number of negative effects, hence it is perceived as a social problem (Furstenberg et al. , 2007; Macleod, 2009). In medical literature it has been associated with obstetrics problems such as high infant and maternal mortality, risks of clandestine abortion, delivery complications and low infant birth weight (Dickson, 2002). Other complications for the teenage mother are limited educational opportunities, self-determination and a poor quality of life (Prater, 2002). At the broader social level the high teenage fertility rate has been found to have a negative effect on the economic development (Varga, 2003). Some young mothers do not get support from their families. They may be rejected by their families and blamed for introducing a permanent crisis (Hudson & Ineichen, 2001; Cervera, 2004). In a situation where there was a pre-existing interpersonal problem, there is a potential that tension might be orchestrated (Dryfoos, 2006). Therefore conflict may arise between the pregnant daughter and other members of the family. Some sources have reported positive results, indicating that sometimes a family reorganises itself in order to adjust to the new member of the family (Cervera, 2004). The family may react with dismay or anger when they discover about the pregnancy, but when the baby is born the family may become the source of support for the mother (Moore, 2000). Positive family support has been associated with emotional adjustment and mental stability for both mother and child (Camerana et al. , 2008). According to Kalil and Kunz (20088) young mothers who lived with a supportive family tended to cope better. In the Ghanaian context, a child of an unmarried mother belongs to its mothers’ family (Burman, 2002). It is very unlikely that her family will reject a teenage mother (Kaufman et al. , 2001). Most communities no longer practice acts of exclusion to the unmarried mother and her child (Parekh & De La Rey, 2007). In her review of South African studies on teenage pregnancy, Macleod (20099) stated that teenage mothers reported a perceived improvement in the relationship with their parents. Parents were reported to relate to teenage mothers as adults. Thus parenthood gave the teenage mothers an entry to adulthood (Preston-Whyte & Zondi, 2002). Prater (2002) stated that teenage pregnancy and subsequent parenting could create major obstacles to any learner’s achievements at school. Thus, pregnant learners are impaired by their situation. Even though they have as much potential for academic success as their non-parenting cohorts, there are multidimensional causes for their academic failure. Many investigations have shown that early pregnancy hinders educational attainment. Erikson (2004) reported that teenage mothers exhibited a ‘syndrome of failure’, which included a failure to remain in school. Pregnant learners are more likely to drop out of school for at least an academic year. The dual role of being a mother and a learner is stressful (Parekh & De La Rey, 2007) and impinges on school achievement. School attendance, is also disturbed by such things as babysitting arrangements and the health of the child. Furstenberg et al. (2007) referred to what is termed ‘role overload’. He defined ‘role overload’ as the strain that exists when the teenage mother simultaneously attempts to meet the demands of parenting and schooling. Parenting learners cannot participate in experiences enjoyed by their peers, for example, extra-curricular activities, which can add much value to the total school experience of most teenagers. Despite these hardships schooling emerged as important (Prater, 2002). Depression has been correlated with teenage pregnancy (Hamburg, 2006). Parenting teenagers are more likely to present with higher levels of depression when compared with non-parenting adolescents and older mothers. In most literature psychological distress among adolescent mothers is perceived as resulting from psychosocial stressors related to the adjustment into the role of being the mother (Kalil & Kunz, 2000). In some literature it is argued that teenage girls are predisposed to depression (Galambos, 2004). It is postulated that teenage girls are more prone to experiencing mothers of the same ethnic and socio-economic status had similar findings (Field et al. , 2006; Hudson & Ineichen, 2001). It was found that infants of teenage mothers are more likely to receive less verbal stimulation and to have developmental delays. These negative effects were associated with the fact that teenage mothers had limited knowledge of developmental milestones and held punitive child rearing attitudes. Literature concludes that teenage mothering is contributory to poor cognitive development of the child. Low education levels of the mother, poor socioeconomic status and negative attitudes towards child rearing are correlated with the child’s poor developmental outcome (Field et al. , 2006). Cunningham and Boult (2006) also postulated that the young mother’s immaturity, social inexperience and lack of child rearing skills have a negative effect on the child. The young mother and her off-spring are at a risk of becoming victims of crime like incest, rape, neglect, abuse, family violence and of participation in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution etc. In the Ghanaian context the teenage mother often resides in her parental home (Preston-Whyte & Zondi, 2002) and the child is often in the care of an adult during the day either the grandmother or at an alternative day care. This implies that the child of a teenager is more than likely to receive parenting from an adult mother figure and to benefit from this interaction (Camerana et al. , 2008). Multiple care giving has also been found to be of benefit for the mother. While an adult is looking after the child, the mother gets the opportunity to attend to other responsibilities thus alleviating the stressors for the mother.