Executive summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Executive summary - Essay Example The projects partners will be picked on the basis of their innovative idea with regards to telecommunication services, technological competencies and the projects credibility. The partners will be trained on the use of T-Mobile platform and will also get the support on the integration and testing of the services and applications designed. At the project closure, the chosen partners will be certified by T-Mobile which will engage them further in a closer collaboration. The collaboration might entail the designing products for the service operators and communication networks. The designed systems might also be exported to other communication firms and even government agencies. In all the incidences, the partners will be the sole proprietors of their applications and ideas developed. The project will be set within T-Mobile’s regional offices from Middle East and Africa. It will be open for the ideas submitted by the partners across the region. The main projects objective is to see the development and enrichment of applications and services that can be delivered through T-Mobile‘s telecommunication networks and the internet within Middle East and Africa regions. The objective is justified by its technological knowhow that makes it possible and that the designed applications and services will increase the revenue collected besides justifying the extensions of the internet access and telecom infrastructure towards the areas they serve. There is unexplored talent in the area with a myriad of these countries currently regarding the development of applications and services leveraging on the internet and telecom networks as a way of seeing rapid economic growth. The project seeks to support the local partners to achieve their dream and use them to transform the lives of the locals. The result of the initiative will be a win-win situation for the partners, T-Mobile, and locals. (Liu, 2009) As stated

Managing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 2

Managing strategy - Essay Example The company’s maximum revenue is earned from the domestic streaming services, which accounts for $2.75 billion of revenue generation. Netflix is dominant in the American market, which generates almost 84% of its revenue (Marketline, 2014). This paper discusses the external and internal environment of Netflix, using theoretical models like PESTLE framework, porter’s five forces, VRIN framework, Value chain model etc. This is followed by the discussion of the challenges faced by Netflix along with the vantage point which the company has leveraged. The paper further discusses about the company’s strategic growth options which have been justified in the light of relevant facts and theories. Finally the paper will conclude with the summary of the major findings from the study, followed by recommendation on the chosen strategic decisions. Political influence: Netflix operates in the movie streaming and DVD rental business, which is rarely affected by the political scenario of a region. However, the political framework can impose certain regulations and ban particular movies with controversial content. Movies with political storyline often bring controversies and are eventually banned in several countries, which affect the business of Netflix. Economic influence: The economic condition of a region highly influences the business operation of a firm. The movie steaming and rental business is highly dependent on the disposable income of the consumers. Moreover, movies are considered to be leisure products and a customer will spend on watching movies only when his disposable income is in and above satisfactory level. The economic crisis of 2012 has impacted the sales of Netflix significantly as it has reduced the number of viewership and subscriptions (Li, 2013). Moreover, the economic crisis has also led to lower number of film productions. Social:

Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay

Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay Managed Care has increasingly become prevalent in the United States. Overtime, it has continued to evoke strong ethical concerns regarding its applicability in our contemporary society. Such instances have been exemplified by the issue of efficacy; provision of a product or service with minimum input in terms of resources. Efficacy, as postulated, conjures more pressure on the medical practitioner to increase his/her productivity with minimized incentives. Moreover, Managed Care has been associated with capitation of contracts by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) where medical officers are paid not to attend to patients. However, a clear understanding of this practice would be essential if we were to term it as ethical or unethical. The history of Managed Care can be traced back to early 19th century, when a number of healthcare structures and systems emerged to provide subsidized health services for impoverished communities. These structures appeared in different communities across the United States with the aim of helping a few selected groups access medical care. This initiative was mainly meant for rural and marginalized communities in mining, lumbering, and railroad areas. Locals were asked to pay a small amount of the fee so that they could conveniently get access to medical care. However, in urbanized societies, charitable institutions settled the fee for marginalized communities. It is believed that Health Maintenance Organizations evolved from these practices and thus later came to be known as Managed Care (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). Nonetheless, with the different faces that Managed Care has adapted over the years, criticism for such practices has been heightened. Inasmuch as many communities have benefitted from this initiative, medical practitioners and professionals have sounded an alarm over the continued adoption of this practice. Health standards have been lowered due to the subsidized medical services. Physicians have been forced to offer their professional services at lowered prices thereby rendering poor services. This is one of the most notable ethical concern that has been associated with Managed Care. Moreover, a number of misconceptions have also been insinuated that try to render Managed Care inappropriate. However, there is need for clarifying some of these ethical concerns by determining whether they have impacted negatively on the society and as to whether its continued practice would compromise societal ethical norms. In this regard, this paper will define the social understanding of Managed Care, identify more instances where it has been associated with unethical practices, clarify such instances and describe its positive contributions towards the development in the faculty of medicine. Some of the issues to be discussed will include: efficacy in medical practice; capitation of contracts; quality in medical care and exploitation of these services. Furthermore, positive attributes such as cost-effectiveness; guarantee of medical attention; provision of preventive services and care coordination will also be evaluated thereby elucidating clear perceptions on Managed Care Plans. Therefore, the purpose of this paper will be to outline past, present and future trends in Managed Care. Furthermore, it will acknowledge the contribution made by Managed Care towards general health sustainability and clarify some of the social misunderstanding associated with it. It shall also seek to clearly distinguish between negative and positive attributes of Managed Care, thereby reducing fallacious thinking regarding universal and social approval of this practice. Lastly, it will provide a schema for further research on this subject by determining some of the areas that need further research. Conclusion Through Literary review, we have observed a number of past trends and issues in Managed Care as well as discovered present and future trends that will continue to affect Managed Care systems. Such trends include the collapse in relationships between a patient and a doctor. This has been attributed to the fact that, through Managed Care, patients are restricted to a particular doctor under a companys payroll. If a patient opted to visit a doctor that is not necessarily linked with the organization, he/she either accommodates the demands of the extra service or the company contributes just a small percentage (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). This affects doctor-patient relationship. Moreover, patients cannot develop lasting bonds with their doctors since the company may decide to terminate the services of a particular physician or seize to be identified with a specific medical group. It is in such a case that Managed Care impacts negative in the medical field. Secondly, through capitation, some forms of Managed Care have created the provision through which doctors can now spend very little time on a particular patient. This trend has been observed in the Preferred Provider Arrangement system where for a physician to compensate for the little incentives he received, he would make sure he sees many patients. For him to see many patients, it would mean that he would spend the minimum time possible on a particular patient. Consequently, this also affects the patient-doctor bonding process, exploration of available treatment options for the patient and does not guarantee exhaustive analysis of the patients problem. Furthermore, the doctor may end up making the wrong diagnosis hence put the life of the patient in danger (Bierman, A. S., Haffer, S. C., Hwang, Y. T., 2001). There have been cases where patients have been diagnosed with the wrong illness and thus ended up succumbing due to wrong prescription or treatment. Mental care plans have been greatly discriminated by Managed Care plans. Mental problems are far much financially demanding as compared to other illnesses. Therefore, many health management organizations have tried to avoid the inclusion of this package in their Managed Care system. The gravity of this issue prompted the drafting of a number of legislations which were presented to Congress for deliberation. For instance, the watered-down parity law, which was effected in 1998, prohibited companies from defining the maximum financial limit for mentally ill patients. Currently, many insurers are championing against this law by weakening it in a bid to render it inapplicable. In this regard, Managed Care programs seem to have failed in establishing parity in all health related illnesses. This is a huge shortcoming for Managed Care practices as it exhibits aspects of biasness. Lastly, one striking trend that will pose a great challenge to Managed Care structures in the future is the issue of Medical practitioners in Medical schools influencing their students thinking towards Managed Care. Presently, it has been established that most medical students across the United States are anti-Managed Care. This is attributed to the fact that most lecturers, who are health practitioners outside lecture rooms, are influencing their students thinking towards this practice. With this trend, physicians who are in the making will ravage this practice in the future thus hurl impoverished communities back to their medical poverty. Therefore, the imparting of negative ideological mindsets by lecturers and faculty members in medical schools should be stopped before it spills out of control. We need to safeguard the much we have achieved and work towards providing more that we could provide. However, Managed Cares influence on the issues outlined below has shown its positive c ontribution towards general health sustenance. Positive conclusions can be drawn hence act as an advocate for the maintenance of this practice. Throughout history, people have struggled to gain adequate medical assistance and this has been linked to lack of financial stability. Managed Care has created a cost-effective working environment where patients, regardless of demographic, racial or cultural background can get convenient healthcare. Structural cost-effectiveness has been realized with incentive impacted cost and inter-group negotiations being simplified. The task of negotiating the price for medical services has been left for the employer and the physician thereby offloading some of the financial burden from the patient, (Bierman et al., 2001). Moreover, in extreme circumstances, patients are able to get access to professional medical care, with modern equipment, medication and follow-up activities that would guarantee a patients full recovery. This is one of the most significant achievements realized through the application of Medical Care. Quality medical practices can be defined in terms of customer satisfaction and medical outcomes, or both. Studies have indicated that Managed Care has heightened responsiveness in creating value products thereby broadening provider networks. Furthermore, it has enhanced corporative relationships among providers and consumers. Utilization controls have also been loosened as compared to fee-for-service systems. A more notable finding postulated that there was not much, if any, difference in terms of quality of services offered between Managed care and fee-for-service schemes. Moreover, a tremendous increase in quality of medical services has also been observed in marginalized areas where such services were minimal. This growth has reduced health vulnerabilities in such areas thus augmenting the general quality of health in the area. Counter claims have been made imploring whether the quality of healthcare has been lowered or raised. Nevertheless, with a reflection on the customer satis faction model and medical outcomes, most communities have acknowledged a tremendous positive growth. Lastly, perhaps the most significant contribution of Managed Care is the ease of access to medical services. Medical practitioners defined access to medical care as the ease of patient entrà ©e to medical providers and procedures. We can all affirm that the initial aim of Managed Care, which was to provide access to medical facilities, especially for impoverished populations, has been achieved. Insured and uninsured company staffs are legible for Managed Care as long as their affiliate company has provisions for Managed Care (Bierman et al., 2001). Initially, most employees opted to have their own health insurance programs which locked out those who could not afford an insurer. However, Managed Care, with some minimum fee, each employee becomes technically insured. Therefore, Managed Care has eased the way in which people get access to medical care thus achieved its primary goal. In conclusion, having critically looked at the trend that is affecting Managed Care today and which may as well pose a great challenge in the future, we are still left with one question that remains unanswered. What criterion could be used by employers and medical practitioners in selecting viable Managed Care systems? Managed Care is prone to exploitation by both employers and physicians. Moreover, while physicians are crying foul, they should have an opportunity of drafting their demands, which are reasonable and considerable, especially for the poor man, hence stop providing poor services on the pretext of underpayment. Therefore, a study should be carried out that would seek to find a neutral way of assigning medical affiliations. Patients, employers and physicians interests should be evaluated and generate a possible strategy that would be less controversial in Managed Care. This research, therefore, will also offer recommendations for proper legislation of its implementation.

Work and play in the city :: essays research papers

Work and Play in the City   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The city had been a place of work for a long time, but it was beginning to become almost as much of a place for play. As the average person was able to earn more money and have more free time, it was desirable to have some fun at the end of a hard day. Everyone found different ways to enjoy themselves, whether it is in one place that caters to many interests or many single interest places. Having a bit of fun became more and more important as the years progressed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the major reasons the city became much more of a place for play was that there was a major shift in the types of work people were doing. Instead of intertwining enjoyment into your workday, people were sacrificing fun for shorter workdays and a more concentrated day. This also caused a great increase in wages. As this change occurred â€Å"recreation and play were not luxuries [anymore] but necessities in the modern city.† Different types of people found various ways to have their fun. Depending on how much money you made, your sex, or your race, you may have enjoyed much different methods of amusement. In theaters the African Americans always got the worst seats, and the rich people were usually box holders. In fact it became very difficult for performers to please such a mixed crowd. In fact, one English actor named Macready caused a riot because of a play he was performing. During his performance â€Å"a crowd of 10,000 gathered to protest. The militia was called to restore order, which it did, but only after 22 people had been killed, 150 hurt and 86 arrested.† Though, soon after the theaters began to cater to certain interests instead of trying to cater to everyone at once.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the theaters were not a person’s only source of entertainment there were plenty of other forms. One could go to a beer hall, billiard room, variety theaters, or a concert hall. Though these were for men mostly, and men with money to spend at that, there were also places such as parks, museums, libraries, and lecture halls for people to spend their leisure time. Everyone was finding more and more leisure time and more places to spend their time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the nineteenth century was ending the city became as much of a center for fun as it was for work.

Quazi

African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(27), pp. 11005-11010, 9 November, 2011 Available online at http://www. academicjournals. org/AJBM DOI: 10. 5897/AJBM11. 326 ISSN 1993-8233  ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Impact of working capital on firms’ profitability Hassan Aftab Qazi1*, Syed Muhammad Amir Shah2, Zaheer Abbas3 and Tanzeela Nadeem4 1 University of Central Punjab, Lahore 1-Khayaban-e-Jinnah Road, M. A. Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan. 2 Illama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 3 Islamic International University, Islamabad, Pakistan.Accepted 20 April, 2011 The correlation between working capital and profitability of firms is analyzed for the management of cash cycle management. Working capital is made by the three important factors, debtor, creditor and stock. When we include cash conversion cycle (CCC) to working capital then it becomes working capital management (WCM). Two sectors are selected as a sample size: automobile and oil and gas sector. The time period is from 2004 – 2009. Different variables affecting the profitability of firms are selected.In this study, networking capital, inventory turnover in days, average account receivable and financial asset to total assets (FATA) are taken as independent variables. The result shows positive movement of working capital (WC) on firm’s profitability. R shows the fitness of the model which is 49. 95%. The independent variables explain 49. 95% of the model. Key words: Working capital management (WCM), cash conversion cycle (CCC), account receivable (AR). INTRODUCTION A good number of firms have put sufficient cash in working capital. Working capital management (WCM) is an important factor of financial management (FM).Debtor, creditor and inventory are the major components of working capital (WC). Large stock and trade credit policy can increase the sales volume. Inventory is the main part of the working capital. Increase in the inventory will give dec rease in the risk of stock out. Inventory is done for fulfilling the demand of the public. Inventory is the liability of the company to sell it. The other element of working capital (WC) is accounts payable (AP). Firms can check the quality of the products provided by the producer by giving them late payment, whether it is suitable for the firm or not.Late payments create very bad impression of the firm in the market. Accounts receivable is also the major part of the working capital. Delay in the days of receivable creates more complication for the company. Working capital management is still taken lightly by some companies. It works as a key to free the cash from stock, accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). To deal with the less important aspects of efficient and effective Working Capital (WC), firms can sharply reduce the out sourcing and they can save the money for future investment or opportunities.This can create more financial flexibility and increase the worth o f the firm by reducing capital employed (Buchmann and Jung, 2008). This study basically focuses on the long run financial decisions, future investments and allocations of funds, dividends and valuation of the firm in the stock market. However, balance sheet components assets and liabilities are significant in short term planning and they need to be carefully analyzed by the firm. Short term assets and liabilities are managed carefully by working capital management (WCM) for the growth of the firm’s profitability (Smith, 1980).For creating good worth of the share in front of shareholders, firms have to manage working capital efficiently and effectively. Working capital management process starts from the purchase of raw material up to the sales of the goods. It creates significant impact on the profitability and liquidity of the firms (Shin and Soenen, 1998). Net working capital (NWC) and gross working capital (GWC) are the two major concepts of working capital (WC). The total current assets and *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email  protected] com. Tel: +92-42-35880007 or +923334604314. 11006 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. orking capital (WC) can be replaced as a Gross working capital of the firm. By subtracting Current Liabi-lities from Current Assets it becomes Net Working Capital. Net working capital (NWC) can also be used to measure the liquidity but it is not useful when firms are compared with each other regarding performance, but useful in measuring the internal control of the firm. The net working capital helps to compare the liquidity of previous record of the firm performance. The main purpose of the working capital management (WCM) is to make the sustainable level of the working capital (WC) which is favorable for the firm.Net working capital (NWC) is the part of the currents assets which is main-tained through funds having maturity life more than one year. Current assets represent the source of short terms funds. If the firm has less short term funds then it is supported by long term funds and sustains the firm value and market share price. This is very useful for the ana-lysis of trade between profitability and risk in the shares of the firm. Positive working capital (PWC) and Negative Working Capital (NWC) are the two possible signs. Positive working capital (PWC) is the sign of firm healthiness.Positive working capital (PWC) means that firm have the ability to pay the liabilities which maturity date are less than one year of the firm on due date. Positive working capital (PWC) is calculated by comparing Current Assets (CA) by current liabilities (CL). Negative Working Capital is the sign of firm weakness. Negative working capital means that company does not have the ability to pay the short term liabilities. When the Working Capital (WC) shows negative sign, it indicates long term funds support the short term funds and firm can easily pay the obligations on due date and save the value or worth of firm in the market.But in th e different case, firm declining means bankruptcy. If declining working capital ratio continues for longer period then it can affect the firm value. If the firm efficiency is more in the operation, the more increase in working capital (WC). It can be analyzed by comparing the operation of working capital (WC) periodically. Working capital is raised from profits or outsourcing. Outsourcing means when there are more sales in the season but the firm is not able to invest and produce more products.From outsourcing, more liabilities arise but on the other way from investing more, revenue will generate from more sales and it will increase the assets of the firm. Working Capital Management (WCM) has its impact on profitability as well as liquidity of the company and the primary goal of a company is to increase the annual revenues. Keeping the company liquid is an extremely main task also. Increase in company profitabiliy by reducing the liquidity of the company can bring some serious probl ems for it. Goals cannot be ignored at any cost because each individual goal has its own importance. If goal of maximizing the profit is gnored, survival is not possible for a longer time. Similarly, if liquidity objective is ignored, insolvency or bankruptcy could be faced. Because of these bases, proper attention should be given to Working Capital Management (WCM) which affects the companies profits and through this, it will show the effect of the Working Capital (WC) on profitability (PRT). The research problem of this study is: does working capital have significant impact on profitability of a company? The objective of this reseach is to find out the correlation between working capital and profitability (PRT) through statistical analysis of a sample of listed companies.The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of traditional working capital policies (WCP) on the profitability (PRT) of the firms, to analyze whether Working Capital Policies (WCP) can become stable over a long run-up and to draw a conclusion about the impact of working capital on the profitability of companies. LITERATURE REVIEW A significant portion of financial research is concerned with the Management of working capital (MWC). This issue has been investigated at both theoretical and empirical levels. Different researchers have worked on working capital from different perspectives and in different economic environment.The environments and perspectives are discussed in detail in this work. This paper is conducted for the association between working capital (WC) and value creation for shareholders. Working capital has three parts. First, account receivable; second, account payable; and third, inventory. Account receivable is a part of balance sheet, placed in the Asset Side (AS) and it is the inflows of firm. Account receivable is maintained when a company makes sales on credit bases. Account payable is also the part of the balance sheet, placed on the liabilities side and also th e outflows of the firm.Account payable is maintained when a company do sum expenditures on the credit bases and make a payment on different terms. Inventory is maintained for generating the revenues from sales. The standard measure for working capital management (WCM) is cash conversion cycle (CCC). Cash conversion period reflects the time span between disbursement and collection of cash. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is based on three components: number of days of account receivable, number of day of accounts payable and number of day of inventory. It is measured by the sum of inventory conversion period less payable conversion period.Different researchers use the name like net trade cycle for calculating the Working Capital Management (WCM). In this, every component is calculated in percenttage of sales (Soenen, 1998). Qazi et al. 11007 In Marc’s view most firms invest cash in working capital (WC) and it shows that the management of Working Capital leaves good impression on t he Profitability of firms. Similarly, firm’s Working Capital Management (WCM) is a major part of financial positions. It helps the firms in maximizing their wealth and value of the shares. Larger inventory and trade policy can make higher sales for the firm.Large inventory reduces the risk of stock out for fulfilling the demand of the public. By providing credit sales to the customers, suppliers have significant cost advantage over financial institution (Deloof, 2002). Different researchers have different views that they test on the working capital. There is a positive correlation between account receivable and operating income of firm. Because if the good provided on credit bases then the days of the accounts receivable will not be for long period. On the basis of the accounts receivable, firms running their operations can meet the payment on due date.Efficient liquidity management (ELM) is a process which includes planning and controlling of current assets (CA) and current liabilities (CL). Liquidity and profitability of firm have great relation with each other. This relationship can be analyzed by current ratio (CR) and cash gap (CG) (Abdual, 2007). Firms short terms liabilities are directly related to the former while the continuity of liabilities is concerned with the latter. Higher investment blocked in stock and accounts receivable creates problem for operation. Decrease in number of days of account receivable gives increase in early eserves (Padachi, 2006). Financial managers can gain profit by maintaining component of cash conversion cycle (CCC) at a higher level (Nazir and Afza, 2009). If the inventory gets to the minimum level and the number of days account receivable (NDAR) also becomes minimum, then firms can increase their profits and run their project efficiently and effectively (Abdul, 2007). The policies of working capital management can help to measure the WC. If the policies which the firm is going to implement are very strict and hel pful for the firm then the firm will not bear losses or stock out or less short term assets.The financing policies mean how to allocate the revenue to different departments and after how many days the firm is going to receive their payments and ability to pay his own payments. The share value can be created by the financial managers if they efficiently manage through conservative approach (Nazir and Afza, 2009). Different researchers use different analysis models. For empirical investigation, the anova and Pearson correlation analysis is applied. From these models, firm size and cash cycle can be measured easily.It is easy to measure the efficiency of working capital management (WCM), performance evaluation and the whole efficiency of the firm by setting up their targets. For calculating the overall efficiency of the firm, the target has to be achieved in limited time period. Researchers use pooled data for the analysis. In the pooled data, different independent variables such as re gress combine with the dependent variable (Zariyawati, 2009). The financial leverage and growth in sales are the major factor of firm profitability. Firms have to select the best policy to improve their collection and payment period.Efficient management financing of working capital can increase their operational profitability (Abdul, 2010). After studying the above articles, it is seen that the results of all researchers are the same on working capital management (WCM) and profitability (PRT) regardless of different companies, environments and situations. METHODOLOGY This research is to analyze the impact of working capital (WC) on the profitability (PRT) of oil and gas and automobile industry with reference to Pakistan. Different statistical tools are applied to analyze the significance of the variables. So, the method of coefficient of correlation has been selected.Regression analysis is applied for testing the model reliability and significant relationship between variables. Data set and sample Two sectors are selected from Karachi Stock Exchange. The first is oil and gas and the second is automobile sector. A total of 20 companies are taken as sample for the data collection, which are collected from different sources. They are taken from 2004 – 2009 from the annual report. Some data are collected from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) provides an analysis report of different sectors and companies which were listed in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).In this study, different variables are taken to measure the working capital (WC). Working Capital is taken as independent variable (WC) while profitability is taken as dependent variable (PRT). In this case, profit after tax is taken as profitability of firms. Working Capital can be measured by different ways. First is net working capital (NWC), which is measured by current assets (CA), divided by current liabilities (CL). Second is inventory turnover in days (ITID), which is cal culated by inventory divided by Cost of Goods Sold (CGS) and multiplied by 365.Third is number of day of accounts receivable (AAR), which is calculated by other current assets divided by sale and multiplied by 365. Forth is financial asset to total assets (FATA), which is calculated by adding cash and investment and the whole divided by total assets. In addition, current ratio (CR), debt to equity ratio (DER) and sales natural logarithm (LOS) are taken as control variable in this analysis. All the aforementioned variables are affecting the Working Capital, Working Capital Management (WCM) and it will have negative or positive impact on the profitability of the firms.Hypotheses testing The objective of this research is to examine the impact of Working Capital (WC) on the profitability of firms. Figure 1 shows the impact 11008 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Figure 1. Impact of Working Capital on Profitability. of working capital on profitability† H1: Working capital has positive effect on the profitability of firms. H0: Working capital has no positive effect on the profitability of firms. Model specification In this study, panel data regression analysis and time series of data are taken. For the regression analysis, pooled data are used.In this pooled data, all variables are combined on the same level and selected variables are grouped as independent and dependent variables. After that, all variables are selected for regression and correlation analysis. Model equation PRT it = ? 0 + ? 1 (AAR it) + ? 2 (ITID it) + ? 3 (CR it) + ? 4 (DER it) + ? 5 (LOS it) + ? 6 (FATA it) + ? 7 (NWC it) + ? PRTi t = Net Profit t; i = 1- 20 firms. ?0 : Beta ? i: Coefficients X it X it: Independent variables i at time t t: Time = 1-5 years. ?: The error term Whereas, AAR = Average Account Receivable ITID = Inventory Turnover in Days CR = Current Ratio LOS = Sales logarithmFATA = Financial Assets to Total Assets NWC = Net Working Capital DER = Debt Equity Ratio Qualitative analyses In th is paper, two analyses are applied. First, correlation and statistical tools are applied in these data. We select person correlation model for this study to find out the degree of correlation among dependent and independent variables. In the regression analysis, we gather the data from annual reports and turn it to the same level. This gathering of data is called pooled data. For this analysis, we select E-views software to analyze it correctly in the case of pooled data.DATA ANALYSIS AND REGRESSION RESULTS The correlation and determination coefficients are the measures of the regression model. First, correlation coefficient (49. 95%) and the determination coefficient (26. 12%) show the degree of correlation among working capital and profitability of selected firms from oil and gas and automobile sector over 2004 – 2009. The standard error value is 6. 5926 and F-statistics value is 5. 4213 which is significant at 1% and shows 100% fitness of the model (Table 1). Similarly, th e Durbin-Watson statistics is 1. 9991 which clearly defines that there is no serial correlation in this regression model.Table 2 shows the estimation results of the six antecedents for the independent variable of working capital at Qazi et al. 11009 Table 1. Model summary. R R2 Adjusted R-squared Standard Error of Estimate Durbin-Watson statistics F statistics 0. 499599 0. 261211 0. 213029 6. 592679 1. 991426 5. 421362 Table 2. Estimation results. Variable NWC NDAR ITID FATA DER CR Means 23. 58595 129. 4913 75. 80012 0. 217936 17. 96434 18. 85266 SD 8. 415465 351. 7532 143. 2339 0. 191679 3. 368055 0. 597391 T stats 4. 520358 0. 254527 0. 937944 -0. 477942 -0. 554939 0. 096545 Remarks Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Table 3.Correlation matrix. PROFIT NWC NDAR ITID FATA DER CR PROFIT 1. 000000 0. 474400 0. 109619 0. 112621 -0. 124623 -0. 201328 -0. 217375 NWC 1. 000000 -0. 086246 -0. 125120 -0. 054646 -0. 308676 -0. 397314 NDAR IITD FATA DER CR 1. 000000 0. 748882 -0. 190 807 -0. 095937 -0. 040053 1. 000000 -0. 311687 0. 061122 -0. 118921 1. 000000 0. 078238 0. 396036 1. 000000 0. 008978 1. 000000 1% significance level. The results show that Net Working Capital (NWC) has positive and significant impact on the Profitability (PRT) of firms and the rest of the variables explain the behavior of profitability but have no significant impact on profitability.In the correlation results shown in Table 3, networking capital has strong positive relationship with profitability of firms while number of days of account receivable (NDAR) and Inventory turnover in days (ITD) are positive but have weak correlation power with profitability of firms; financial assets to total assets (FATA), debt equity ratio (DER) and current ratio (CR) are weak and negatively correlate with the Profitability (PRT) of the firms.But the correlation results of independent variables somehow showed positive and strong correlation of inventory turnover in days (ITD) with number of days acco unt receivable (NDAR) and a strong but negative correlation of current ratio with net working capital; the remaining variables correlate but are weak in both the positive and negative sense, thus the concept of colinearity does not exist among the variables as evident by the analysis results. Conclusion This study is the relationship of working capital (WC) and profitability (PRT) of firms. orking capital (WC) is the major portion of the balance sheet. In this paper, data are collected form Annual Reports (AR) and analysis report which is provided from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In this analysis report, the companies which are listed in stock exchange are analyzed and summarized. In this research, oil and gas and automobile sectors are taken 11010 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. as sample. Data are taken from 2004 – 2009. In this research, R shows the fitness of model which is 49. 95%. The independent variables explain 49. 95% of the model.In the regression results, only net work ing capital is positive and significant and Number of Days of Account Receivable (NDAR) and Inventory Turnover in Days (ITD) are positive but insignificant; and all other independent variables are negative and insignificant. In the correlation results, networking capital is positively correlated with profitability of the firms. The other two variables are weakly correlated with the profitability of firms and the other three independent variables are negatively correlated with profitability of firms.Hence, the empirical results of the paper show the positive trend of working capital on profitability of the firms. The results are supported by previous studies of Rahman (2007) and Nazir and Afza (2009) and Deloof (2002) on the Working Capital (WC). REFERENCES Abdual RMN (2007). Working Capital Management And Profitability – Case Of. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 279-300. Abdul RMN (2007). Working Capital Management And Profitability – Case Of Pakistani Firms. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 79-300. Abdul RTA (2010). Working Capital Management and Corporate Performance of Manufacturing Sector in Pakistan. Int. Res. J. Finan. Econ. , 47: 152. Buchmann P, Jung U (2008). Best-practice working capital management: Techniques for optimizing inventories, receivables, and payables. Q. Financ. , pp. 1-7. Deloof M (2002). Does Working Capital Management Affect Profitability of Belgian Firms? investopedia. com. (2010). Working capital : definations; negative working capital, positive working capital.Retrieved October 10, 2010, from www. investopedia. com: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/w/workingcapital. asp. Nazir S, Afza T (2009). Impact of Aggressive Working Capital Management Policy on Firms’ Profitability. J. Applied Manage . Padachi K (2006). Trends in Working Capital Management and its Impact on Firms’ Performance: An Analysis of Mauritian Small Manufacturing Firms. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 45 -58. Shin HH, Soenen L (1998). Eff iciency of working capital management and corporate profitability.Financ. Pract. Educ. , pp. 37-45. Smith K (1980). Profitability versus liquidity tradeoffs in working capital management, in readings on the management of working capital. ST. Pual,New York: West Publishing Company. Soenen S (1998). Liquidity management, operating performance, and corporate value: evidence from Japan and Taiwan. J Multi. Manage. , 159-169. Zariyawati MN (2009). Working capital management and corporate performance:Case of Malaysia. J. Modern Account. Audit. , 5(11): 4754.

Marketing Channels

Running head: DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Distribution Channels and Their Impact on Marketing Strategies Name: Institution: DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Abstract This paper discusses the importance of choosing appropriate channel members and also identifies and discusses criteria that should be used by the car compact disc player manufacturer when evaluating potential intermediaries for the firm’s distribution channel. This is important for this firm since it’s only through these marketing channels that their product is going to reach the consumer. The customer in this case is the auto makers who are intended to buy the newly developed compact disc player to fix them in the automobiles. The method for marketing this product is therefore crucial. In our study it is specified that the manufacturer uses two distribution channels. In one case he distributes the CD player directly to the auto makers and in another case he distributes the product to electronic stores. Key words: Channel members, criteria for choice CHANNEL DISTRIBUTION Distributions Channels and Their Impact on Marketing Strategies Distribution channels are the key determinants of how any manufacturing company reaps from the products that come from their manufacturing plants. Characteristically, approximately half that price paid for merchandise by a purchaser is engrossed by activities involved in delivering that product to the consumer (Julian, 2008). Channel members are particularly important since directly affects certain factors such as customer service, product delivery and availability. Julian (2008) argues that the cost of marketing any product has increased over the past 15 years while production cost has reduced. This is because the market has segmented and media and distribution channel have multiplied. As a result, the choice of a channel member is based on value analysis, same way consumers do when they analyses products before purchasing. This paper focuses on choice of appropriate channel member and the criteria that we should use to chose the best channel member. Discussion The choice of a channel member is of paramount importance. A marketer has to determine the benefits reaped from utilizing a certain channel partner and compare this with the cost incurred for using this service. Some of benefits of choosing an appropriate channel member include cost saving in specialization. Rolnicki (1998) argues that specialist members of distribution perform the task more efficiently and at reduced cost than companies, who lack the experience in this field. Next is reduction of exchange time whereby the products reach the intended final consumer in time, since the channel member is experienced in what they do. The third benefit is customers want to convenience shop for variety. Julian (2008) stresses that customer CHANNEL DISTRIBUTION will always prefer distributor outlets that have a variety of products, in order to reduce the time they spend shopping. Therefore resellers have to purchase different products from different distributors and stock them in one centre so that the customer can access these commodities from one location. Fourthly the resellers have to sell the commodities in small quantities so that the consumer can manage the price. This is known as bulk breaking as described by Rolnicki (2004). The reseller also creates sales when there is demand for the product. Sometimes they perform active selling role using persuasive techniques (Gorchels, Chuck & Marine, 2004). They also offer financial support to consumers whereby they sell goods to them on credit, purchasing using payment arrangement, delaying launch of payments and allowing trade in or barter trade. Resellers also provide information on the product and therefore help market the product. The channel members who handle the producers’ product to the end user are most important. This is because the customers will always associate these products with the last person who sells the product to them. If the channel does not match the customer’s needs, it is likely that the manufacturer is going to lose customers and the sales volume is going to reduce (Rolnicki, 2004). Bert (1998) explains that the best channel that any manufacturer should prioritize on is one that makes the end product user happiest, so that they are always willing to buy again the same product from the same channel member. So it’s up to the manufacturer to select a marketing channel that best serves the interests of the customer. There are various criteria that are used by the manufacturers to evaluate potential intermediaries for firm’s distribution channel. Among this criteria include 1. Lot size 2. Waiting time DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 3. Spatial convenience 4. Product variety 5. Service backup I will discuss each of the above criteria which should be used by the compact disc manufacturer to evaluate for an appropriate distribution member Lot size: – this refers to the number of units a typical customer is allowed to buy by a marketing channel in a particular buying occasion. When the lot number is small, then grater output service should be provided by the channel (Kotler, 2000). In our case above, if the compact disc player manufacturer selects a channel member that offers small number of CD players to buying customers, this means increased costs for the manufacturer, and an alternative channel member should be sought. Waiting time and delivery time:-this refers to the length of time that the customer waits, for the receipt of goods. Customers always prefer delivery channels that are fast and efficient. Fast delivery of services requires output levels of great services (Kotler, 2000). The CD player manufacturer needs to engage a channel member that provides fast services at convenient time to the customer. Spatial convenience:-This expresses the extent to which the marketing channel simplifies the purchasing of the products by the customers (kotler, 2000). Customers will always prefer to purchase the products which do not involve so many formalities and that are easy to buy (Bert, 1998). The CD manufacturer should involve a channel that meets this requirement. DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Product variety:-this refers to the breath of assortment that the particular marketing channel provides. Customers always prefer a marketing channel that offers grater assortment breath because this will most likely meet their exact needs (Kotler, 2000). In regard to this the CD Player manufacturer should consider also incorporating an installation kit alongside this product so that the customer buys the whole package from one place. Service backup:-This refers to other services that are provided by the channel. Such services include installation, repairs, credit and delivery. A channel that’s provides more backup services is considered to do more work (Bert, 1998). In such a case therefore the channel is more costly. In the CD player manufacturing firm the marketing manager should understand the output services required by the target customer, provided the increased output services means increased costs for the channel and higher prices for the customers. In conclusion with review of the importance of channel distribution and criteria for evaluation of distribution channels discussed above, the company can market its compact disc in a smart way meaning that all criteria used should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Reference Bert, R. (1998). Marketing Channel. Olorando: Harcourt Brace College Publisher. Dent, J. (2008). Distribution Channels: Understanding and Managing Channels to Market. London: Kogan Page Limited. Gorchels, L. , West, C. , Marine, J. E. (2004). Managers Guide to Distribution Channels. New York: McGraw Hills Companies. Kotler, P. (2000). Selecting and Managing Marketing Channels. New York: Prentice-Hill. Rolnicki, k. (1998). Managing Channels of Distribution . New York: Amacom Division America Management. Marketing Channels SUMMARY REPORT What is marketing channel? Are sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or services available for use or consumption? They are set of pathways a product or service follows after production, culminating in purchase and use by final consumer. The importance of channels: One of the chief roles of marketing channels is to convert potential buyers into a profitable order. Marketing channels also represent a substantial opportunity cost. Different consumers however have different needs during the purchase process. Nunes and Cespedes argue in many markets, buyers fall into four category 1. Habitual shoppers- purchase from same place in the same manner over time. 2. High value deal seekers-know their needs and channel surf a great deal before buying at lowest possible price. 3. Variety-loving shoppers-gather information in many channels take advantage of high touch services and then buy in their favorite channel, regardless of price 4. High-involvement shoppers-gather information in all channels, make their purchase in a low-cost channel, but take advantage of costumer support from high touch channel. The role of marketing channels Delegations mean relinquishing some control over how and to whom the products are sold. Producers do gain several advantages by using intermediaries: 1. Many producers lack the financial resources to carry out direct marketing. 2. Producers who do establish their own channels can often earn a greater return by increasing investment in their main business. 3. In some cases direct marketing simply is not feasible. Channels functions and flows: It will be discussed one by one. Using a chart Channel levels: It will be discussed one by one. Using a chart Marketing Channels The shifting of the flow as per the example that Is given in the question will be by making he distribution of the product in the department stores or the drug stores or even from the distributors directly by selling to the customers but this will make the sale of the Independent Beauty Consultant decrease because most of her customers will have many other ways to purchase the product that they are used to buy and this will let the beauty consultant not have the ownership of the product. N the other hand all the department stores and the other stores selling the products to the customer will face a high selling as most of the customers will be shifted to them because of he new distributors that has Join the marketing flow. Many other customers will go and buy the products directly from the company as they will be selling the product directly to the customer and it will be with less price then all the other distributors because it will be a direct from the owner of the product. C.Nine customers role In all n s Tow w Titter Trot Dulling Lyreco Trot ten Death consultant or the other shops because each business is targeting their own benefits and it will be the best way for the customer to buy the product directly from the tatty consultant as they will buy only the products that they really need and the ones that suites them. The beauty consultant will be able to recommend to her customer the products that they need because of the knowledge and experience that she has gained. Her main target will be gaining the customer satisfaction to build a long term relationship with them to improve her business.But on the other hand all the other stores will focus on the percentage of selling the item because there main purpose will be increasing the percentage of sales in their business. Page 30 – Question 6 Selling and Servicing an Ultrasound Machine I I Hospital Emergency Room I Academic Medical Researcher on a tight government-funded budget using the machine for lab oratory research I Descriptor I Service Outplacement Level I Descriptor I Service Outplacement Level I Bulk-breaking I Emergency Room Needs very high qualification machines that meet all the needs.I High I The Lab needs a machine that fulfills the researchers need. I Medium I Spatial Convenience I Search for the best quality and brand machine that is offered by the companies and distributors. I Medium I Search for the lowest cost machine that is found in the market based as the government budget. I High I Waiting and Delivery Time I Emergency room cannot wait because always the machines have to be ready for any emergency that may happen anytime.I High I After getting the machine the Lab can start to continue their researches. I Low Assortment animadvert I The Emergency Room needs the best quality and brand to suit all the needs of the hospital. I High I The Lab needs a simple machine for the use of the researches only. I Low Customer Service I The distributor has to give their recom mendation for the best brand and quality that will satisfy the need of the Emergency Room.