Best Tax Preparation Office in Tampa, Florida

Executive Summary The study examined the problem of identifying critical success factors in the tax preparation industry. Most firms in the tax preparation industry have one major objective. The objective is to emerge the best in the industry. However, companies operating in this area differ significantly with regards to their level of success. It is important to determine what makes some tax preparation offices highly successful than others.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Best Tax Preparation Office in Tampa, Florida specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The differing level of success is in spite of the fact that the firms are operating within the same industry. The paper looked at the issue of whether or not becoming the best tax preparation office in Tampa can be explained by the various strategic alternatives adopted by the company. The question of the implementation of the correct strategy was also addr essed. A research on Tampa’s tax preparation industry was carried out with the aim of identifying and understanding the various success factors that are essential for the achievement of competitive advantage. The researcher predicts that there are significant differences between the various firms with regards to the perception of critical success factors in the industry. Introduction Explanation of the Project The United States of America’s income tax laws are some of the most complex in the world. Due to this complexity, more than 60% of American taxpayers prefer using a paid tax preparer. In other words, they prefer paying someone to file their income tax returns for them. Through the use of a tax preparation service provider, a consumer can reduce the amount of tax they pay to the government. At the same time, the individual can increase the amount of their tax refund from the government (Edwards, 2013). Tax evasion is a very serious offense in the United States of America. The offense attracts hefty fines from those found guilty, including both individuals and organizations operating in the country. Perhaps this legal strictness is another reason why people seek professional services in filing their tax returns. The increasing demand for professional tax preparation services in the country has a number of impacts on the economy. For example, the increasing demand has resulted to a subsequent increase in the number of professionals offering tax services in the market. A case in point is the number of such professionals in Tampa, Florida. For example, there are over 100 tax preparation firms in the region (Slemrod, 2006, p. 23).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The existence of such a large number of tax firms is an indication of the fact that tax services in this region are in high demand. Just like other firms in other sectors of the economy, all these tax firms aim to be successful. However, they differ significantly with regards to the level of their success. The observation raises a number of pertinent questions that any new entrant needs to address. For example, why does the success of firms operating in Tampa varies? Why are some of them successful, while others are not doing very well? Does the adoption of a given strategy determine the success of the company? Can the success be explained by the implementation of the correct strategies? A review of most tax preparation offices in Tampa reveals that they rely on quick turnaround work and high volume to increase their revenue. Due to this factor, there is increased fee-based competition within the industry. The reason for such an increase is because by lowering their prices, tax preparation firms can increase the number of clients that walk through their door (Long Caudill, 2008, p. 40). Furthermore, tax preparation firms in Tampa have been forced t o deal with competition from external players. For example, the companies are competing from operators in the software publishing industry that develop at-home tax filing programs. The development and supply of such programs has resulted in increased price competition in the industry. The new developments have decreased the profits in an industry that already has high internal competition (Caralli, Stevens, Willke Wilson, 2008, p. 300). Tax preparation offices primarily exist to provide services to a wide of clients. The clients in this case include, among others, customers, shareholders, employees, business partners, and the communities that benefit from the existence and growth of the firm (Maddala, 1988). The firms achieve this objective by formulating effective organizational values, purpose, and vision. Scope of the Project The management of the new firm has to take into account the dynamics of this industry when launching the operations. It also has to take into account the v arious limitations that firms operating in this firm have to contend with. The aim of the firm is achieve goals and objectives. To this end, a firm is required to develop a strategy to inform its operations. In this case, the firm outlines a set of goals and targets. It comes up with a strategy to attain them within a given time period. The functions of different departments in the firm are derived from these goals. The process of strategy development ensures that the entire organization is focused on the implementation of a defined purpose and vision (Caralli et al., 2008).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Best Tax Preparation Office in Tampa, Florida specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is important to note that developing a strategy and setting goals and objectives is not enough. It is just a single factor determining the success of a tax preparation firm. More is needed. For example, the firm must per form exemplary well in a number of critical areas. The areas in this case are those that are critical to the firm’s goals and objectives. In fact, performance in these key areas is critical to the firm’s success. Failure to perform well in the areas may be a major barrier to the success of the firm (Caralli et al., 2008). The critical areas can be identified as a set of critical success factors for the firm. Critical success factors include the specific areas in which the firm must excel. Positive results in these areas will guarantee a competitive performance for the tax preparation firm. It will help the firm to emerge the best in the area (Maddala, 1988). Significance of the Study According to Vasconcellos, Sousa and Hambrick (1989), the concept of strategic management depends on the ability to develop and sustain useful assets. It also depends on the nature of skills the firm has access to. Furthermore, strategic management requires the ability to select competitiv e strategies and areas that would support the developed assets and enable them to create meaningful competitive advantage for the firm. In turn, this should be developed in line with critical success factors. Most firms have identified a set of critical success factors that are developed according to the industry’s unique features and characteristics (Aaker, 2001). A tax preparation firm’s successful performance within the industry can be determined using a number of factors. One of them is how well the company aligns its success factors with those that give it an edge in the industry. There are a number of reasons why it is important to identify critical success factors in the tax preparation industry. First, it gives rise to a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s competitive environment. Such understanding is important in making decisions that determine the success of the firm. According to Aaker (2001), understanding and identifying critical success factors is important to a firm if its entrance into an industry is to succeed. It also helps the firm to find a different position in the industry and successfully develop strategies to achieve the perceived value and cost reduction (Rockart, 1979). In 1989, a research was carried out to test critical success factors in different fields. The researchers aimed to investigate two hypotheses. The first was that critical success factors varied from one industry to the other. The second was that firms with strengths similar to the industry’s critical success factors are more likely to be successful within the industry than other firms.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Research carried out in six industries supported the above hypotheses (Vasconcellos et al., 1989). Other researchers from the industry provided data that supported the arguments above. For example, the studies showed that the success of a given firm is determined by how well the management aligns the positive attributes of the firm to the factors significant in that industry. Problem Statement The current study was guided by a number of research questions. The following are the research questions: What makes some tax offices in Tampa more successful than others? How do strategic alternatives and implementation of the correct strategy inform the success of tax offices in Tampa? How can a tax office in Tampa succeed in the industry? Becoming the Best Tax Preparation Office in Tampa, FL Literature Review The tax preparation industry: background The primary services offered by firms in the tax preparation industry include the preparation of tax returns. Tax preparation experts offer t his service as a standalone endeavor. Other services, such as book keeping and billing, are not offered. Although CPA offices are not classified in the tax preparation industry, basic knowledge on filing requirements and tax law is critical for members of staff in this industry (Swingen, Green Long, 2009). Between 2008 and 2013, the revenue generated in the tax preparation industry contracted at an annual average of 0.2%. The revenues fell to about $9.4 billion. The industry recorded some growth in 2008 (Edwards, 2013). However, the growth declined between 2009 and 2010. The decline can be explained by the rise in unemployment levels and decreased disposable income leading. The factors forced many consumers to prepare their own tax returns (Edwards, 2013). The tax preparation industry is facing increased competition from external players. A case in point is competition from the software publishing industry. Software for the preparation of tax, such as Intuit’s TurboTax, are widely accepted because they make electronic tax filing more accessible (Swingen et al., 2009). Tax preparation offices have reacted to this threat. For example, they have stopped charging for some basic services. The offer attracts consumers who end up signing up for fee-based services. The services include state income-tax filing because most states have not adopted electronic tax filing (Dubin, Graetz, Udell Wilde, 2007). The tax preparation industry is highly seasonal. Demand for tax preparation peaks between January and April. While most small firms operate during this period only, large firms operate at a loss during the off-season (Slemrod, 2006). The seasonal nature of tax preparation services, together with low barriers to entry, makes the industry an ideal field for entrepreneurs working on a part-time basis. The seasonal nature of the industry also results in relative decreased average wages for operators. Because most firms in the industry only operate during the peak s eason, the average industry wage is set at about $12,660 as of 2013 (Edwards, 2013). Though the recent decline in demand for tax preparation services has resulted in pricing competition, tax preparation firms, historically, increase prices of tax preparation services each year (Swingen et al., 2009). However, due to the threats arising from increased use of computer software by individuals seeking to file their own taxes, basic tax preparation services are offered free of charge. The offers reduce profit margins. The tax preparation firms are forced to offer the services for free since numerous other free services exist. The firms, however, sell additional services for more complicated taxes to make money (Slemrod, 2006). Many large tax preparation firms offer tax related financial products. An example of such a product is Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs). The product is offered by a partner lender based on an anticipated income tax refund. From the fees paid by the borrower, the le nder and the tax preparation firm are able to generate revenue (Dubin et al., 2007). Another product is Refund Anticipation Change (RACs). The product works by simply placing a customer’s tax return in a bank account which is linked to a prepaid credit card. Tax preparation firms are expected to increase the number of personalized products that software companies cannot compete with. Additionally, the firms are expected to increase the number of services they provide for free (Edwards, 2013). IRS has formulated new regulations and changes to the tax regime. The tax preparation industry is most likely to benefit from at least one government regulatory framework. Such a regulation is the one requiring paid tax ‘preparers’ to have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). The regulation came into effect during the 2011 tax season. It reduces the number of players in the industry. The reduction reduces competition and increases revenue. In future, things will chan ge with regards to PTIN. For example, practitioners in this industry will have to meet a given threshold to be certified. The requirement will further limit the number of firms operating in the industry, leading to a growth in the industry (Edwards, 2013). Additional regulations need to be formulated by the federal government for firms that offer electronic filing services. One of the focus areas should be the advertising standards, which the tax electronic filing firms must adhere to. In addition, firms providing electronic filing services should be required to provide filing information to the taxpayer. The government has formulated additional rules regarding electronic filing. Recently, the IRS announced that tax preparers with 11 or more trust or individual tax returns will be required to file returns using IRS electronic filing system (Edwards, 2013). The cost structure of firms operating in the tax preparation industry varies based on a number of factors. Firms operating a fra nchise incur fees for royalties and marketing. Such fees are not incurred by small firms. Due to the seasonal nature of the tax preparation industry, large firms that continue operating during the off season incur additional costs not incurred by small firms that close down during this period. As a result, the cost structures of large firms differ significantly from those of small firms (Dubin et al., 2007). The concept of critical success factors The concept of critical success factors has a long history. The history is traced back to 1961. It was proposed by Ronald Daniels to address some issues in corporate management. Daniel used the concept of critical success factors to identify information that is critical to successfully perform managerial duties (Daniels, 1961). According to this scholar, the information systems of a given organization should have a specific goal. The goal is to achieve the success factors. Identifying the success factors should be carried out carefully to enhance the progress of the company (Daniels, 1961). Rockart (1979) further developed the concept by introducing four primary sources of critical success factors. The first is the structure of the specific industry. The second is environmental and temporal factors. The third is position and location in the industry. The last factor is competitive strategy. The concept helps the management to develop the appropriate strategies to run the firm. In addition, it helps in identifying problems that may hinder the success of the organization. According to Dickinson, Ferguson and Sircar (1984), critical success factors can be defined from a specific perspective. They are regarded as any circumstances, events, activities, or conditions that, because of their importance, require special attention from the firm. The factors may be internal or external. There are various advantages associated with critical success factors. They include comprehensiveness, operational value, and flexibility. In a nother study involving small businesses, Dickinson proposed that identification of critical success factors may be useful at various levels. The first level involves evaluation of the chances for success with regards to a new firm. The second is the planning process of a firm’s opportunities. The third is the effective implementation of a firm’s planned activities. In their case studies, Boynton, Shank, and Zmud (1985) attributed the success of the concept of critical success factors to two of its advantages. First, the concept is widely recognized and accepted among top level management. Secondly, it enhances the planning process. Boynton et al. (1985) conducted a study aimed at analyzing the dependence of critical success factors on a firm’s hierarchical nature. The study also looked at the level at which strategic management decisions are made. The study distinguished between individual, sub-organizational, corporate, and industry success factors. One can ass ume that business success is the achievement of the pre-set goals and mission. With such an assumption, it is clear that critical success factors are very important. They help the firm to achieve its goals and objectives. The achievement of the goals and objectives set by an organization is informed by a number of factors. On their part, the determining factors are influenced by others. The observation gives rise to a form of dependency arrangement unique to a given organization or industry. Dickinson et al. (1984) distinguish between internal and external critical success factors. For example, the scholars argue that the former are affected by the internal dynamics of the firm. They include structures, people, products, and processes. The factors are an indication of the competencies and capabilities of a given organization. They determine the firm’s competitive advantage. External critical success factors, on their part, are different from the first set of factors. They are informed by the firm’s external dynamics. According to Rockart (1979), it is more difficult to control external critical factors than internal ones. However, external success factors may be measured and controlled to some degree. Dickinson et al. (1984) classified critical success factors into two main categories. The first is perceived or actual (Dickinson et al., 1984) group of determinants. The second is ‘conjunctive or compensatory determinants (Dickinson et al., 1984). The critical success perspective helps in defining tasks. Such a definition can in turn help in task selection from the numerous duties that a manager is required to perform daily. The definition sets priorities to enable the manager to concentrate on the core activities. Consequently, a group of managers may identify their firm’s critical success factors. In addition, organizations operating within the same industry may define the sector’s critical success factors (Boynton et al., 198 5). Boynton et al. (1985) provides an analysis of the application of critical success factors in an American high-tech engineering company. The factors were raised and discussed in a meeting. Participants in the meeting were asked to list a number of factors that they thought were critical to the success of a firm. It emerged that most of the factors mentioned by the participants were similar. The managers expressed the desire to delegate some of their duties. Some of the delegated activities interfered with the performance of top management team if not clearly defined. The perspective clearly emphasizes on the significance of the perception of critical success factors. After some time, the management should come together to analyze and consolidate differences between individual perceptions of the significance of critical success factors (Caralli et al., 2008). According to Rockart and Bullen (1981), critical success factors of a particular industry provide a firm with the opportuni ty to achieve competitive advantage. A firm must establish the various critical success factors in the sector within which they are operating. Mapping out these dynamics helps the firm to attain and sustain a competitive edge. For any firm to survive and succeed in a particular market, it must meet two conditions. First, the company must offer a product or service that is in line with the market demand. Secondly, the company must be able to withstand competition in the market. The identification of critical success factors within a particular industry, therefore, begins with two critical questions. The first question addresses the issue of what the consumers want. The second question involves the issue of how the firm can survive competition. Research Questions and Hypothesis Overview The current study helps in identifying a number of critical success factors in the tax services industry. The dynamics identified help to establish and sustain a competitive edge in the tax preparation industry. The objectives of the study were achieved by reviewing how different firms review success dynamics differently. The study focused on highly successful and unsuccessful tax preparation firms in Tampa, Florida. Hypothesis statement Different firms in the tax preparation industry perceive success dynamics differently. The differences are significant between the successful and unsuccessful tax preparation firms in Tampa, Florida. Research questions The research questions are restated below: What makes some tax offices in Tampa more successful than others? How do strategic alternatives and implementation of the correct strategy inform the success of tax offices in Tampa? How can a tax office in Tampa succeed in the industry? Research Methodology The current research study analyzed information on the tax preparation industry and the fragmentation of the firms in this sector. The study focused on the firms operating in Tampa, Florida. The study focused on the correlation betwe en critical success factors and the success of tax preparation offices in Tampa. To identify critical success factors in the tax preparation industry, the researcher began with a definition of the scope of the industry. Individuals are required to file a tax return if their income is above a certain threshold. Income return depends on a number of factors. They include age of the individual, type of income, and the filing status of the person. Many taxpayers hire the services of experts to file their tax returns. Consumers seek assistance from the tax preparers because they make a necessary task simple (Long Caudill, 2008). The researcher made use of secondary data in conducting this study. To this end, a critical review of literature existing in this field was conducted. In addition, information on the firms already existing in the industry was analyzed. Information was accessed from the school’s library and other public resources, such as online databases. The researcher ma de use of secondary sources of information for a number of reasons. First, information about tax preparation firms was readily available from the libraries accessed. Secondly, the researcher was unable to collect primary data due to time constraints. As such, the researcher was unable to conduct interviews or administer questionnaires. According to the report by IBISWorld, there are over one hundred tax preparation offices in Tampa, Florida. There are over 100 tax preparation firms in Tampa. However, there is no specific data on the operations of tax preparation offices in Tampa. As a result, the research population was identified based on a number of characteristics. For an office to qualify as a tax preparation entity, it must primarily provide consumer tax services, including electronic filing and tax preparation. Secondly, the primary services of the office must be generating revenue. The selection criterion was very helpful in identifying the borders of the study. It helped in identifying offices that were directly related to the provision of consumer tax services. 110 companies were selected using the criteria above. Findings The recent economic meltdown led to, among others, a rise in levels of unemployment and reduced household income. As a result, demand for tax preparation services decreased significantly between 2009 and 2010. The reason for this is because fewer individuals attained the income threshold that requires tax filing. The reduced income, in turn, slowed the growth of the tax preparation industry over a period of five years ending in 2013. The industry’s growth has also been affected by the inability of some firms to offer refund anticipation loans. The tax preparation offices in Tampa are highly competitive in terms of price and quality of services rendered. This is due to the large number of tax preparation offices operating in the region (Edwards, 2013). Based on reports from IBISWorld (and cited in Edwards, 2013), it is reveale d that the tax preparation service offices in Tampa are highly fragmented. Majority of the operators in Tampa are small firms. According to IBISWorld, about 85.1% of offices operating in Tampa’s tax preparation industry are small firms. Furthermore, more than 80% of the offices have between one employee and ten employees. Most small scale offices offer their services on a part-time basis because of the seasonal nature of tax preparation services. The offices mainly rely on reputation to market themselves. In addition, they do not charge a lot for their services. As a result, the offices in Tampa account for only 20.0% of the total revenue generated in the industry (Edwards, 2013). Vasconcellos et al. (1989) helped the researcher identify a number of critical success factors in the tax preparation industry. Some of the factors identified by this researcher include experienced work force and a loyal customer base. Other factors included reputation and reliability of the firm as far as the clients are concerned. The introduction of new and innovative services, as well as aggressive sourcing for customers, is the other success factors. According to Edwards (2013), critical success factors in the tax preparation industry are identified with the help of a structured strategy. According to the scholar, the factors are identified as a result of generalization of answers from two questions. The questions touch on consumer preferences and strategies used by the firm to survive competition. Dickinson et al. (1984) conducted studies on the basis of the success factors identified above. The first part of the study aimed at investigating the significance of the listed critical success factors on a ten-point scale. A scale of one stood for ‘totally irrelevant’ while a scale of ten stood for ‘extremely significant’. The second part of the study was developed to evaluate the significance of critical success factors to the success of the busines s over its competitors. The last part of the study looked into the nature of the firm. It critically assessed the success of the entity. Analysis and Results Auruskeviciene, Salciuviene, Kazlauskaite, and Trifanovas (2006) developed a model to explain the perceived significance of the critical success factors and individual importance of each of them. The critical success factors are ranked according to their perceived significance. Reputation and reliability were regarded highly by a large percentage of the participants in the study. The factor was ranked 9.36. The perceived significance of the other factors was also recorded. According to the scholars, experienced work force and a loyal customer base followed at 9.16 and 9.04, respectively. The development of new products was fourth at 7.76. Aggressive sourcing for clients came last with a score of 7.52. The findings are indicated in the figure below: Figure 1.  Perceived significance of critical success factors Source: Auruske viciene et al. (2006) Auruskeviciene et al. (2006) carried out their research to identify how different firms regarded the issue of success. They compared the opinions of employees in successful and unsuccessful firms. The analysis conducted in their study is very important. It helps identify determinants of a firm’s competitive edge in the industry. The success of a firm is determined systemically using specified parameters. Such parameters include, among others, the organization’s profit margins. Auruskeviciene and colleagues conducted this analysis and made the findings in the table below: Table 1.  Criteria to determine the success of a firm critical success factor A S I reputation and reliability 9.36 9.29 9.14. experienced work force 9.16 9.29 8.00. having a loyal customer base 9.04 9.29 8.15. Introduction of new products 7.76 8.14 4.85. Aggressive sourcing for clients 7.52 6.86 6.57. NOTES; A – all firms, S – successful firms, I â €“ unsuccessful firms. Source: Auruskeviciene et al. (2006) There are differences between firms that succeed in a given industry and those that do not make it. First, the differences are seen in the launch of new products (+3.29). The second factor that varies involved experienced work force (+1.29). Compared to unsuccessful firms, successful firms attach more importance to new service and product development. Reputation and reliability pertains to credibility among consumers due to recognition. Firms operating franchises and a high number of branch offices can positively impact on the public’s perceptions of a service provider (Swingen et al., 2009). In addition, the firms spend a lot to advertise compared to small firms. Through rigorous advertisements, a firm can increase its exposure in the market, building a brand and a reputation easily. In turn, brand and reputation translates to success for the firm. Munro and Wheeler (1980) support this assertion. They argu e that it is the most significant critical success factor in the tax preparation industry. According to Auruskeviciene et al. (2006), experienced workforce is ranked the second most significant critical success factor in the industry. To be the best tax preparation firm in Tampa, a firm requires experienced tax preparers. The reason is that the preparation process involves completion of large volumes of work. The employees in the firm are generally required to have knowledge on accounting and tax law. Furthermore, the employees require specialized knowledge and skills. They should always keep track of legislative changes and decisions made by the IRS. They should pay attention to changes that impact on tax filing (Swingen et al., 2009). A loyal customer base was also identified as a significant critical success factor. Retaining customers in the tax preparation industry is negatively affected by increased rates of unemployment and unfriendly regulations in the tax preparation sector (Dubin et al., 2007). Changes in employment levels affect the customer base. A decrease in employment levels reduces the number of individuals required to file tax returns. The federal government is working towards the simplification of the tax filing system. The government will make it easier for individuals to file their own tax return. The development will reduce demand for tax preparers because most individuals will be able to file their own returns. As a strategy of retaining their customer base, most successful firms in Tampa have started to offer basic tax preparation services for free (Swingen et al., 2009). Caralli et al. (2008) identifies the development of new services and aggressive sourcing for new clients as other critical success factors in an industry. There are various services offered by the tax preparation firms. The services depend on how complicated an individual tax return is. Most firms offer basic services for free due to the fact that most taxpayers can acc ess electronic filing services for free. Although this has led to decreased revenues, it has also promoted the cross-selling of financial service products. The financial service products include refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks. Though these services are provided by a partner lender, the revenue generated through borrowers’ fees is split between the lender and the tax preparation firm (Swingen et al., 2009). Conclusion Evaluation of Analysis and Problem Solution The literature review in this study goes a long way in meeting the objectives of the study. It helps determine the critical success factors in the tax preparation industry. The review also helps understand competition and other dynamics in the industry. The study carried out demonstrates the correlation between a firm’s success and profitability and the fit between its strengths and the critical success factors in the tax preparation industry. Furthermore, the study shows that different firms tend to identify different critical success factors. In most cases, the firms combine factors that help them survive competition with those that guarantee the achievement of a unique competitive position. The information generated helps in making the deduction that critical success factors identified in the tax preparation industry are strategic necessities. Furthermore, the relative significance of critical success factors applies to all firms in the industry (Dubin et al., 2007). Becoming the best tax preparation firm in Tampa depends on strategic implementation of these critical success factors. The researcher compared the significance of critical success factors between firms classified as successful and firms classified as unsuccessful. The study indicated that the strength and importance of strategies adopted by organizations vary. One of the success factors that showed significant variations between the firms as far as ranking is concerned include strategic strengths (V asconcellos et al., 1989). The revealed differences tell a lot about players in this sector. For example, it appears that some firms in the tax preparation industry have failed to identify and take advantage of mechanisms relevant to their sector. What this means is that these firms do not attach significance to these critical success factors. Research Limitations There are several limitations associated with the current study. For example, there was lack of adequate data to conduct statistical analysis. It is recommended that future researchers in this field should collect more data (especially primary data) to calculate the statistical significance of the two ‘differences’ mentioned earlier. Recommendations for the Future Further conclusions can be made from the findings of this study. For example, there are various strategic necessities in this industry. They include having a loyal customer base, as well as reputation and reliability. Strategic strengths include deve lopment of new services and an experienced work force. Managerial Implications The current study has implications in the managerial field. Analysis of information in the tax preparation industry shows that firms in the sector vary. For example, they regard success factors variously. Firms may lack financial resources to carry out independent strategic analysis of the market. However, the firms are encouraged to use the critical success factor concept as a means of strategic analysis. The strategy allows for efficient use of resources and skills. The method can be used both at the industry level and at the firm’s level (Auruskeviciene et al., 2006). Critical success factors identify key areas of performance that are crucial to a tax preparation firm. The factors help the firm to accomplish its strategy, making it the best in the industry. Management in most tax preparation firms identify and highlight these critical factors. They take them into consideration when setting organ izational goals and objectives. To be the best tax preparation firm, the management must sustain positive performance in critical success areas. References Aaker, D. A. (2001). Strategic market management (6th ed). New York: Wiley. Auruskeviciene, V., Salciuviene, L., Kazlauskaite, R., Trifanovas A. (2006). A comparison between recent and prospective critical success factors in Lithuanian printing industry. Managing Global Transitions, 4(4), 327-346. Boynton, A., Shank, M., Zmud, R. (1985). Critical success factor analysis as a methodology form MIS planning. MIS Quarterly, 9(2), 121-30. Caralli, R., Stevens, J., Willke, B., Wilson, W. (2008). The critical success factor method: Establishing a foundation for enterprise security management. Technical report, 28(2), 234-354. Daniels, D. R. (1961). Management information crisis. Harvard Business Review, 39(5), 111-121. Dickinson, R., Ferguson, C., Sircar, S. (1984). Critical success factors and small business. American Journal of Sm all Business, 8(3), 49-58. Dubin, J., Graetz, M., Udell, M., Wilde, L. (2007). The demand for tax return preparation services. The review of economics and statistics, 75(5), 75-82. Edwards, J. (2013). IBISWorld industry report 54121d: Tax preparation services in the US. Retrieved from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10627185.htm Long, J. E., Caudill, S. B. (2008). The usage and benefits of paid tax return preparation. National Tax Journal, 40(9), 35-46. Maddala, G. S. (1988). Introduction to econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill. Munro, M., Wheeler, B. (1980). Planning, critical success factors and management information requirements. MIS Quarterly, 4(4), 27-39. Rockart, J. F. (1979). Chief executives define their own data needs. Harvard Business Review, 57(2), 81-94. Rockart, J., Bullen, C. (1981). A primer on critical success factors. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Slemrod, J. (2006). The return to tax simplification: An econometric analysis. Public Finance Quarterly, 56(7), 23-47. Swingen, J., Green, P., Long, S. (2009). Tax payer compliance burdens: An examination of factors affecting tax returns preparation fees. National Tax Journal, 89(6), 629-698. Vasconcellos, E., Sousa, J., Hambrick, D. (1989). Key success factors: Test of a general theory in the mature industrial-product sector. Strategic Management Journal, 10(4), 367-83. This research paper on Best Tax Preparation Office in Tampa, Florida was written and submitted by user Leyla Ward to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Has Social Networking Affected Social Skill of Todays Generation

Has Social Networking Affected Social Skill of Todays Generation The Problem and its Background More than a decade ago, the world was a very different place. It is no question that it was fraught with its own obstacles and difficulties for children and families. During that time, it was hard for the young generation to imagine that 50 years later, their children will be able to communicate with all sorts of people from friends to strangers at all times of the day and night without them necessarily being aware.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Has Social Networking Affected Social Skill of Today’s Generation? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While during this period, parents used to keep a check on the whereabouts of their kids, nowadays a teenager can travel through out the world even without leaving the bedroom. Currently, many experts are arguing that social networking sites are impacting negatively on the social skills of today’s generation with many concl uding that though technological advances have made many things possible (like most things available nowadays), if they go unchecked, these life tools are likely to turn out to be weapons of self destruction. While social networks main goals are to allow people interact socially, these sites have also caused members to become like zombies. Most of them spend time socializing and this in return dents their personal social skills. That is the reason why most of the people in the current generation prefer communicating through cyberspaces since it is easier to say everything than a one on one form of communication where some people cannot even express themselves (Thackeray Hunter, 2010). Experts goes further and argues that aside from developing strong interaction skills, today’s generation has developed weaker interpersonal relationships with those they relate to: from teachers, friends to their own parents, a character which has been attributed to too much dependency on the in ternet. Most of the times, today’s generation can only communicate with other people by chatting or placing comments on their friends wall. They have been doing this for a long time until it develops into a habit. This continues until a time comes when they can only use either the internet or computers to inform the other party what they want and through this, expression of emotions and feelings lost and this leads to loss of social skills on how people interact with others. However, contrary to the views of many, Affonso (1999) indicates that social skills and social mores are dynamic indicating that even though our teenagers are constantly in their phones surfing through social sites such as Facebook and Twitter that does not mean that their social skills are not developing but he argues that they are developing in a different dimension and in different social skills than those their parents placed high value on or developed in.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Affonso goes further and indicates that while there are some positive aspects about social sites, there have also been suggestions that increased use of internet and social networks have negative influence on their social skills. He supports this by quoting a study done by Carnegie Mellon University which concluded that â€Å"Internet use leads to small but statistically significant increases in misery and loneliness and a decline in overall psychological well-being†, (Affonso, 1999: Par 3). Other studies also show that most of today’s generation use internet more often and thus most of them tend to have fewer friends and spends very little time interacting with their family members and close friends thus most of the time they suffer from stress and feeling more lonely and depressed at times. A new twist in relationship studies has also revealed that most of the b reak-ups among young couples have been attributed to the fact that one partner uses more of their time in social networks leading to the other party feeling lonely and alienated and as a result this leads to irreconcilable differences leading to break ups. With most of the today’s generation using the internet more than their parents used to, especially through social sites, listening to music and meeting new people, there has been a concern among educators that most of the current generation will â€Å"lose the savvy and skills and patience to conduct social relations in the corporate real world and that the Internet will intensify the negative effect television has already had on our social skills†, (Affonso, 1999: Par 7). However, increased use of the internet has also been said to groom the social skills of the current generation. When the children and the youth who makes the current generation interact online in productive and positive ways especially through the interactive platforms such as virtual magazines, it gives them an opportunity for them to express themselves and thus they can share their views with people of their age those who are of the same views and the contrary thereby widening of their understanding scope. It is worth noting that increased use of the social environments helps in improving one’s social skills. The interactions young adults have in their facebook or twitter are more similar than they are different from the interactions which adults make on a one on one or face to face relationships. Conducted studies show that youth who usually lack social skills and positive interactions in real life are also likely to misuse social networking sites in inhuman way or example by making threats thus there is no point of connecting poor social skills to increased uses of social networks.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Has Social Networking Affected Social Skill of Today’s Genera tion? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Subjects for Study The study will be conducted in the University of California Los Angeles and it will consider all aspects of the students including the age, gender and the year level in terms of social networking sites and their social interactions at home, with classmates, teachers and friends. The study shall also entail investigating the interrelationship skills of the students towards their parents, teachers and also fellow friends as well as how social networking sites have influenced their social skills. The research will involve a sample of 300 students currently in the university and the study will also be purposive since only the everyday users of social networks will be considered. Ethical Considerations For any survey, there are ethical implications which come to play especially if it is a social factor survey. In our case, the ethical implications which the survey might pose are those rela ted to violation of the individual policy. If each of the youth in our sample consent to the survey, it will be very important to inform them about our study objectives and applications. Since our survey might reflect the pattern of relationships among people, the target sample will most likely be revealing what the large population is doing. The questions as to who the youth communicates or interacts with for example during periods of stress and depression might interfere with their privacy. Questions of how long and how frequent they confide with those they care about and which channel they use. Thus, even though the interviewee might not be aware, they can find themselves conveying some information about another party while the other party may not and this may cause violation of their rights to privacy (Carpenter, Bauer Erdogan, 2008). With the given technology advancements, while the interviewer might try to maintain the confidentiality of the information accessed with demograph ic issues it may be possible for one to guess the individuals depending on where they are located (Carpenter, Bauer Erdogan, 2008). Measurement Research Design The mixed method approach to research will be the most appropriate way to evaluate the situation. The qualitative research will be used to establish the interviewees’ perception on the changed social skills.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This will be done through a quantitative questionnaire. The questionnaire will be implemented to establish how Social Networking affects social skills of today’s generation. All the students and young lecturers in the sample will be given an equal opportunity to respond to the questionnaire. The questions will be divided into four sections. The quantitative research methods will shed light in the numerical aspects of the age at which the youth began accessing the internet and especially the social networks and the time they spends while in the social networks and in the absence of the same how much time they used to spend interacting with their peers before they got glued to the social networks. How they interrelate to family members, friends, teachers or fellow students in case of the young lecturers and total strangers will also be covered in the questionnaire. The other part of the interview will be audio taped where our research group will interact with the students and t he young lecturers while recording the conversations. The questions will relate to those in the questionnaire but the interviewee will be able to provide in-depth and detailed explanations or reasoning for the given answers. The purpose of all this will be to establish whether there is a link between increased social networking. Population and Sample Our sample will be selected from the University of California Los Angeles. We shall have informed them earlier of our intentions of conducting a survey where the willing daily users of social network both students and young lecturers are expected to register. From the list, we shall then conduct a purposive sampling where our target will have to fulfill certain qualities before issuing of the questionnaire and we shall interview only those who uses internet on daily basis. Research Instrument The researchers will use questionnaires and survey forms as research instruments. The survey form will enquire if the respondents use social netwo rking sites and their frequency of using the sites. After determining those who use social networking sites daily, questionnaires will be issued to them and the questionnaires will investigate from the respondents what social skills they have gained or lost from by using social network sites in terms of their relationships with teachers, family members, friends and strangers. The details of the questionnaire are as attached in Appendix 1. Data Collection Methods The researchers will distribute a survey form to each section in order to determine the users of social networking sites and we hope this will be achieved within one to two days. After the researchers collect the questionnaires, a list of the respondents which are social network site users will be organized then copies of the main questionnaire produced. The copies of the main questionnaire will depend on the number of the respondents. However, extra copies will be reproduced if some respondents lose their questionnaires. Th e respondents will be given one to two days allowance to answer the questionnaire. The questions will be as attached in Appendix 1. Research assistants will be used to distribute and collect the questionnaires. Once the deadline of the questionnaires is arrived at, the research assistants will coordinate with the students to retrieve all the questionnaires completely. The questionnaires gathered are supposed to contain all the needed data for the study and the data will then be organized, summarized, analyzed, and interpreted. Analysis The researchers will use the following formulas to analyze the results from the questionnaires. Frequency is the number of occurrences, proportion, or percentage of a specific response in a particular category in a set of data, while percentage is the proportion or share of the specific response in relation to the whole sample. This method of analysis will be used to determine the percentage of the respondents out of the total sample in terms of the p ercentage and the affected social skills due to the influence of social networking sites. Each of the interviewer tape will also be transcribed by a professional transcribe and random selection of the tapes will be done to check the accuracy of transcription by the research assistants. The transcribed interviews will then be entered into a qualitative software program for their correlation to the questionnaires to be analyzed. The assisting research assistants will then read the themes that will emerge. The coding of the themes will then be established and if disagreements about the coding arise, all parties shall agree through discussion, further sharpening of the codes if need arise and comparing the interviews. Finally, all interviews will be coded individually and the results from the questionnaires will be tallied and calculated into percentages. Responses will be displayed using various tables and graphs. Information will be both lexis and numerical for a more complete picture of the effects of social networks to social skills of the current generation. Reference List Affonso, B. (1999). Is the Internet Affecting the Social Skills of Our Children? Web. Carpenter, M; Bauer, T., Erdogan, B. (2008). Principles of Management. Retrieved from https://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/ Thackeray, R., Hunter, M. (2010). Empowering Youth: Use of Technology in Advocacy to Affect Social Change. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Volume 15, pages 575–591.

Contemporary Leadership Issues Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary Leadership Issues - Research Paper Example Successful leaders therefore influence individual employee, teams and organizational performance as well as the over role companies performance compared to its competitors (Ellis 4). The personal characteristics of a leader affect the leadership style of the leader. As a result of globalization and international diversity, international organizations employ individuals from different regions with varying cultural practices. The company’s leadership is tasked with managing and supervising it employees so as to achieve the organizational goals and objectives (Tayeb 14). Business performance is also affected by both internal and external business environmental factors. The environmental factors vary from one region to another therefore they influence the management activities for multinational companies. Effective leader should therefore understand the environmental factors that affect his company and positively influence his people to achieve the collective goals in a dynamic bu siness environment. One such leader is the chief executive officer of the coca cola which is a carbonated soft drink market leader manufacturer. This paper will critically analyze the coca cola company’s strength, opportunities and its leadership. ... ilities and circulation outlets as well as privately owned bottlers, wholesalers, supply retail chains and distributors (United States Securities and exchange commission 1). The company has the largest soft drinks distribution structure and its success is associated the wide variety of products that meets wide range of customer needs as well as their efficient employees and distributers. The company produces and sells concentrates to selected bottling companies who may modify the products as well as finished products that include still beverages and sparkling soft drinks (United States Securities and Exchange Commission 3). Sparkling beverages include strong brands such as Fanta, sprite, coke, energy drinks among others. Still drinks include water, juices, tea, and coffee among others. Coca cola company aspire to energize and refresh it customers across the whole world and add value to its shareholders through use of its assets (United States Securities and Exchange Commission 1). It s strategic management involves customers and staff at all levels and all company segments depends on each other in the decision making. The company also has committed to produce quality products that contribute to environmental sustainability as well as participation in corporate social responsibility. CEO Bio Muhtar Kent is the chief executive officer of the coca cola company and he has no blood association with other senior manager He is a graduate of Hull University with BSc degree in economics and a master degree holder in administration from London City University (Leaders Magazine). He has been the chief executive officer is the company since July 2008, the company’s president from 2006 and the board of directors’ chairman from April 2009. He joined the coca cola company in 1978

Report profiling a service organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Report profiling a service organisation - Essay Example At the end of the paper, further recommendations have been provided, which may further contribute to the hotel chain’s success and growth. Hotels have been considered to be one of the main players in the tourism and hospitality industry. The hotel sector has also been considered to have been able to provide millions of jobs for people all over the world. However, what with the many hotel companies all over the world today, there is a need for the implementation of proper management strategies to make sure that hotels are able to continuously serve their guests, as well as keep their employees. The writer has decided to focus on the management strategies of the Hilton Hotels group, which originated in the United States and has remained to be one of the top hotel and resorts chain in the world. It was in the year 1919, when a certain Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel which was called The Mobley, located in Cisco, Texas. Fast forward to six years later, and Hilton managed to build his first hotel in Dallas which he named ‘The Hilton.’ This was the beginning of a long history of chain of hotels across the country and the company managed to build hotels overseas as well. The Hilton Group now comprises around 500 hotel chains all over the world, with 60,000 employees in around 50 countries. The entire group id divided into four global regions. These are namely, Europe, the UK and Ireland, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and South America. In the USA, it is the Hilton Hotel Corporation (or HCC) that is in charge of the country’s operations (Maxwell & Lyle, 2002). Guests pay the hotel to be pampered and the hotel must ensure that the guests get their money’s worth, and more. If the guest is able to have a good experience and is satisfied with the hotel’s service, then the hotel can be assured that the guest would return to stay again at their hotel (Stoller, 2006). Hilton’s service has been declining for the past couple of years, and

The Bribery Scandal at Siemens AG Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Bribery Scandal at Siemens AG - Case Study Example In relation to the issues, some people analyzed different things that they could use as ways of justification of the events of the scandals and assumed that it was not a serious issue. For instance, Siemens AG officials did not accept that they had involved themselves in a case of bribery by saying that the money went to the payment of an external consultant. Otherwise, the court determined the case that the money coincided with procurement of some equipment from various international markets during the period. One of the most notable cases in the contract scandals involved â‚ ¬6 million, which some Siemens AG management had paid to some foreign officials involved in a natural gas turbine contract, which Siemens AG wanted to win. Siemens AG had involved itself in several other scandals in Germany and in other countries between 2005 and 2006, and some other cases were under investigations and not yet clarified. In defense, the convicted employees argued that the action was not a vi olation of any law because it never was for a personal gain, and said that it was a plan to secure a productive deal the company needed, and the money was part of the bid. The defense the Siemens employees raised was a misinterpretation of the law because they based their arguments on the issue that, it is the custom of multinational companies, to establish their businesses on bribery and corruption, to win international contracts. This was a deviation from the ethical laws which requires companies to exercise what is right in coming up with business deals that are related to the work they are doing. According to business ethics for multinational companies, an action is moral if doing it does not contravene the culture or the wellbeing of the host country. Although there are differences in culture, in different places in the world, a wrong act remains so regardless of the place of origin of the doer and the people who do it and the perceived benefits to the trading company (Boatrigh t 335). In some cases, differences in culture have influenced the conduct of the people in the business relations because the individuals in the context depend on the perspective of the residents of country in which they trade. Many companies practice double standards which make them neglect some ethical standards they bear from their home countries and in conforming to the standards of the foreign countries, do illegal activities (Boatright 335). This could be the reason why Siemens AG involved itself in different scandals in various countries in order to secure some opportunities in the market, and ensure their competitiveness. Question 2 In failing to extend the term of service of Klaus Kleinfeld, who was the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Siemens AG, the supervisory board did not do the right thing. The board generalized the issues of the scandals without a clear focus to the criminals in the management in an attempt to clean up the name of the company in the world market. Des pite the fact that the supervisory board of Siemens AG did not get anything to  implicate  directly on  Kleinfeld in any of the scandals; he was an active person in establishing the company as a profitable business (Krishna and Purkayastha 11). The way of thinking of the supervisory board members to clean up the top management without considering the personal contribution of those individuals was a bad generalization. This is because the integrity of the

MNCs in China: Recruitment and Selection Practices

MNCs in China: Recruitment and Selection Practices Research Proposal: The Study of Recruitment and Selection Practices of MNCs in China As an increasing number of organizations enter the global business arena, the number and extent of business representatives crossing international borders has surged dramatically (Graf, 2004). It is, thus, imperative for multinational corporations (MNCs) to attract, select, develop and retain employees who can live and work effectively outside of their own national borders (Caligiuri, 2000). Simultaneously, accompanied by the increase of local employees, these MNCs have begun to recruit qualified members from local labour market in their host-countries. In China, owing to these MNCs competitive salary and good work condition, the recruitment often attracts many peoples attention. However, Chinas historical development, political structure and culture, international relations influence its economy and foreign trade. Also, Chinas special infrastructure and energy structure, legal framework pose a challenge to business. Therefore, some standardized recruitment and selection methods dev eloped in home country have to be modified according to Chinese situation. In that case, the study of recruitment and selection practices of MNCs in China, actually, illustrates how to develop IHRM practices under conditions of high cultural and institutional distance between partners. LITERATURE REVIEW Nowadays, a number of studies have examined the degree to which subsidiary HRM practices resemble those of host country organizations, an indication of transfer of practices from the MNC parent company to overseas units (e.g. Lu Bjorkman, 1997; Wang, 2002; Dana, 2005). These body researches have identified a range of host country, MNC home country, MNC, and subsidiary factors associated with the pattern of HRM in overseas units. However, these literatures speak more to describe the continuity and change between home- host-country in strategic level and analyze the different patterns of HRM in foreign subsidiaries than to concentrate on one area of HRM practices in a specific and systematic way and the means of transfer. Additionally, the limited empirical work that has been carried out on the processes of HRM transfer has typically adopted an MNC control and coordination perspective to describe and explain how HRM is diffused across borders, often revealing the use of multiple mech anisms both direct and unobtrusive in nature (Myloni Mirza, 2004). In depth case studies, on the other hand, have typically focused on a broader range of mechanisms or HRM practices, but have typically concentrated only on cultural or power relations explanations behind their usage (e.g. Martin and Beaumont, 1999; Ferner et al, 2005). In light of the above discussion, my study will focus on recruitment and selection practices of MNCs in China through which detailed practices are transferred to foreign subsidiaries. The goals of this research are 1) to describe these recruitment and selection practices how to manipulate in their Chinas subsidiaries in a specific and systematic way, especially concentrate on their recruitment and selection methods in practical, 2), to analyze the means and influences of transfer these recruitment and selection practices to Chinas HRM and 3) to find out why there are systematic differences found in the use of integration mechanisms for different recruitment selection practices. As Gary (2006) said that there was basically no enterprise-level human resource management in China between 1949 and the 1990s. Until now, in terms of selection and recruitment process, Chinese enterprises do not have systematic policies as complicated as those of MNCs. When MNCs import the selection and recruitment process from their parent company, actually, they also introduce the advanced selection and recruitment concept to China. However, they have to pursue recruitment rules in line with the local legislations. Therefore, studies on the manipulation and transfer of recruitment and selection practices in MNCs will come to further recognise the pertinence of the individual HRM practices and the HR function. Furthermore, it is significant and practical to study the MNCs recruitment methods in China, which can help us to have a further understanding to the IHRM and the development of the HRM in China. This study seeks to fill the gap by evaluating the MNCs recruitment and selectio n practices in China and provide a new perspective to Chinese local enterprises in how to introduce these practices and manipulate them. From it we can know in what aspects the MNCs recruitment and selection practices are more rational and scientific than Chinese local enterprises. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The purpose of the paper is to determine and empirically examine the multinational corporations how to manipulate recruitment and selection practices in China. For the purpose of this paper I present followed questions in order to exhibit a panorama of MNCs recruitment and selection status quo in China. The first question is Who do they want? Large multinational corporations, along with domestic Chinese companies, are finding that acquiring talented employees is more than ever, one of their greatest challenges in China. Strangely, China has long been known as a largest source of labor. Why these MNCs still feel the shortage of employees? What kind of people do these MNCs want? Do they have some common characteristics? Do they have some different requests when they recruit people in China and from their parent country? Therefore, the first step is to define the job and the person firstly, namely, how to determine a job vacancy in these MNCs? How many steps to determine it? All of these relevant questions will be addressed in this part. It will portray an explicit scene to readers about the preliminary phase demand of MNCs recruitment in China. The second question is How do they attract the people they want? As Iles and Salaman (1995) said, the actual channels or vehicles used to attract candidatesseem to influence whether the right kind of applicants are encouraged to apply, and to persist in their application. Organisaitons can choose from a wide variety of methods, including the use of informal personal contacts, formal personal contacts, notice boards, advertising, and external assistance. Which methods are the most popular and useful? How to choose the methods? Is it relevant to the level of the vacancy and its importance within the organization? The third question is How do they identify them? The stages described above constitute recruitment, and are primarily concerned with generating a sufficient pool of applicants. The focus now shifts to selection, and the net stages concentrate on assessing the suitability of candidates. There is no denying saying that various selection techniques are available, and a selection procedure will frequently involve the use of more than one. The most popular techniques will be outlined in my paper, and their validity, effectiveness and cost also will be discussed in Chinas context. Are they still useful? Are they need to be modified when introduce them to China? The last question is How do they know they have got it right? The final stage of the recruitment and selection process concerns measurement of its success, both qualitatively and quantitatively. ACAS guidelines suggest that any recruitment and selection system should be based on three fundamental principles: effectiveness, efficiency and fairness (ACAS, 1983). Furthermore, we should not forget that ethical issues arise concerning the treatment of people during recruitment and selection which always make the recruitment and selection be more complexity. Therefore, what methods could have been used to monitor the effectiveness of the recruitment campaign? And what could be done to integrate national and regional recruitment? RESEARCH DESIGN Research Approach To avoid analysis paralysis, it is important that the business analyst not delve into too much detail too early in a project. It is more important to understand the forest than worrying about each and every tree. Of key importance is not to fall into the black hole of technical detail and exception (Yin, 2003). Yet, as discussed by Whetten (1989), two different approaches may be taken, or combined. In the first, the researcher works within an explicit theoretical framework. Therefore, a theoretical framework becomes a researchers first cut at making some explicit theoretical statements (Miles Huberman, 1994). This approach is known as deduction. In the second, the researcher tries not to be constrained by prior theory and instead sees the development of relevant theory, propositions, and concepts as a purpose of the project. This approach is generally known as induction. However, it is often the case that much research starts with testing a given theory or literature bust also seeks to generate new insights into these topics possibly by investigating this in different contexts and therefore, this research is iterative in its approach to theory. It adopts a flexible approach by seeking to use the literature but extend this to different research settings to generate new insights in order to modify, adapt or qualify the existing theory on the field of study. In that case, in this research both approaches will be combined since the main intent is to study a relatively un-researched topic -from the practical manipulating perspective to study the MNCs recruitment and selection practices in the background of China, within the bounds of an already well-established research program (theory of recruitment and selection practices in MNC). Hence, I choose not to ignore previous work in the field. I intend to develop a conceptual model built on over ten years of research that is a conceptual advance on the literature. The model of the participation context within which MNCs in China operated is comprised of at least four sets of issues. These issues will be then used to develop the initial coding scheme for the qualitative analysis of data. However, given that this study is aimed at theory building, not theory testing, the theoretical framework and conceptual model will be used solely as a guide. It help make sense of what occurred in the field, e nsured that important issues will not be overlooked, provided a set of provisional constructs to be investigated, and guided my interpretation and focus. Subsequent analysis iterations can then delve into the exception situations and details. This use of the theory accords with Klein Myers (2001) recommendation that the empirical research needs to be guided by (or at least informed by) one or more social theories. Research Inquiry After this initial review of the research questions and research approach, the research inquiry most appropriate to the problem would be descriptive and exploratory. Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how (Kotler et al., 2006). The object of descriptive research is to portray an accurate profile of persons, events and situations. Exactly, the first step of my research is to establish an explicit profile of these MNCs how to manipulate the recruitment and selection practices in China. Exploratory research, which also will be used in my dissertation is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined (Kerlinger, 1986). Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. Given its fundamental nature, exploratory research ofte n concludes that a perceived problem does not actually exist. The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation (Kotler et al., 2006). In my dissertation, I will focus on through clearing about the MNCs manipulation practices on recruitment and selection in China exploring new insight to this topic. When framing descriptive questions in research we must clarify our unit of analysis. It is the major entity that is being analyzed in the study. It is the what or whom that is being studied (Earl, 2005). The unit of analysis in my dissertation is group, the MNCs subsidiaries in China. Research Design Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees, management or competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot studies (Kotler et al., 2006). And the descriptive research describes characteristics of a population on phenomenon and tries to understand the nature of the problem. Therefore, the secondary research and survey are the main research design. Secondary data, which is historical data mainly include previously collected, census of population and literature survey. And the survey design is most frequently associated with deductive strategy because it is often based on testing a theory. As Saunders et al (2007) note that surveys allow for the collection of a large amount of data from a sizable population. The survey data also allows a lot of control over the data an d makes generalizations by using sampling procedures rather than surveying the entire population. The type of survey is cross-sectional studies (also known as cross-sectional analysis), which form a class of research methods that involve observation of some subset of a population of items all at the same time, in which, groups can be compared at different sections with respect of independent variables (William, 2006). Research Site The type of organization that I would study is the subsidiary of MNC in China, especially the top 500 companies. Compared to other companies, these top 500 companies always have a good reputation at their mature, systematic and advanced management techniques. These companies almost spread all over the economic sector in China and produce important influences to Chinese economy and society. Furthermore, owing to these top 500 MNCs more competitive salary and good work condition, their recruitment often attracts many peoples attention. Most of these companies are concentrated on Chinese big cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing. The theoretical sampling is the sampling way I will choose. The goal of theoretical sampling is not the same as with the probabilistic sampling; the researchers goal is not the representative capture of all possible variations, but to gain a deeper understanding of analysed cases and facilitate the development of analytic frame  and concepts  used in their r esearch (Charles, 1994). RESEARCH METHODS There are mainly two research methods would be used in my dissertation. The first is the review of current relevant articles focusing on recruitment and selection practices in MNCs. It will help me to build the main theory framework of the dissertation. This method is often the most feasible one, particularly for students or others with restricted time and resources, and can legitimately be used provided its limitations are clearly understood and stated. Furthermore, it also has the bigger and more representative sample in related field. I will screen papers by recruitment and selection and by numerous variants of keywords, focusing specifically on China, MNC, assessment center, and work sampling etc.. Source papers will be chose just from refereed research studies, surveys and empirical reports conducted by companies official website, local offices of international HR consulting firms, and articles from professional journals and news sources. The second research method is the survey, which is the most important source of supplementary material to the dissertation. That is, based on the theory framework, the results of survey can be a supplement to these theories and provide practices examples to them. These surveys covered five areas, including the recruitment and selection process, the recruitment methods, the selection methods, the recruitment and selection principles, and other archival documents will also be collected. Furthermore, it also can provide some new insight to the dissertation through the open-ended interviews. Here, personal interviews, telephone surveys, mail surveys, and computer direct interviews will be conducted. In-depth survey, based on semi-structured questionnaires and open-ended interviews with general managers, HR directors, and employees in HR Department will be carried out over a period of two months. Now, there are a lot of chat groups on the internet through QQ (the most popular chat softwar e in China) and MSN. Once you join these HR professional chat groups, you can know hundreds of people who are engaged in the work related HR and get the contact way of them, most of time is email address. Through these chat groups I have known a lot of people who are working in different subsidiaries of MNCs in China. Some of them are employee in HR department, but some of them even are the HR directors in these company. Furthermore, some of my pre-classmates and friends are working in MNCs, they also can help me to finish the surveys. Therefore, I intend to distribute approx 400 questionnaires through email and at least 20 interviews through face-to-face, computer, or telephone to achieveà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’ from June through August of 2008 in Beijing and Shanghai. Compared to the telephone interview, face-to-face interview, and computer direct interview, email surveys are both very economical and very fast. It allows the respondent to answer at their leisure, rather than at the often inconvenient moment they are contacted for a phone or personal interview. For this reason, they are not considered as intrusive as other kinds of interviews. However, many people dislike unsolicited email even more than unsolicited regular mail. (Selwyn and Robson,1998). Furthermore, in order to get more detail data, face-to-face interview is necessary. Longer interviews are sometimes tolerated. Particularly with in-home interviews that have been arranged in advance. People may be willing to talk longer face-to-face than to someone on the phone. Considered some inconvenient factors, telephone interview and computer direct interview also can be a supplementary method. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERTATIONS The empirical paradigm holds assumptions based on the supposition that an external world of objects exist, that the assumptions can be measured independently of one another, that these objects are lawfully interrelated, and that the relationships are mediated by a real force in objects that is called causation (Cook, 1983). In order to determine causal relationships in a test environment, generalizability is of utmost importance (Runkel and McGrath, 1972). Yet if I wish to generalize my findings, scope and variance must be emphasized generalizability. One solution to this problem is to perform a greater number of observations, which has a dual effect: first, it increases the sample population, which heightens generalizability; second, precision can be reasonably maintained because the random errors between observations will average out. However, no matter how carefully these three forms of generalizability are applied, there is no absolute guarantee that the results obtained in a stu dy will occur in every situation outside the study (Firestone, 1993). Reliability refers to the degree of consistency with which instances are assigned to the same category by different observers or by the same observer on different occasions. As mentioned in above, through studying MNCs recruitment and selection practices in China, I hope it could be a good reference to Chinese local enterprise when they introduce and use these recruitment and selection methods. Therefore, I should consider more related environmental and social factors in a big background. Furthermore, in order to enhance the reliability of study, all of the respondents I will choose are those who are working in subsidiaries of MNCs in China. Generally, in qualitative research measurement validity is considered to be high because the researcher is close to the research setting and is responsible for data collection. Therefore, in qualitative research validity always relates to whether there is a good match between researchers observations and the theoretical ideas they develop (Bryman, 2001) On the one hand, I choose to use the literature review to build the basic framework of the dissertation, which can make sure I can get the most reliable, extensive and completed data. On the other hand, questionnaires and interviews can help me to get new insight and practical examples to this topic. Furthermore, there are a lot of conventional approaches to enhance the validity of qualitative data. Generally, theoretical sampling which I intend to use in this dissertation can be viewed as a technique of data triangulation: using independent pieces of information to get a better fix on something that is only partially known or underst ood (Charles, 1994). Also, the Refutability Principle which I will obey stresses that we must avoid the temptation to jump easily into conclusions just because there is some evidence that seems to lead in an interesting direction. Instead, we must subject the evidence to every possible test. Compared to other practices, recruitment and selection are always assumed to have high compatibility between countries because they are characterized by the technical ingredients attached to various positions (cf. Anderson, 1992; Watson, 1994). However, owing to directly utilizing some commonly-applied western theoretical frameworks and instruments, findings may not fully detect the cultural nuances in the Chinese employees; the narrowly geographically-concentrated sampling and access may prevent generalization of findings to the broad Chinese context. Obviously, with the limitation of the data, additional research is needed to develop the topic further, which until now has been largely black-boxed. References Anderson, G. (1992) Selection. In Towers, B. (ed.) Handbook of Human Resource Management. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 167-85. Bryman, A. (2001), Social Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 271. Caligiuri, P. M., (2000), Selecting Expatriates for personality Characteristics: A Moderating Effect of Personality on the Relationship Between Host National Contact and Cross-Cultural Adjustment, Management International Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 61-80. Charles C. Ragin (1994), Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method, Pine Forge Press. Cook, T.(1983). Quasi-experimentation: Its ontology, epistemology, and methodology. In G. Morgan (Eds.), Beyond method: strategies for social research , Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, pp.78. Dana B. Minbaeva (2005), HRM practices and MNC knowledge transfer, Department of International Economics and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 125-144. URL: www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm. Earl Babbie (2005), The Practice of Social Research, 10th edition, Wadsworth, Thomson Learning Inc., Ferner, A., Almond, P., Colling, T. (2005), Institutional theory and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: the case of workforce diversity in US multinationals, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 36 No.3, pp.304-21. Firestone WA. (1993) Alternative arguments for generalizing from data as applied to qualitative research. Educational Researcher 22:pp.16-23. Gary Dessler (2006), Expanding into China? What Foreign Employers should know About Human Resource Management in China Today? Graf, A., (2004), Screening and training inter-cultural competencies: evaluating the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 31-44. Iles, P., Salaman, G. (1995), Recruitment selection and assessment, in Storey, J. (Eds), Human Resource Management: A Critical Text, Routledge, London.,. Kerlinger, F.N., (1986), Foundations of behavioral research, Holt, Rinehart Winston, New York. Klein, H., Myers, M., (2001), A Classification Scheme for Interpretive Research in Information Systems, chapter 9 from Trauth (2001), 218-239. Kotler, P, Adam, S, Brown, L Armstrong, G (2006), Principles of Marketing , 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest, NSW Russell K. Schutt, Investigating the Social World, 5th ed, Pine Forge Press Lu, Yuan and Bjorkman, Ingmar (1997) HRM practices in China-Western joint ventures: MNC standardization versus localization, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8: pp. 614 628. Martin, G. and Beaumont, P. (1999) Co-ordination and Control of Human Resource Management in Multinational Firms: the Case of CASHCO, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 10, 1: 21-42. Miles, M., Huberman, A., (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, Sage, Thousand Oaks.. Myloni, B Mirza H.R. (2004), Host country specific factors and the transfer of Human Resource Management practices in Multinational Companies, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 25 (6), pp. 518-534. Runkel. P and McGrath.J, Research on human behavior: A systematic guide to method, Holt, Rinehart Winston, New York (1972). Saunders, M, Thornhill. A, Lewis. P (2007) Research Methods for Business Students (Fourth Edition), Prentice Hall, pp. 138. Selwyn, N. and Robson, K. (1998) Using E-Mail As A Research Tool, Social Research Update, issue 21. Wang, Cindy (2002), Human Resource Management in Transition: A study of MNEs in China, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School Working Paper Series, October. Watson, T. (1994) Recruitment and Selection. In Sisson, K. (ed.) Personnel Management. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 185-252. Whetten, D., (1989), What Contributes a Theoretical Contribution?, Academy of Management Review, Vol 14, No 4, pp 490-495. William M. K. Trochim (2006), Research Methods Knowledge Base, Web Center for Social Research Methods. URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/timedim.php Yin, R., (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd Ed, Sage, Beverly Hills, California

Environmental Apocalypse :: Environment Consumerism Population Essays

Environmental Apocalypse The environment is in a terrible condition and although an environmental apocalypse is not imminent we are definitely headed down that road. Some of the reasons for our Earth’s trouble are overpopulation, consumerism, and overconsumption. The earth’s population is ever increasing; it is only a matter of time before there are not enough resources to support life on the planet and the population begins to die off due to lack of food, water, and other resources. With our current population increase rates the population will double within the next century. â€Å"Indeed, the world population did double in thirty-seven years from 1950 to 1987.'; (Ehrlich, 1990) The problem with overpopulation is that even if we all reduce our impact on the environment, when the population doubles, so will the total impact on the earth will be doubled. Consumerism is another thing that is threatening our planet. Everyone who wants to be anyone â€Å"must have'; whatever is cool at the time. This usually means the biggest, meanest, least efficient car or the fanciest toys, generally leading to wasteful packaging and harmful chemicals or other bad stuff. â€Å"In short, Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology.'; (Ehrlich, 1990) The problem is that everyone cares too much about societies image of them that they don’t think about the results of their actions. We also have a problem with the consumption of our resources. Many of the resources that we rely like fossil fuels, forests, and water are non-renewable. We are rapidly depleting these and have nothing to use when they are gone. Our society will have a lot of trouble turning around their habits until we are desperately low on them and it will be too late. It will be difficult to develop alternative technologies because of a lack of government funding, and the people who have the money (oil companies) do not want their income taken away by a different resource.

Kerala from Sangam to Dutch Period

Introduction. ?Kerala has a unique Geographical position. ?Kerala has a rich culture and is the meeting point of many types of ideologies, Ideas and religious views. ?Travelers, merchants and rulers visited kerala and influenced its History. ?Story Behind the birth Of Kerala. ?Parasurama the 6th Incarnation of Lord Vishnuthrew an axe far into the sea and commanded the sea to retreat. ?The land that emerged from the waters became Kerala. ?From where does the term kerala come from ? ?Sanskrit scholars derive the name from â€Å"Kera or coconut†,which is a staple product of kerala. Others say it is derived from the Tamil word â€Å"Charal† meaning Mountain slope. ?Arab and Persian writers and early Malayalam and medieval Tamil Literature say that the word kerala means the land of hills and mountains. Traditional sources. ?Early history of kerala is based on traditions. The two major sources are : ? Archaeological Sources. ?Archaeological survey and excavations were started in Kerala by Ward and Conor in 1819. ? there are 3 relics of the Historical period found in the various parts of Kerala. They are : 1. monuments 2. coins 3. inscription. ?Monuments. 1.Stone images of Buddha, reflect the culture of kerala during the Buddhist era. 2. Religious monuments : Temples , Churches, Mosques and Synagogues. 3. Palaces – famous Padmanabhapuram palace in Kanyakumari district and Dutch palace in Fort Cochin. 4. Forts and historical sites. ?Coins. ? Many foreign and indigenous coins have been found in kerala. †¢ Rast is the oldest of them. †¢Roman coins are the oldest Foreign coins. †¢Rulers of Travancore and Cochin Had their own independent coinage. †¢Dutch copper coins and British Indian Coins give valuable information to historians. ?Inscriptions . Throw light on the political,Cultural, and social life of the People of Kerala. 2. Give insight into working conditions of local assemblies, how temples were managed, Relationship between the landlord and tenant and functioning Of educational institutions. 3. Some inscriptions testify the liberal policy of religious tolerationfollowed by the ancient rulers of Kerala. ?Sangam Age(1-500 A. D. ) ? Sangam Literature was composed, In which the Works of poets and writers threw light upon cultural, economic, political, Social and other aspects of the kingdoms of the South. Through these works we get to know what happened during the first 500 years of Christian Era : I. there was monarchy and patrilineal system of succession, II. Women were well educated and had a good position in society, III. Monogamy was the norm, widow remarriage was permitted, Child marriage was not there. ?No division of society into high and low castes,there was no untouchability, ? Rice was the staple food, people had no restrictions regarding beef eating and other non-veg items. Rice-wine was a popular drink. ?It was rare to find Brahmins though some were there as Aryan Brahmins in the royal court. Agriculture was a major occupation and due to trade with countries like Rome, they flourished as a prosperous set of people. Post Sangam Period (500-800 A. D. ) ?Main rulers of this period were Cheraman Perumal and Kulasekara Alwar. ?The former became a Vaishnavite Poet and the latter accepted Islam and went to Mecca. ?Adi Shankara (788-820 A. D. ) lived and propogated the Advaida philosophy during this period. ?After the creation of Kerala it was believed that Parasurama planted sixty-four joint Brahmin Families and gave them rules which would govern them. The Brahmins invited rulers called â€Å"Perumals â€Å" to rule them and each ruler was appointed for a period of 12 years to rule over them. The Kollam Epoch (800-1200A. D) ?Politically Kerala was under the Cholas and Pandyas. †¢A temple was constructed at almost every town and village in Kerala †¢ the Quilon calendar was introduced during this time in 25 July 825 A. D. ? Festivals like onam and vishu came to be cel ebrated. ? The 9th century A. D. saw Malayalam growing as a distinct language. ? Educational institutions like â€Å"Salai† came into existance. ? This period also saw the grow of trade and commerce. There was trade between China and Kerala. ?Tenant system was prevalent whereby the feudal lords enjoyed life at the cost of the poor tenants. ?Sales and tax on vehicles fetched a revenue for the state. ?Ravi Varma Epoch (1200-1500 A. D) ? During this period the land relations showed certain important features : ? Increase of intermediaries as temporary holders of land. ?Increased measures to expand cultivable land and enhance income from land. ?The emergence of cash money in obtaining land rights. ?Traditional landowners held the right of ownership of land. ?Pledging of land of debt on interest. Agriculture was the main occupation. ?There were other occupations like ritual-cum-medicine men, astrologers, washer men and so on. ?There was growth of trade and trading centres; ?Trade was at 3 levels : ?Transport system was essential for trade and in this context there were many boats, ships; even bridges over waterways was essential. ?Portugese Rule In Kerala. ?Political authority was fragmented by the time the Portuguese came to kerala. ?In 1498, Vasco-do-Gamma reached Kappad near Kozhikode. ?Portugese, was the first to achieve a stronghold in Kerala ?A number of battles were fought between the provincial rulers and the Portugese. In 1524 Gamma was appointed the Portugese viceroy of Kerala. ?Apart from commerce, they were also interested in imparting their faith to the people. ?Many people were forced to convert. ?In 1550’s , St. Francis Xavier converted many fisher folk and other socially backward sections along the coastal regions of southern Kerala. ?The chiefs in the state (except the Muslims to whom the Portuguese were hostile) did not resist the conversion as long as they had freedom to do trade and commercial activities and the economic fabric of society was not disturbed. The Portuguese used their own tactics of divide and rule policy for fulfilling their commercial interests in the state. ?New towns had risen and old towns decayed. eg. Calicut, Cochin, Chaliyam gained importance while Quilon and Cranganore languished. ?Crops like cashewnuts, tobacco, custard apple, guava, pineapple and papaya were introduced. ?Gunpowder increased the importance of artillery. This brought unemployment among the Nairs who were well trained in swords and shields. †¢They established seminaries and colleges in Cochin, Angamali and Cranganore. For gtting Christian priests. †¢St.Francis Xavier translated Catechism into Malayalam. †¢Fearing ?The Dutch in Kerala. ?Dutch East India Company was established in the year 1592. ?In 1604 they came to the Malabar coast. ?There was rivalry btw Cochin and Kozhikode during that time and they took advantage of this situation. ?However like the Portuguese their involvement in the local politics w as minimal. ?However they had conflicts btw Marthanda Varma of Thiruvithankur and Samuthiri of Kozhikode. ?The Dutch had the main power over the Trade activities. ?Pepper and spices were exported by merchants only after the consent of the Dutch people. They constructed forts and factories here like the Portuguese. ?They sold Indonesian spices and sugar to those ships which were going to Cochin. It turned out to be a success. ?But this didn’t last for long as it declined from 1783 and was completely stopped by 1793 due to poor demand. ?Conclusion ?The History of kerala is very essential part of the heritage of the state and country as well. ?If we study History well then we would know about the real background in which our state developed through the years. ?We can also see the contrasting practices that were in vogue during the ancient and medieval and the present kerala society.

Content Management Systems essays

Content Management Systems essays A content management system (CMS) is a term used to describe a system that manages Web site content. The CMS is well known for its ability to provide templates that allow a content author to manage the creation, modification and removal of Web site content without the need to know Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Thus, the organization is less dependent on specialized Web developer skills for Web site development and maintenance. However, the are numerous lesser known benefits such as data integration, design consistency, personalization, content syndication, automation of review, approval and publishing, and indexing, search, and retrieval that make CMS's an attractive value proposition for most Because a CMS separates the management of content from design, a Web page can more easily include content from multiple sources such as databases and files. The format management feature allows electronic and scanned paper documents to be formatted into HTML or Portable Document Format for use on the Web site. And, Web developers can more readily leverage templates and design elements to ensure consistency throughout the Web site. This also means that maintenance is less complicated because developers only need to modify templates instead of individual Web pages. Most CMS's allow different levels of access permissions to be set for separate areas of a Web site, facilitating work by areas of responsibility. Web sites are growing more complex in their needs for personalization and content syndication. More and more, companies wanted to customize Web sites to appeal to different audiences, particularly in sites for electronic commerce. In conjunction with a customer relationship management system that understands the site visitor's preferences and behavior, CMS's help to manage the personalized content that they can access. Web sites are no longer operated in a vacu...