Studying in Group at High School in Beijing: a Survey

Studying in group at high school in Beijing: A survey LV YUJIA Louisa Student Number: 09010022 Name of the Lecturer: Edwin Baak Date: 12/26/2011 Renda B 09 Acknowledgements Thanks for my friends Zhao Shanshan and Hu Surui helping finish the research questionnaire to students. I am very grateful to teacher Mr. Baak to his useful guidance to write this paper. Table of Contents Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦. 5 1. Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. â € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 2. Statement of the problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 1. Review of the literature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. Design and measurement used†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 3. Results†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 4. Discussions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. 12 5. Conclusions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 6. Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 1. Research recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. †¦14 2. Issued-related recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦15 Appendix A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 The Abstract: Nowadays, with the speeding up of world economy, the world is becoming smaller and smaller, so that the competition among people from different ountries is becoming fierce, which is the motivation to promote people to study hard so as to survive in the competitive world. People always try to find the suitable study methods to upgrade the effectiveness. Either studying in a group or studying alone is the better way has caused public debate. Some people hold that there is no denying that studying in a group exerts positive impact on many aspects. First and foremost, studying in a group, the principal methods in many schools, is beneficial to mutual understanding, which will enhance students’ communication abilities.Besides, the efficiency of solving problems will definitely be improved, for they can get he lp from partners. Last but not least, Student can study well when he is studying with a group of students because he can get good ideas from others which he don't know and more over he will not feel bore while he is studying. If he got any doubts while studying, he can clarify the doubts immediately. Other people strongly claim that there are many students who have got great achievements by studying alone insisting that independent study is feasible and more effective. To put it another way, one can study without any disturbance.While studying alone he can't get good ideas. If he got any doubt, it cannot be clarify by his own. Then it will be time waste for him. For example, while he is studying alone if the subject is not interest to him, his mind may get divert from the subject and concentration will be lost. First, I will go to the school to do a survey about study in the class. Second, the questionnaire topic is probably about do you think study in group? And, which way is bette r for you? Is studying in group or studying alone? Third, I would ask some questions to some parents and teachers.Key word: good way to study, group study, study alone, high school, distance education, one-on-one tutoring 1. Introduction 1. Background In the 21st century, most of the family has an only child out of the police in china. Such a child is an apple in the eyes in a family. It is every parent's desire to give their children the best start in life, they would like to search a best way to their children and get a great education. Almost all students were tutored by one-on-one. And some students have an experience of distance learning. At the same time, the traditional educational means confronts a huge challenge.Some parents support their child study alone because of they believe that it is a good way to concentrate on his or her study. Currently there has been a fierce debate over whether students should go to school study in group or study alone at home. Views on the hot issue vary greatly. Advocates of studying alone hold the benefits of students are well documented. Students who study at home by themselves are often described as more confident, independent and worldly wise than schools’ student counterpart. Because of they need to independently read more books and webpage to look for more information.Moreover, there are many ways to acquire knowledge, such as distance learning, one-on-one class and soon on. Students can choose a good way to study according to different situation. Worst of all, reports are often heard that some students committed suicide or murdered their roommates. So that, some people choose to study alone and even gave up the opportunity of go to school due to severe pressure from the student will be compare with others. On the other hand, innovative as distance-learning technology may be, it can supersede classrooms altogether. True education should not be confined to the delivery of information.It should involve the cul tivation of effective learning habits, the development of group discussion skills and the encouragement of collaboration as well, which we cannot find in online course. More importantly, campus-based education tend to foster a mentoring partnership between educators and learners while in reality, distance education rarely helps to establish a mentoring relationship between the faculty members and the students, due to the long physical distance. Amid these people who have argued in study ways the high students take up quite large proportion.According to a net of education, at least half of high schools’ students go through tutoring alone. And most students’ parents willing to spent money on study alone. Thus if you want to research the good way to study, you must focus on high school students. There are many reasons to choose the students of high school as respondents. Firstly, students have more experience than other school of basic education. Secondly, there is bitter competition for student. As is well know the college entrance exam is a real challenge to students, students want to do their best to meet the challenge.Thus they will choose a good way to study at any cost. Finally, and above all, the competition is fierce and the nine-hour test is offered just once a year and is the sole determinant for admission to virtually all Chinese colleges and universities. Moreover, the college entrance examination is seen as potentially life-changing. If you enter a university through the exam, your life career and future life will be decide. Everyone attaches great importance to this exam. In recent years, the field of education becomes a hot industry. Meanwhile, more and more problems appear in education.For school study, they always make a ranking and everyone can see the results of other students to see all the students of all grade rankings. This measure will undoubtedly bring them great pressure to study, even affect health and life. We often read the news student suicides of form the news paper. However, student is more confidence who study alone at home. They can get the tutoring which is face-to-face. It is a very good and effective way of learning. But it is not a good way to good communication skills and has team work spirit. 2. Statement of the problem Each one has its own superiority.During the researching course, I try to analyze and study to this problem from different point of view. I research many different questions, such as which ways of study of you like, do you think some problem exist in study in a group, how long you will study at home everyday and soon on. I survey this question due to we need know whether students more efficient who study alone, whether more and more student don’t like study at school, whether there are some problems exist in tradition education, whether study alone is better than studying in a group, whether parent sand teachers of students support to study alone and so on. . Review of literature According to this literature, there are other factors affect students. Its action cannot small inspect. Firstly, it’s important to spend your time productively. Students need to make a clearly plans and schedule, meanwhile, they should to learn the top student has no intrusions on study time. Secondly, every student should seek out a method of learning which is suit to him/her. They cannot copy other people’s ways due to the different level of different students.Finally, if you don’t have any interesting in study and even don’t know why you need to study, you cannot get a high score even if you stand in a good group or have a good tutor. They need improve their skill and have fun. Indeed, study skills are not the most important things. But there are the bases of study. When you finish it, the environment will become more important. To be sure, people are different. Everyone should to choose a way which is adapt to him or her to study. For t his literature, we know that there are main ways to study. One of this is belong to studying in a group and others are belonging to study alone.They are group study, one-on-one tutoring and distance education. Group study is benefit to establish the confidence of students. It can easily build team spirit among classmate. If you are one member of a group, you will be watching by other members in the group. You will have to try harder due to you wanting to more successful and getting the credit for. Moreover, a group likes a piece. Everyone will do their best to help you when your stand in the same group. Solving problem will become easier, because you're not alone, and there is strength in numbers! At the same time, a problem exists in the group.A member of group in charge of a part so that they cannot understand the whole of one topic which is his or her group researched. If you study alone, you need do anything by yourself. It is a better way to acquire new knowledge and research q uestions. The tutoring of one-on-one is benefit to everyone due to the pertinence of student. When you distract to some things, you will not worry didn't hear what the teacher was saying. If you could not compass the simplest problems, you could ask your tutor and do not worries to be laughed by other classmate. And teacher will follow you and choose the best way and important course to you.However, we cannot overlook the disadvantage of this way. First, if you choose tutoring of one-on-one, you will lose the power of activities with other classmates. I maybe feel tired and boring for study alone. Second, it is not easy to find out a textbook to adapt you. Third, you do not know the level of tutoring teacher. You maybe cannot meet a teacher which tutor is suit to you. Distance education has the advantage of low-cost and easy to save time. Students can study on anywhere and any time. Compare with one-on-one tutor is a good way to save money and get pointed comments on study.But it st ill has some problems. First, there are a lot of tutor from 3rd world due to they want to save money. They do not know the system of your country and cannot give you a good idea of study. Moreover, sometimes we cannot meet the on-line tutor to know about teaching level. Lastly, teaching on-line is not a good way to communication with teacher. Because the internet is not very stability, the speed is very slow. Sometimes we will loss some information due to the latency. If you can learning of face-to-face, you can use the body language explain your mind. 3. Design and Measurements usedThere are three kinds of people are relative to this survey. They are parents, teachers and students. Thus, the questionnaire includes three aspect questions to different people. However, the high school students who will accept more in-depth questions as the main respondents. The questionnaire consists mainly of three parts. In the first place, the question is about the basic information of all particip ants. And, the participants will be arranging to different groups according to the basic information. For example, girls and boys will have different choice when they face to some things.If students can choose the school, girls maybe focus on school uniform which school’s is more beautiful and boys will be attracts to excellent sporting facilities. In the second place, the question is about the extant problems and advantage. Such as, what problem you face in study in a group or study alone. This part will be conducive to we find out the problem in the two ways and help us solve current problems more correctly to choose a good way to study. Finally, the investigations are focus on the expectantly things. Such as, which ways you want to add in your study process.We need know which ways of study of people like in further and therefore further research. 4. Result The survey shows that there are seventy percent students choose studying in a group is a good way to study. There are two reasons: Two-thirds of this people gave reason is that they cannot make a good plan and control themselves. One-thirds of this people gave the reason is that they can make new friend and have activities with others. But sixty percent of these persons have experience to study alone by one-on-one tutoring. And nearly ninety people would like to try to study alone in future.Students who support study alone are a good way to study about thirty percent. Most people think that it is a great help for my quick improving the score. However, nine out of ten people claim that it is a method to help study but it is the main way to study. One ninth of the students choose to get the tutor by one-on-on due to they need to be target. A tenth of the students choose the on-line tutoring. They believe that it can save money and easy to control the teaching time. The last part is about the parents and teachers of students. Almost all parents and teachers support study in a group.But they always bel ieve that if their children and students would like to improve the level of student they will to encourage these students. 5. Conclusion My question is that what is better way to study? It can be found there are many ways to study. Firstly, study skills are important whatever you studying in a group or study alone. Secondly, the research show that most people think group study is better to study. Lastly, studying alone only as the assistant study method. However, some students are favor to study alone who are an average student or a poor student.They believe that they can get the effective guidance from the one-on-one tutoring. Other students are support studying in a group who are top student. They claim that it is unnecessary spent to a private teacher. For teachers and parents, they have the same viewpoint. Study alone is a way to help student to improve themselves, but it is not the best way to study. If the student can understand the knowledge in the class, study alone is not n ecessary. 6. Discussion The survey only includes the high school student, and only search the answer form my brother’s class.The class only have 60 members is not enough to a prefect research. For the party of teacher and parents, the research is more imperfection due to small group in search. So the study is no authoritative answer to these questions. And there also have some problem in this research. For example, there have many ways to study, such as, study in a teaching center, study by yourself and soon on. But I only search the study in group. And the way of study alone also has many ways. This paper only aim to a small group who study in high school. Actually, there has a small group study alone now.All in all, the survey has its limitation. [pic] 7. Recommendations 1. Research recommendation Firstly, you need to read a lot of articles what you want to research. Because this can help you gain a main idea of the field. Meanwhile, you will get the different perspectives from different authors. Moreover, making notes is also important to search a problem. Due to we need to understand what the articles say. It is not only to copy it. Next, most information is coming from the Internet which is not regular compare with other academic books. We should go to the library to find information.Lastly but not least, the investigator needs to search from different groups in a particular community and different level. One fields people is different to other fields. 2. Issue-related recommendations First of all, the people should focus on a variety of ways to ask questions. For example, Likert scale guarantees a survey to including the overall aspects of the problem which is very useful. We can ensure that the length of the questionnaire, which respond may a few time. And, there has a easy way to ask questions of the model. Another example is APA style, it is also a good way to sure where the literature.It not only useful to writer to found out more point, but a lso telling the reader where the point from. It is a good way to make you researcher more regular and have authority. References * Brain Stocker: How To Study Alone, August 26, 2008 from http://www. test-preparation. ca/study-center/how-to-study-alone/ * Francois Betim, Reference and Education †¢ Published: December 9, 2008 How to Study Alone and Pass Exams, from * Dr. Bob Kizlik,(1997) Effective Study Skills. How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time September 19, 1997,from http://www. adprima. com/studyout. htm * Wikipedia contributor(2011) Distance education, from http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Distance_education * Tutorfi(2009), Benefits of One on One Online Tutoring: Specialized Teaching Methodology. From http://www. tutorfi. com/OnlineTutoringDefined/oneononeonlinetutoring * Merryjazz(2006),The Advantages and Disadvantages of Study Groups, From http://www. studyskillsblog. com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-study-groups/ * Grace Fleming(2009), Would Group Study Impr ove Your Grades? About. com Guide, from http://homeworktips. about. com/od/homeworkhelp/a/study. htm * Bruno Linhares(2005), Distance education or distance learning, from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Distance_education * Anton Lebedev(2011), The Disadvantages of Online Tutoring, from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-TutoringHYPERLINK â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285† â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285†³id=4781285 * Guestbook(2001), Group Tutoring vs. One-on-One Tutoring, from http://www. squidoo. com/group-tutoring-vs-one-on-one-tutoring Appendix A Questionnaires What is the better way to study? 1. Tick your gender group. Please choose only one of the following: ?Male ? Female 2. Tick an age group. Please choose only one of the following: ? 16-19 ? 20-23 ? 24-27 ? 28+ If none of these, please state what you think here__________ 3. Please take your grad e in school or your child(or students) in? ?G1-G6 ? G7-G9 ? G10-G11 ? G12 or over 4. Tick where do you study now: ?School ? Home ? Others 5. Tick you get good grades in school: ?Great ? General ? Lower-middle ? Bad If you like you can write you score__________ 6. Do you think the academic environment is important? ?Yes ? No ? Doesn’t matter . Which is better way for you or child? ?Studying in a group ? Studying alone 8. Do you please a tutor of one-on-one? ?Yes ? No ? Never 9. Could you listen attentively and carefully in class? ?Yes ? No ? Most ? less 10. Do you want to study alone? ?Yes ? No 11. Are you always discussed the problem with your classmate? ?Yes ? No ? Sometimes ? Never 12. What would you like to do at home? ?Study ? Play ? Housework ? others 13. Do you think the distance education is a good way to study? ?Yes ? No 14.How many hours did you have for learning everyday? ?1-4hours 4-8hours ? 8hours or over 15. Are you always reviewing your lessons carefully after g oing back home? ?yes ? no ? sometimes 16. Do you have the initiative for learning? ?Active learning ? Can finish ? Can not finish 17. Do you have confident in your ability? ?Yes ? No 18. Do you always attend the discussion in the group? ?Always ? Sometimes ? Never 19. For study, do you to send from your classmate? ?Always ? electric toys ? camera ? other 20. Do you have a good plan for study?

Allusion Report- the Burning Bush

Allusion Report The allusion of the â€Å"Burning Bush† is just as it sounds: it is a burning bush that continues to burn and is never engulfed by its flames. The Burning Bush was first introduced in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. Moses was grazing in the pastures just like any other day when he noticed something burning in the distance. He found it to be an ordinary desert bush, but the fire was far from ordinary. The fire consuming the bush was God presenting himself to Moses.When God spoke to Moses, he told him to unite his brothers (Israelites) and leave the land of oppression, Egypt. The allusion of the Burning Bush has been used in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, three different times. â€Å"One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now. Tear in and shove the croppers out. † (Chapter 2, page 13) Here, the truck driver is telling Tom how tractors are driving people out of the land. This alludes to the Burning Bush as being the harassment which families are fleeing from. Reverend Jim Casy- was a Burning Busher. † (Chapter 4, page 27) Casy is referred to as the burning busher because he motivates and inspires others around him. â€Å"We’d keep together on the road an’ it’d be good for ever’body. † (Chapter 13, page 202) In the Book of Exodus, God tells Moses to unite with his brother so that they will have a change of survival. Here, Tom is telling others that neither family would survive if they traveled alone, but if they travel together they will have a greater chance at surviving.The Burning Bush represents numerous symbols to Jews and Christians, such as God’s energy, sacred light, illumination, as well as the burning heart of purity, love and clarity. It is argued by many skeptical scholars that Moses was under the influence of a hallucinogenic when he says to have encountered the Burning Bush. Many entheogens have been found in south Israel and were use d regularly for religious purposes by the Israelites. Works Cited â€Å"Burning Bush – New World Encyclopedia. † Info:Main Page – New World Encyclopedia.Web. 03 Oct. 2011. . Ben, Jesse, and Phil. â€Å"The Burning Bush. † Allusions of Exodus in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. ;http://reufus59. tripod. com/id5. html;. Deffinbaugh, Bob. â€Å"The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-15) | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. † Free NET Bible and Thousands of Bible Studies | Bible. org – Worlds Largest Bible Study Site. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. ;http://bible. org/seriespage/burning-bush-exodus-31-15;.

Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare Essay

Mercy is compassionate treatment, while justice is the administration of law. Justice may not necessary include mercy. Mercy is natural. Portia says that the â€Å"quality of mercy is not strained†, it is not a forced effort but something that one already possesses. Mercy cannot be forced by anyone; it is something that one must come up within himself. Like how â€Å"gentle rain† cannot be created artificially, it is sincere. Mercy also benefits the merciful. Portia says that â€Å"earth power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice†, implying that man can only become like God when he is merciful. Mercy is something that is powerful. Portia says, â€Å"scepter[s] shows the force of temporal power†¦but mercy is above this sceptered sway†, symbolizing that mercy is more powerful than mere symbols of earthly power, i.e. the crown and the scepter. Mercy is forgiving. Portia points out that God is merciful, and forgives us for our sins, and â€Å"in the course of justice none of us should see salvation†. Only with the mercy of God would they be delivered. Mercy is reciprocal, and â€Å"twice blest†, bringing good tidings to both â€Å"him that gives and him that takes†. Portia says that mercy is divine, as it â€Å"droppeth†¦from heaven† and â€Å"an attribute to God himself†. Mercy is a heavenly quality, a sacred virtue and he who has this characteristic becomes â€Å"likest God†. It is like â€Å"gentle rain from heaven†. Mercy is fair treatment to others. For example, the Duke asks Shylock to â€Å"forgive a moiety of the principal†, sympathising with Antonio as he has lost money in his wrecked investments. Justice is strict and condemning, as the place where justice is practised is  described as the â€Å"strict court of Venice†. Portia asks Shylock to â€Å"mitigate†¦thy plea†, exemplifying how justice is indeed harsh. Justice is earth-bound, dispensed and followed by Man. â€Å"No power in Venice† can alter justice, meaning that justice can be changed by heaven’s mercy. Justice is something that follows laws strictly, and is blind. Even as Shylock says, â€Å"What judgment shall I fear, doing no wrong,† he emphasizes how justice is strictly based on laws, as he has nothing to fear despite plotting against Antonio’s life as the law says he is entitled to. Justice is one-sided, and that it clearly defines a loser and winner. Shylock, who thinks that justice and mercy cannot be reconciled, decides the fate of Antonio, saying, â€Å"it is his humour†, as he has lost three thousand ducats in the deal. Justice is inflexible. As Portia states, â€Å"there is no power in Venice that can alter a decree established†, she is also hinting to Shylock that heavenly mercy is the only thing that can change justice, and it is unchangeable otherwise. Mercy is something that enhances justice, and â€Å"mercy seasons justice†. Too much mercy spoils justice, as it will thus become too lenient, but without mercy, justice is bland.

Reflection paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Reflection paper - Essay Example The truth is that by the end of the buildout phase most of the opportunities to get ahead of competitors are all but gone. One of the benefits of IT is that is can be easily transferred. Not surprisingly the cost of IT has also decreased greatly over the years in conjunction with its increased usage. Outsourcing is an important issue in our economy because there are pros and cons to be argued for its relevance. I can see why so many firms turn to outsourcing, and that is to reduce costs. This is naturally the number one goal of any organization, making the option to outsource work all the more appealing. On the downside, when outsourcing occurs overseas it can evoke strong reactions in home country customers. I think that outsourcing can be a high risk activity, and it is for this reason that it must be done very carefully. In a globalized world IT governance takes on increased importance, as it is often vital to the organizational success of a firm. Managers must understand IT governance because if done correctly it can reduce costs and risks but also help the company to gain a competitive business

Effect of Film on Political Sensibilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effect of Film on Political Sensibilities - Essay Example The agents of socialization are those aspects that are responsible for the transmission of information through which people can acquire the socialization knowledge. Films contribute significantly to the political awareness in many individuals. The Disney Corporation is one entity that has been known to produce movies that embed personal messages that are aimed at nurturing the political sensibilities in the target audience. One particular film that appeals to my political sense is â€Å"Pocahontas.† The film that was done in 1995 and had a basis in a tale of a love affair that brews between a Native American princess and an English colonial sea captain. The film puts the harmonious values that are found in the indigenous cultures against the barbaric tendencies of the civilized cultures.The movie helps the audience in appreciating the core values of the indigenous cultures. The audience can identify with the film and raise its political sense in terms of integrating different cultures into the society. Some films can also be said to be transmitters of political messages. In â€Å"Salvador† which was done by Oliver Stone in 1986 is a critique of the American foreign policy in Central America. The movie also raises our political awareness in terms of understanding the diplomatic relations between America and allied Ð ½Ã °Ã'‚Ð ¸Ã ¾Ã ½Ã' . Most movies may not portray the message directly, but would rather convey a particular sort of values. The audience picks from these values and develops their political sensibilities.

Why internet gambling prohibition will ultimately fail Essay

Why internet gambling prohibition will ultimately fail - Essay Example They argue that the introduction of internet and telecommunication development will be an issue for concern regarding more problematic gambling. They view that nations acknowledge the potential dangers of internet gambling, but they fail to understand the dynamics of such dangers (Parke and Griffiths 2004 p. 298). The congress has passed laws prohibiting internet gambling but a study have shown that US citizens represent between 50% to 70% gambling customers worldwide thus making the enforcement of blanket internet gambling prohibition more difficult . Griffith stipulates that the introduction of the Wire Act, which prohibits any gambling business to accept any bet, has also failed in its own way. Although there have been prosecutions under the act, it has presented discrepancies over its application. The phrasing of the law has seen different interpretation among courts while others perceive that it only applies to interactive wagering. This provides loopholes in the Wire Act thus preventing the prohibition of internet gambling. The use of electronic cash has also proved to be a major hindrance in the prohibition of internet gambling. During transactions, various codes are used to identify internet-gambling activity. The codes cannot be used to differentiate between legal and illegal internet gambling activities, as they do not provide enough information. The recent technological migration and advancement has proven to be a major hindrance in the internet gambling prohibition. The innovation and generation of new gadgets which are more lenient on providing discrepancies in control of internet gambling have rendered its prohibition more to fail than succeed. The enacted laws have also proven not efficient since they are open to discussion and are interpreted in more ways that are different by various institutions. The nature of gambling businesses to hide their information is also a major hindrance in internet gambling

International Trade Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International Trade Speech - Essay Example It also threatens to affect business activities as it benefits consumers at the expense of traders. As the legislature, we have to be worried that the country’s current importation rate surpasses export capacity, meaning the nation’s inflows of foreign currency are higher than the outflows. For instance, in the year 2012 the nation imported more cars compared to the exported figure. The importation value surpassed the exportation value by over $152 billion (Mankiw, 2014). The huge differences between the import and export values have created a balance of trade deficit in the nation. The balance of trade deficit has in turn presented severe consequences to the economy, and drastic measures must be taken to mitigate the situation. Among the challenges, the condition has created include weakening of the domestic market, reduction of the GDP of the nation, reduced value of the US currency, and investments. It has also led to the increased interest rates levied by the financial institutions on loans and selling of bonds (Mankiw, 2014). The imbalance is benefiting consumers who presently can access goods cheaply while businesses are hurting due to unfair competition. From the speaker’s position, it is apparent that this kind of imbalance is not healthy for sustaining the economy of a great nation such as US. Therefore, it is time the trade imbalance is corrected through the development of effective international trade policy guidelines. The idea is to improve fairness and equity in business activities through creation of a favorable environment where business owners’ record fair returns and customers get value for their money. To correct this, the house seeks to make an amendment in the international trade Act to regulate importation and exportation activities in a bid to cushioning the nation from experiencing economic difficulties generated by an imbalance of

How Facebook Changed the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

How Facebook Changed the World - Essay Example This enabled a serious information flow to the population and creating awareness on their social human rights due to the economic crisis (Smyth 67). The world was changed because of this propagation and political leadership removed them from their positions. In analysis of the documentary, young people facilitated the unfolding events in the Arab spring through the social media. Young people had a notion that the old political rulers had failed in their responsibility and through their failure, poor economic state of their respective countries was experienced. Lack of employment for the young adults was a major impetus for change that gave their momentum for the social movement (Scott 23). Dictatorship and violation of human rights was among their concern, which also included corrupt leadership. The extreme poverty and educated youth with no jobs were dissatisfied in the Arab countries. This caused major information flow through the modern information technology. Facebook was effectively used in championing young people’s rights and urging the whole population to come out and demonstrate against poor leadership so that the political leaders could resign from their positions. The youth and the general population were not able to tolerate further deteriorating economy, caused by poor leadership. They had the need to champion the citizens to restore democracy and good leadership with no corruption to help in stimulating the economy. The social media through facebook was the main instigator, which was used as a tool in this Arab spring. The role of social media is demonstrated in the whole world on how effective it is because it has its own unique power. People are able to connect to one another and share their concerns, thus more mobilization takes place in the process. The information through social media also enabled the world to get updated on the events as they unfolded. The world was able to understand the concern of the Arab population

Paraphrase Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Paraphrase - Coursework Example Comment. The word internet starts with capital â€Å"I†, in addition it is not grammatically correct to say â€Å"internet has assured people†. This is because internet is not a living thing. The APA in text citation is correct. Response. People, who actually believe that the Internet can really take them anywhere, are actually just deceiving themselves. As the maximum the internet can take someone is only within the virtual world, instead of the real world. Consequently, people are growing apart from one another due to the Internet which has deceived them. This is a great job. I like your response; this is because some people waste so much time on the internet without doing any meaningful work. Your APA in text citation is also great. However, your paraphrase seems not to relate to the author’s idea. This is because the author wanted to show that internet exposes people to a lot of opportunities. However, not everyone ends up making a good living from the internet. The grammar is good. There is a logical flow of ideas. There is subject- predicate agreement and proper linking devices. The paper has proper punctuation. The format used in the paper is in accordance with the APA format sixth edition. This type of format ascertains that, there must be a comma between the surname of the author and the year. For example (Leili,

Polish People in UK Essay Example for Free

Polish People in UK Essay How do English people in United Kingdom perceive Poles? What are the stereotypes of Polish Workers? How the image is changing over the years? The subject is very controversial as Poland gives many reasons to not be forgotten at the European stage. Poland is famed for John Paul the 2nd, many beautiful women, Vodka and sausage. A general description is hard to obtain, as there are many points of views and issues. The historical background had a massive impact on cultural and economic development. Not so long ago Poland was a communist country, where human rights were highly oppressed. At this time Poland was a satellite state being hold back by the Communist Soviet Union while Western European development was progressing. Eventually Poland achieved full democracy in 1989, and continues without communist influence to this day. The new fundamentalism was doing very well. For years, the Catholic radio, ‘Radio Maria’ for example, gave voice to the hate priests and politicians that condemned everything that was foreign and is not inline with the narrow, xenophobic vision of parochial Polishness. Regularly young men throw stones at those who seem to them non-native. Taking out the rage on sexual minorities as there is no luck to find any immigrants. Galloping hate speech on the Internet is already pathological standard. In May 2004 Poland joined the European Union. United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden open labour market for Polish citizens and other new members of EU. The huge wave of Polish migrants entered the foreign markets. Base on GUS (Central Statistical Office) research in May 2002, 24,000 Polish Emigrants were living in United Kingdom. In 2008 the number was drastically multiply, by 27 times, the amount of Polish Immigrants in the UK reached the point of 650 thousands. It was the largest number of Polish migrants abroad in Europe. The social approach towards Eastern European Migrants was distinguished by those, who negatively responded to economic threats related with job losses, and those who were aware of their matter in the future development. Depending on where you stand, this phenomenal wave of immigration was either a death knell for British values and the tradition of the blue-collar British worker, or a powerful boost to the British economy while others in Europe stagnate. While industries in other EU countries have been limited in their attempts to expand by an unavailability of high quality, reasonably-priced labour, many UK industries have been able to fuel their expansion and advances with hard working Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians and Czechs. Demographic studies of those that have entered the UK reveal that over three quarters of immigrants fall into the 18-34 age bracket. The popular estimate is that the average age of the Polish immigrant is 28. Following natural migration trends, the large majority of these are single, with fewer responsibilities, resulting in an increased disposable income and a greater tendency to participate in the consumer culture that has been behind Britain’s economic growth over the past few years, at a time when most of Europe has been desperately trying to rein in escalating unemployment and avoid economic stagnation. While on other fronts increased immigration is a controversial topic, economically the British government can have little cause for complaint. Eastern Europeans have plugged holes in sectors short of labour, helping to keep inflation down, and in the relatively liberal open-market economy of the UK, the extra labour has been an easily absorbed asset. The minimal effect being had on unemployment as a result of immigration in the UK has disproved the theory that there are a finite number of jobs in the labour market and that the immigrant’s gain is the Brits’ loss. Though registered unemployment has crept up recently the government argues that this is not due to the economy failing to create jobs. Indeed, the number of job vacancies remain high and the overall job market continues to expand. From an economic point of view, the fact remains that while almost all immigrant workers in the UK have found full-time employment, the non-migrant unemployment rate has remained steady – proving that immigrants are helping to fuel economic growth rather than undercut British workers in the labour market and steal their jobs. Whether it be reduced costs and waiting times for housing repairs in London as a result of Polish plumbers and builders, or new additions to the high street as a result of Polish demand for imported goods, many towns and cities are coming to appreciate the addition of yet another flavour to the bubbling concoction that is multi-ethnic Britain. Government and big business certainly appreciate the benefits brought by this dynamic new demographic group. According to the Ernst Young Item Club, Polish and other Eastern European immigrants are having a positive economic impact by making the UK workforce ‘younger, more flexible and economical, easing the pensions burden and keeping interest rates lower’. In the past few years Poland lost her best human capital ever – people, who travelled the world, higher educated, fluent with foreign languages, and familiar with new technologies. In the previous waves of emigration the dominant were people with primary or vocational education. Polish is the most commonly spoken non-native language in England and Wales. More than half a million people in Britain now speak Polish as their first language, placing it ahead of Punjabi and Urdu and behind only English and Welsh. The data, extracted from the 2011 census, confirmed the staggering numbers of Polish migrants who are now living, working and putting down roots in the UK. Some 521,000 Polish-born people have made their homes here, a figure that has increased seven-fold since 2003, when just 75,000 were listed in the census. In many parts of Britain, such statistics will come as no surprise. The influx of Poles to this country has long been evident in the swathes of Polish supermarkets, grocers, churches and cultural centres that have appeared across the country – particularly since 2004, when Poland joined the European Union, opening up borders for free movement of workers. In addition to long-established Polish communities – in west London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham and Slough – smaller hubs have established themselves in rural areas, such as Carlisle in Cumbria (twinned with the Polish city of Slupsk) and the Scottish Highlands. During the past decade, Polish culture has ingrained itself in British society. Most major supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, now stock Polish food and drink. There are 10 Polish churches in London alone, in locations such as Balham and Ealing, and road signs are translated into Polish in villages around Cheshire. There are hundreds of Polish-owned clubs, pubs and bars, a hugely popular newspaper (founded in 1940) and cultural centres that regularly host sell-out Polish plays and exhibitions. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, Poland is the most common country of birth for non-UK born mothers in Britain, with 20,495 babies born to Polish mothers in 2011. Marriages between Poles and Brits, too, have multiplied. Poles have become British homeowners, business owners and taxpayers. So how have they, unlike any other nationality before them, achieved such full-scale integration into our society – and in such a short time? The ability of Poles to integrate seems to be linked to the reason many of them come to Britain in the first place. Work,† explains Robert Szaniawski of the Polish Embassy in London, â€Å"is the main factor that draws Poles to the UK. Most of them are young – they’re from small towns; they see it as a chance to get out and have an adventure, so they come to Britain. â€Å"They’re flexible and they move with the demands of the labour market. It’s this willingness to go where the work is tha t helps them to ingratiate themselves. † Poland’s GDP is significantly lower than Britain’s ($514. 5 billion, compared to the UK’s $2. 43 trillion); there is high unemployment (averaging 12 per cent since 2008) and the minimum hourly wage is less than half that paid in Britain. As Poland’s economic growth slows down – it halved to 2 per cent in 2012 – still more skilled workers are lured to the UK. In 2011, 45,000 Poles settled here, marking the biggest rise in migrants since the financial crash. Poles have a reputation for being hard workers, especially in the manual labour sector. Adam Zamoyski, a British historian descended from a Polish noble family, says Poles are â€Å"brilliant workers. When they’re abroad, they put their best foot forward and act as ambassadors for their country. They have a better experience in England than they do in Germany or France. They’re treated as menial in other countries; in England, they’re treated with kindness. † But with such mass immigration comes inevitable tension. Many British workers blame the steady flow of cheap, cash-in-hand Polish labourers for keeping them out of jobs. And not all Poles who settle in Britain come here for gainful employment. Of the 371,000 non-UK nationals claiming unemployment benefit, 13,940 are Polish – making it the only previous EU accession state to appear in the top 20. In 2010, 6,777 Poles were convicted of crimes in Britain, and there are currently more than 700 Polish migrants in UK prisons (ranking in the top five nationalities of the 10,592 foreign nationals behind bars). â€Å"As with every large group of migrants, you do get an underbelly,† Zamoyski says. â€Å"There are huge scams going on with benefits, whereby Poles come over to work, bring their families, sign them all up for child benefits and then go back home again with the money. And I have heard of older Poles accosting younger ones on their way to the bus stop and fleecing them for all their money. It was the Second World War that really formed the roots of Britain’s Polish community. The Poles made an important contribution to the Allied war effort, providing troops, intelligence and vital equipment. After the fall of France in 1940, the exiled Polish Prime Minister and his government set up office in London, bringing with them 20,000 soldiers and airmen. Poles made up the largest non-British group in the RAF during the Battle of Britain and, by July 1945, more than 150,000 Polish troops were serving under the command of the British Army. When the war ended, Churchill vowed that the British would â€Å"never forget the debt they owe to the Polish† and pledged â€Å"citizenship and freedom of the British empire† for all. Fleeing the Communist government in Poland, many refused to return home, leading to the passing of the Polish Resettlement Act 1947, the UK’s first mass immigration law. This first generation of Polish migrants laid the foundations for recent immigration. Nicola Werenowska, a playwright from Colchester, is married to Leszek, a second-generation Polish migrant whose parents moved to Reading after the war. While researching for her play Tu i Teraz (â€Å"Here and Now†), staged recently at the Hampstead Theatre in London, she interviewed 50 young Poles in Britain about their experiences of moving here. â€Å"They come over for the jobs, but the history of migration helps them feel connected,† she says. â€Å"There are generally positive attitudes towards the UK in Poland. † Szaniawski agrees: â€Å"It’s a friendly, welcoming country and there’s a huge tradition of our parents and grandparents coming here. The willingness – and ability – of Poles to learn English is another factor that has been crucial to their integration. According to the Polish Central Statistical Office, 40 per cent of Poles aged 25-64 speak at least one foreign language, most commonly English or German. Joanna Pietrzykowska, 27, a trainee accountant from a small town in eastern Poland, came to the UK seven years ago to learn English. â€Å"I initially came for a yea r, but I liked it so much that I am still here,† she says. â€Å"You can get anything you want over here now – Polish food, movies, books from the library. Wherever I go, I meet at least one Polish person. I have an English boyfriend, and I’ve always found it very welcoming. There are more career opportunities than in Poland – so why would I go back? † But not all Poles have such positive experiences of Britain. Some, says Adam Zamoyski, simply don’t want to integrate. â€Å"They don’t ever have to learn the language; they stay in their own communities, where you can go all the way from the obstetrician to the grave without ever having to speak English. Others, like Sofia Pekala, 54, a cleaner who moved to the UK from Poland in 2002, have had bad experiences at the hands of British employers. â€Å"When I first came I worked on a farm in Penzance,† says Pekala, who used to own her own clothes shop. â€Å"I was treated very poorly and paid just ? 2. 75 an hour for very hard work in poor conditions. † Rafal Zbikowski, 34, who moved to Boston, Lincolnshire – where 3,006 out of 62,243 residents are Polish – eight years ago from Krakow, says he has experienced some tension, but adds: â€Å"It has been a great place to work. I came here to work in a food production factory and have had a job ever since. † So what does the future hold for Britain’s Polish migrants? Werenowska believes that the roots many Poles have put down will last. â€Å"Of the Polish migrants I interviewed, there were broadly two types,† she says. â€Å"The first are those who want to earn as much money as they can, as fast as they can, and then go home to their families. The second are those who have come to Britain because they love it, who genuinely want to be a part of British society. Like it or not, they’re definitely here to stay. †

Impact of Privatization on Firms Performance

Impact of Privatization on Firms Performance 1.0 Introduction Privatization throughout the 1980s has been considered to be the solutions to the problems associated State Owned Enterprise (SOE)s both in the developed and developing economies and even in the socialist economies (Vickers and Yarrow 1995). In reality privatization is an economies policy and other times a political policy that is difficult to achieve mostly when is implemented in a corrupt setting like in most developing countries. However it is wise for a competitive and well regulated business environment structure to be established before privatization takes place. In recent times there has been a significant increase in the privatization of SOEs. Megginson et al (2004), suggest that political persuasion by government as a result of poor and unsatisfactory financial and operational results by SOEs has cause the transfer of ownership to private investor who will impact their business discipline in order to improve the level of performance for the newly privatized SOEs. While Aktan (1995) suggest that privatization goes beyond the sale of SOEs, assets or shares to individuals or private firms but in a broad meaning, it is to restrict government role and function in providing economic activities and put forward some methods or policies in order to strengthen free market economy. Privatization is often meant to be the transfer of control and ownership of government asset or firm to private investors. It could be partial or whole, through private placement or public offer of share via the capital market as well as through the distribution of vouchers. The major purpose of privatization is to grow and develop the economic by creating competition that can bring about efficiency ***. It will be right for the logical argument of this research study to compare or examine the different view of academics on what privatization means. Parker et al (2005) states that privatization is used to cover many arrays of different policies like liberalization, commercialization but in one of its studies, Privatization in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence and the Policies lessons, suggest that privatization means the transfers of productive asset from the state to the private sector, but also stressed that the most important factors to be considered is the introduction of effective competition and regulatory measures alongside with existing firms and for government to accept the political changes that occurs when privatization takes place. While, Beesley (1997) suggest that privatization is the formation of a companys act company and the subsequent sale of at least 50percent of the total shares of a company to private shareholders. However it is obvious now that privatization starts with the government transfer of its assets or a controlling share to private investors or shareholders in order to stimulate econom ic development. Privatization as an inherent part of government efforts to rationalize the SOEs. Its mostly done to reduce the burden on National Budget, improve efficiency of individual enterprise and ensure wider distribution of business ownership among its citizens and other foreign investors. However in most cases it brings about the introduction of market force (Demand and Supply forces) into the economy. Privatization can be set up to achieve different objectives depending on the Political, Economy and Social condition of each individual Country. This is due to the fact that what is applicable in the UK for instance will most likely not applicable in Russia due to the differences in techniques or method of privatization, general government objectives, SOEs condition, firms sectors activities and the countries characteristics. According to Bennett (2003) there are different methods used during privatization, either one used has its own advantage and disadvantage. The share option method is the mostly used method, it involves the sales of SOEs through the issue of shares to the public through stock market. For this method to be successfully implemented, the local country privatizing its SOEs must have an established Stock market where the trading of these shares should take place. Also there should enough public awareness to sell shares. While the private placement option which involves the sale of SOEs to the highest bidder helps government rise substantial revenue but the issues involved here, is the highest bidder will always want to get back their money back in time by exploiting the consumers. This option is mostly done in developing countries where there stock market is still very weak and there are trying to get foreign investor to invest. Lastly the voucher method which is common with Eastern Europe an countries like, Russia, Czech Republic etc, tends towards alleviating poverty. It involves the allocation of SOEs shares to virtually all local qualified citizens of a state in order for both the poor and rich to be co-owners of the SOE. But in most case the poor ones are more likely to sell their share to the rich one who will then have a controlling stake. 1.1 Background to the Study The telecoms industry is a sizable sector offering a wide range of products and services as well as employment opportunities across virtually all professional, skilled and unskilled discipline in the economy. However the industry has expanded and develop rapidly since late 1980s, in the 1990s and even more rapidly in most recent times due its consistency in constant need for Research and Development (RD), technological change on both the service providers and suppliers sides respectively in other to satisfy its market and be more efficient to maximize profitability. The telecommunication industry whether in a developed or developing economies has had its impact towards the growth and development of virtually all parts of an economy ranging from the political, social, financial, technological sectors over its 100 years of existence. However like every other service providing sector, it provides services to the local market and international market where business strategic is always aimed at gaining competitive advantage in the existence of competition and tight regulatory business environment in terms of providing service to users, expanding its economies of scale and scope and equity expansion. Many countries grant monopoly power to their local telecoms but establish an office that will regulate their activities and in other cases some merge their postal services and telecoms services together, example is the United Kingdom (UK). The UK Telecommunication has been in existence dating back to 1879, with its first telephone exchange established in Coleman Street, London. 1896 saw the Post Office take over the private sector trunk services while in 1912, all national telephone company exchange was controlled by the Post Office as a monopoly supplier of telephone service in the UK. The Post office had two departments the postal service and telecom. As a rule as stated by Ratto-Nielsen, telephone operations, the postal service where subsidized while labor union where paid high rents to organize labor. However in 1969, the Post office become a State Public Corporation and after the Carter Report of the Post Office Review Corporation was published, the 1981 the British Telecoms Act 1981 became law and the postal and telecoms of the Post Office became the responsibilities of two separate Corporation namely; The Post Office and British Telecoms (BT) Cable and Wireless, which was privatized. While BT was created as a Public Corporation charged with the responsibilities for Telecommunications, Supplies, Installations and Maintenance. The first competitive rivalry in the industry was the granting of license in 1982 to Mercury Communication Limited (MCL) to operate a fixed Link network in order to compete with BT. This only made a little impact as BT has a huge competitive advantage over MCL because it already had the market share, established and experienced Skilled employees and existing contracts with leading telecoms equipments manufacturers and service providers to operate and even if a year later both where give the advantage to operate without rival firms providing fixed link networks in the UK for seven years The Government White Paper published, proposed for the sale of 51percent of BT and the creation of a telecoms regulatory body, to be named Office of Telecommunication (Oftel) whose duties where to supervise all the activities going on in the telecoms industry and to also prosecute those who do not comply with the set rules and regulation of the industry as well as protect services users from exploitation. Two years later Oftel was signed into law and then administration of Margret Thatcher creating BT as a Limited Company wholly owned by the Government as BT Plc but was later privatized by selling off 50.2percent Shares to the Public. BT is one of the world oldest telecommunication Firm and dates back to be the first ever British telecom firm which also had the sole monopoly of providing telecom services in the UK with the backup of British Government. During the period, from 1878 the UK telephone service was been provided by the private sector companies, National Telephone Company (NTC) who were also faced with competition from the General Post Office (GPO) and in 1896 the GPO took over operation of the telephone service from and became a monopoly market for the in 1912 controlling the entire telecoms market in the UK. In 1965, some finding made by a working party was presented to the government which there found substantial enough. This lead them to split GPO into two divisions; the Post and Telecommunication which gave birth to BT and five units Post, Telecommunication, Savings, Giro and National Data Processing Services respectively. The Post Office act of 1969 made the Post Office to be controlled by the government and established as a public corporation. This gave them the sole right to run the telecoms system with listed power to authorize others to run such systems. However the Post Office retained its telecommunication monopoly. The Carter Committee of 1977 suggest for the restructuring of the Post Office into two separate units and further renaming of the Post Office to British Telecoms but it also remained a part of the Post Office. In 1981, the introduction of British Telecommunication act transfer the provision of telecommunication from the Post Office as a resulting establishing two different corporations a bold step to create competition in the utility industry (Telecoms). This empowered the trade and industry ministry and the British Telecoms the right to grant Licenses to other telecoms operators to run telecommunication systems therefore creating competition in the sector. However, in July 1982 the government officially announced her intention to privatize BT by selling up to 51 percent of BT shares to private investors. In 1984, more than 50 percent of BT was sold to the public through share option, then the largest ever most successful SOE privatization exercise in the history of privatization leaving the government with just forty 47.6 percent. This was about the most radical and the largest scale privatization exercise ever had in the history of Britain. However most investor where scared that it was going to fail. It was but in 1991 the government share of BT was reduced to 21.8 percent by rising up to  £5 billion and creating about 750,000 new shareholders of BT. In reality, the privatization of BT opened the telecoms market for other operates to come into the market, invest in the sector and breaking the monopoly advantage had by BT over the years by fighting for market shares through intense competitive business environment. This however forced BT into having fairer business policies, improved technology to optimize productivity as well as to raise its level of efficiency as government regulatory body would introduced a price cap system. On the other side this allowed other firms to spring up and compete with BT in the telecom sector bringing about maximum utilization of available resources, cost cutting and efficiency. Telecoms consumers where the most rewarded people as operator gave them the best deals ever in order to gain market shares. BT Plc is now run in over 170 countries all over the world and faced with about 150 other telecoms operator. This has forced them virtually to constantly to research and develop their existing technolog y as well as acquire new ones in order to keep pace with their consumers new and market share. 1.2 Rationale for this Study In this research study aims to examine the impact of privatization in the telecom sector in the UK post privatization era. Also it will examine if the method of privatization contributes to both the operational and financial performance*** 1.3 Objectives to the Study My objectives will be subdivided into two sections aimed at determining to what extends privatization affected BT performance in terms of one; financial performance By looking the determinants working capital management, Share price movement and it covariance relative to the telecoms sector and FTSE 100 and Financial annual report Secondly; operational performance Level of efficiency Market Share strategy Competition and Regulation 1.4 Limitation There are inevitable limitation to this research study caused by the different economy situation post privatization era of BT. This can be ranging from some systematic economy problems to specific economy problems that can either be a general issue associated with all other sectors of the economy or rather that has to do alone with the telecoms sector or BT performance over time. Also political issues that arise for political interference in BT or the telecom sector which can either be from change of government. Finally as a research study there will be minor statistical error but this research study still represent a substandard measurement of BT post privatization operational and financial performance within the very dynamic, rapid, competitive and volatile telecom sector indices and the FTSE 100 at large. 1.5 Research Questions Why would one witness a difference in performance in terms of operational and financial factors when a firm is managed by government compared to when been managed by the private individual or investors? 1.6 Structure of the Study In Chapter two, this study will focus on the methods of privatization while chapter three of this research is literature review which includes theoretical framework and a review of relevant literatures. The theoretical framework will look at the different theories of privatization, how those theories where applied during privatization and the impact it had in the telecoms sector. Also the literature will critically review the impact of privatization in the telecoms sector focus mainly on the operational and financial performance of SOEs before and after privatization. While Chapter four will discuss the methodology adopted to achieve this study. Chapter four will be analysis of datas and stating of findings. Finally Chapter five would be conclusion. Chapter two 2.0 Methods of Privatization 2.1 Introduction This chapter will focus on the different methods of privatizations ranging from share issue method to voucher or the mass method and finally the asset sales method. It will also discuss the justification why a particular method is chosen rather than the other toward the achievement of privatization exercise and finally the advantage and disadvantages of each method used. 2.2 Share Issue Method This method of privatization involves the sale of all or part of SOE to investor through a public share offer which are similar to initial public offer (IPO) in the private sector via the stock market. This is structured to raise money for the government, divest them also from ownership and for them to achieve political objectives. However in the words of Megginson (2005) this method is the largest and most successful method to transfer SOEs to private ownership. Yet it is the most dramatic because if it turns out successfully or fails respectively it becomes the most political and economy bad or good decision depending on what happens. However, the process of using this method involves the passing through three steps; How to transfer control: This involves whether to sell the whole SOEs strategically to the public once or step by step. If the last option is chosen then government will have to determine what percent should be sold initially and subsequently but the most important thing here is for the government to put up tight regulation to control corporate decisions after the privatization exercise. How to price the offer: The pricing decision requires whether government should do the pricing by tender offer, a booking-building exercise or a fixed price but whatever the decision government makes it must be in advance. However the government always issue out SOEs share below the true market value as an incentive to encourage investors to buy shares. Finally, how to allocate the shares: This depends on who the government intends to favor most, it could be the employees, labor unions or potential investors and even foreign investors. Also it could make use an investment banker as lead underwriter or favor national champion. Meanwhile this method of privatization needs the existence of a capital market and also has some comparative advantage over the other methods which is rationale behind why it can be used in some situation rather than the others. In most case SOEs share prices are underpriced relative to the market price, hence foregone government revenue that will make investor make a premium on top of there investment The needs to expand the stock market operational capacity to accommodate new issued equities Advantage Can raise huge amount of revenue for the government The strategy employed can be use to create wealth evenly for local investors by allocating a set percentage of share to every region within the country. This usually occurs in situation where there is less inequality of income The use of share option, most likely develops the capital market. It is also used when the SOE to be privatized is large and profitable. For example BT, It also transforms the size and efficiency of both the nations investment banking sector and its capital market. Disadvantage It is time consuming to organize It is extremely expensive to coordinate due to the fact that before the share are put to sale the government have to hire and pay consultants 3. Transaction cost is another issue. It include cost of sales, advertising, underwriting. 2.3 Asset Sales Method This method involve the sale of the whole or part of SOE clearly for cash to individual investors, group of investors or an existing corporation with or without experience in that sector (Meggison 2005). Vuylsteke et al (1995), suggest that transaction here can occur in different forms from direct acquisition by a similar corporate firm or private placement to targeting various institutional investors. However there are different procedures to follow in this method of privatization exercise. This includes; firstly the full competitive process which involves a privatization process of pre-qualification of bidders to win the final bid to take-over the said SOE. While the second procedure involves the use of direct negotiations between investors and government representatives to take-over the said SOE which usually involve the search for a larger number of investors. Both process would usually involve the investor who are either new or have an excellent record of both operational and financial performance in the past. This though is not a major concern for the government or standard to win the bid but can only be as confidence booster for both the government, SOE labor unions and management. However the governments have strict interest in the bidders that can meet their financial requirements as well as all other agreement without violating. Advantages It brings about a speedy and flexible negotiation towards the sales of SOE between the individual or group of investors and the government body that is interested in the transfer of the SOE to private hands. It can yield more revenue for the government as the highest bidder wins the ownership of SOE to be privatized It is the most reliable method of privatization in economies where the stock market is underdeveloped as well as encourage to a great extend property right theory. It attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cash flow income into the economies of the local country. It can also bring about innovation in technology, management skills and expertise especially when these SOE are bought over by foreigners. Disadvantages It is the least transparent method of privatization as the government might only target to sell to the group of investor that favors they own political objectives. It can bring about exploitation as the new investor might be under pressure to pay back loans and t the same time maximums profit within a short period of time. The group of investors or individual investor might not have the required technical expertise or skill and experience to run the new privatized SOE. These are mostly common with local investors favored by the government or are new in business. 2.4 Voucher Method This is also known as mass privatization, usually common in Eastern Europe. It is a method whereby eligible citizens of a nation can use vouchers that are distributed free or at nominal cost. This gives holders the right to bid for stake for SOEs or other assets been privatized. This method is mostly used in transition economies like in the Central and especially Eastern economies respectively to bring about fundamental change in the ownership of business asset in these economies, although not always change in effective control (Meggison 2005). However, low income distribution level prompted most nations in Eastern Europe to adopt this method of privatization as it became clear that the only viable way to privatize and maintain significant domestic ownership was the voucher method if not only individuals with the wealth to acquire shares which were communist, criminal and foreigners would buy up everything. (Parker and Saal 2003) This method of privatization as suggested by Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1994) shows that the reason to purse and specifically design the program is largely dictated by politics. This involves the divestment of SOE through the distribution of vouchers to a nations citizenry that people can use to bid for the SOEs on offer. This method has been used in mass privatization exercise programs mostly in transaction economies in the Czech Republic, Russia and other Eastern and Central Europe countries. However this method has been really successful in the past but most recently are failing because there do not attract new capital or management to the privatized SOEs. Experience has also shown that it do not provide effective ownership structure for the new privatized SOE instead insiders end up controlling most of the more valuable companies and ordinary investors receive claims of the weakest and least promising SOEs. Advantage It ensures a wide share of shares ownership, where as a lot of people would have been too poor to buy and own a share. Disadvantage It yielded no cash inflow to the government or firms and thus there were no transfers of technology, capital and expertise from foreign investors or multinational companies to the privatized companies. It also gave the new owners of the privatized who where existing managers and employee little incentives to effectively restructure the firms operation and reduce the amount of staff needed in order to cut cost. In most cases, government never gave up the full control of important privatized companies to private owners other than managers because government still heard a majority shareholding and thus felt that the firms will be too strategic to be left unsupervised. This was because government wanted to ensure that no serious staff cut which would have impact on operational restructuring as the exercise was politically rational but economically deliberate. Government allowed the politicization of credit extension also made the newly privatized firms continue to enjoy soft budget constraint for an infinite amount of time also contributed to one of the weakness of voucher privatization. 3.0 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 3.1 Introduction The privatization of SOEs has over time been a big and important issue in the growth and development of the economy. This has lead to the development of many theories which explains the ideas behind what is expected in principle and practice in privatization exercise. This chapter will however discuss the relevant theoretical and empirical literatures of this research study objectives and rationale. This involves critically examining the theories that have been developed over time by different authors and how their impact privatization as regards the objectives of this study. This will also state why privatization is vital for the growth and development of some sectors and why, it will not in some other sectors within the economy. Finally, analysis on how privatization affects the performance of a firm will also be discussed. 3.2 Factors Determining Privatization SOE were highly inefficient and grow at a very slow pace, too much bureaucratic issue can cause no room for quick decision making, innovative changes. Also constant government political intervention as well as administration changes is an issue. It is also over dominated by the power of Labor Trade Union (Veljnovski 1987). However after the successful privatization of BT in 1984 by the Thatchers administration, it became an economic policy that can be used to reduce the financial pressure on government budget as well as the concern to prevent SOEs from failing in terms of its inefficient use of financial and operational resources. But could this be a means to wealth creation for investors, who through the spread and acquisition of shares ownership, restructuring and refocusing of SOEs economic objectives as well as cutting of trade labor unions influence and power will see SOE to maximize both there operational and financial performances. An argument that must be stressed here is that of the difficulty in interpreting the indictors of both operational and financial performance of SOEs post privatization within and outside the business environment economy. Take for example; poor financial performance may be consistent with high rate of internal efficiency if the formal is as a result of government policy of price control. However, since SOEs frequently respond to anticipated market failures, profit maximization and similar related measures might not necessary, be a reliable indicator for their poor performances over time (Ramanadham 1993). Rather this study will support that failure of SOEs, could be as a result of rapid demand for their goods and services faced by their steady but slow growth to reach maximum productivity movement rather than to totally shift production function to meet all demands and avoid poor operational and financial performance. Yarrow (1986), however argued against privatization stating that competition and more forceful accountability will even be better than privatization in promoting both financial and operational efficiency but his argument has a limitation, it only focused on a small number of company within UK. Ramanadham (1993) pointed out that the objective of privatization is realized more if it becomes successful within a short period of time either by stock market price rise or increase in the level of efficiency or productivity bringing about instance economic growth and development. But when reverse is the case (if it fails), which happens some time it even makes privatization more undesirable. So it is best re-engineer SOE by over hauling it, as well s to set up a transparent regulatory frame work to remedy what might be a failure when the objectives of privatization are not met as anticipated in order to level the firms operational and financial performance post privatization. In a further argument by Megginson et al (1994) whose strong support from recent theoretical and empirical perspective, that private firms will always outperform SOEs stating that privatization itself will always increase both the financial and operational efficiency of firms irrespective of the business environment. While another view by Moore (1992) who argued that the act of privatization promotes economic efficiency and public confidence (one of the major objectives of property right theory) in the system of industrial capitalism and thus SOEs should be sold off before efficiency gains can be realized. He also argued that the success of privatization transforms business attitude towards ownership, economic responsibility and towards the improvement of corporate performances. It also allows government play an important role of regulation the business environment leaving the ownership of firms in the hand of investors and individuals who will perform better as there are faced with scare resource and market forces. It is clear now that different factors can lead to privatization especially when SOEs has underperform operationally and financially causing political pressure, budget deficit and waste of scare resource for the government and even to the extent of administrative failure. 3.4 Evaluation of the theories of Privatization Principal Agent Theory Vickers and Yarrow (1995) points out that a problem exist in the principal agent theory as the principal interest greatly lies in profit maximization and high return for investment therefore this aim might conflict with that of the agent who might pursue other objectives apart from profitability. Further stating that since the formal do not have full information concerning what is happening within the SOE and cannot fully control the attitude of the agents who might be over ambitious and purse his own objectives, this will certainly create monitoring problems for the principal. This in fact creates both financial and operational problems directly or indirectly.** However when shareholders can influence the behaviors of agents (management) through vote as the only way to keep them in check, the agent might however work at a more efficient level and focus on a set objective towards profit maximization. On the other hand when the rate of efficiency increases, it leads to higher revenue which is mostly one of the objectives, to brings about higher income and dividend for its shareholders.** Property Right Theory This is a set of right to control assets. It is a consequently grants of authority made to an investor or a group of investors through right of issue of share or control either public or private and acknowledged by other persons or organizations (Lindblom, 1977) De Soto (2006) argues that lack of formal property right is what has kept developing economies from been developed stating that it limits the amount of goods and services that can be exchanged in the market in order to have a sustainable long term economy growth. While Easterly (2001) opinion is quite similar to the views of Soto, Easterly suggests that property right is a s

SWOT Analysis of MTV

SWOT Analysis of MTV The first music channel to broadcast music television in Asia was the American music channel MTV. It entered the Indian market in 1991 via Star TVs satellite. But two years later, over a disagreement regarding the amount of local programming it left the scene and a new player emerged in the form of Star TVs own Channel V. this was after Rupert Murdochs News Corporation acquired Star TV. Since the MTVs approach to the market was global, channel V emphasis on local artistes and VJs and for a while enjoyed a monopoly position in the market. But this monopoly was not for long, MTV reentered the Asian market in 1995 with new strategies to gain competitive advantage and brand image. Since then the growth of MTV in the region has been tremendous. In 1999, the rivalry manifested itself in an escalating war of words between Steve Smith of Channel V and Frank Brown of MTV with each alleging that the other was misrepresenting distribution figures. The case documents this feud and its effect on advertisers in the context of the emerging Asian market for televised music. The Music Television Channel, MTV was created in collaboration of Media Company Warner Communication and Credit Card Company American Express on 1st August 1981. Within the next 10 years MTV had become a popular culture icon among the youth. It became a launch platform for artists and became a whole lifestyle in itself. MTV popularized music and changed the way audience conceived it before. Whereas Channel V, an international music channel chain, owned by Star TV network and is aired in many countries around Australia, Asia and the Middle East, played both mainstream and alternative music. There approach was local. Their target was the 15-24-age set, where it currently trails with its competitor, MTV. This funky channel is a craze among music loves and the young generation. The case also talks about the initial success of channel V which lead to a shift in MTVs programming mix and the various steps adopted by MTV that enabled it to become the market leader at the cost of channel V. INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Analyzing the case based on the porters five force model :- Suppliers A suppliers influence is defined by its ability to bargain price and influence availability of materials. Other strengths of the supplier include their ability to increase prices without suffering from a decrease in volume, reduce the quantity supplied, organize in a formal or informal manner, compete in an environment with relatively few substitutes, provide a product/material that is a critical part of the end product or service, impose switching costs on their customers when they depart, integrate downstream by purchasing or controlling the distribution channels. As such, every company that depends on the services and materials from key suppliers need to be sensitive on the variables that are highly important and considered by the suppliers. MTV and CHANNEL V Medium to high for record companies, music producers, and movie companies. The supplier is the music industry which provides content and programming. The decision-makers of the company should have a clear understanding of the business dynamics in which suppliers are directly involved in. These include the suppliers concentration or their focus and core business interests, variety of products and design offered, and the alternative resources that are available. In this light, it is most appropriate to build win-win relationships with suppliers or arrange the use multiple suppliers in order to protect the interests of both ends. Buyers It describes the impact customers have on an industry. Stronger the buying power stronger is the influence in determining the price. The bargaining power of buyers increases when they have the ability to make agreements with other companies providing similar products and services, purchase a product that represents a significant fraction of the expenses incurred by the company, purchase of a product that is undifferentiated, incur low changes in costs when they change vendors, be price sensitive by bearing in mind the options available, and Integration to purchase the goods of the suppliers. MTV and CHANNEL V- Teenagers to young adults, advertisers, satellite Cos, TV channels. Barganing Power of Buyers High for advertisers, satellite/TV channels especially due to the fierce competition between the two. New Entrants The competition is determined by the number of new companies entering the industry. Success can be determined by evaluating the methods of entry and exit for a new player. Although any company should be able to enter and exit the sector, each industry presents different levels of difficulty influenced by economics. These unique characteristics of the each industry are referred to as barriers to entry which may come from different aspects of the business ranging from supplies to technology. They seek to reduce the rate of entry of new entrants which leads to maintenance of a level of profits for the existing players. MTV and CHANNEL V -To enter in music TV channel industry needs huge investments to set up a TV channel. There are also strict government regulations especially in Asia on TV content. indeed the barriers to entry are low as more music channels are beginning to emerge.Several companies are pitching in with all the new digital platforms widely propagating in the entertainment industries. MTVs competitors can only multiply through substitute platforms that will attempt to topple down MTV due to viewing alternatives. Cheaper means to present music has since multiplied thanks to wireless solutions. As barrier to entry is low, MTV and channel V can definitely expect threats from other competing channels from all over the world. The government also will get in the way by regulating the channels entering their countries. Substitutes â€Å"Substitute products† as those that are available in other industries that meet an identical or similar need for the end user. Due to the availability and affordability of more substitutes, the demand becomes more elastic since customers have more alternatives. Other concerns in assessing the threat of substitutes include the presence of new technologies that can contribute to competition though more diverse and economical substitute products and services. A segment is unattractive when there are actual or potential substitutes for a product. MTV and CHANNEL V- Medium to high, people can enjoy music from other means like DVD, CD, and Radio etc. New cable networks had been fast emerging ever since the 1980s. Cable networks would enjoy enormous growth during the 90s to the dawn of the 21st century and they provide viewers, audience and markets other viewing options. Industry Competitors Firms strive to secure a competitive advantage over their rivals. The intensity of rivalry varies within each industry and these differences can be important in the development of strategy. Industries that are â€Å"concentrated,† versus â€Å"fragmented,† often display the highest level of rivalry. In pursuing an advantage over its rivals, a firm can choose from several competitive moves: changing prices, improving product differentiation, creatively using channels of distribution, exploiting relationships with suppliers. MTV and Channel V-Duopolistic competition among MTV and Channel V. Globalization has opened competition especially in the case of local channels. There is new technology to be exploited that will expand broadcasting capabilities. Locally produced material has become the goals of every TV channel in order to truly suit the personal tastes and sensibilities of the viewers. Governments also encourage local materials. Globalization has opened the doors for other entities internationally to join the competition as they are able to access new markets. Competition will perceivably become stiffer in the growth of new competition and rivals all around the world. STRATEGY OF MTV â€Å"I Want My MTV† MTV came up with a loyalty concept, a slogan that targeted the 12-34 age segments. The idea of â€Å"want† and â€Å"my† gives off the idea of a personalized desire that can be met by MTV. Its the individuality of this segment that wants them to declare it proudly. Therefore consumers seek for this distinctiveness and want to take part of the MTV revolution. Cable networks and advertisers alike cant help but to include MTV among its ranks. Network MTV can possibly capture a wider market share even beyond their 12-34 demographics, by forming more spin offs such as MTV dance and through channels like VH1 and Nickelodeon.Through VH1 they can reach out to the market older than 34, they are reportedly a group of loyal consumers at the same time they can win the appeal of those younger than 12 through the Nickelodeon channel and the online game called Neopets. To achieve all this, they can work towards mergers, alliances and acquisitions which leads to the next strategy. BUSINESS LEVEL STARTEGY Channel V had already established itself quite well by the time MTV re-entered Indian market. Commenting on Channel [V] becoming popular in MTVs absence, Peter Jamison, the then in-charge of MTV Asia commented, â€Å"I feel like the father who went to war and has come back to discover that his place in the family has been taken by another man.† In 1997, MTV was forced to announce a strategic shift in its programming mix and started airing Hindi film songs by the Channel [V]s growing popularity. However the MTV sources refused to accept this. MTV cashed well its more focused approach by understanding the pulse of the Indian music market in terms of programming mix whereas Channel V lost its focus and failed to do so. But we cannot hold the channel solely responsible for it. There were certain problems inherent in the organizational structure. The channel had a centralized structure, wherein almost all the programming decisions were made at the headquarters in Hong Kong. As a result, the channel found it difficult to track the latest popular songs and modify its programming mix accordingly. Channel Vs image as a music channel become so popular that it acted as a barrier while projecting its new image as a channel for youth and to change this perception by offering non-music programs was a big task. They had adopted this new concept but had no benchmark to judge its programs. MTVs programs attracted audience across all segments whereas Channel Vs programs appealed only to one section of the audience at a time. The ‘Back to Basics† strategy was initiated by the Star TV network which had a majority stake in Channel [V]. According to this strategy, the channel decided to take off all non-music programs off the air, as producing them was very costly compared to the music-based programs. Moreover, advertising time on Channel [V] was sold as a package along with other Star TV channels at a discount. For instance, an advertiser advertising on channel(s) under the Star TV network was offered spots on Channel [V] at concessional rates. As Stars channels such as Star Plus and Star Movies were very popular, Channel [V] hoped to cash in on their popularity. Bottom of Form LEVELS OF DIVERSIFICATION In order to establish themselves as the winner and sustain the position both the channels adopted new channels of diversification:- In 1998 channel V signed a deal with ALMA TV, to beam there international channel to 50000 homes in Kazakhstan. Brand extension by MTV in the form of record compilation such as â€Å"unplugged† series and the CD â€Å"MTV alternative nation† released by Seagrams. MTVs deal with Singapore telecommunication for licensing. MTV logo featured on merchandises in Philippines. Channel Vs brand extension includes albums and t-shirts which were showed in INDIA but there scale of licensing activities were considerably less than of MTV. Mergers MTV joined hands with CBS Corporation and was able to reach exposure through CBSs advantage in news, sports and distribution. The Multi-domestic strategy- MTV Asia associated with National Broadcasting Company of the Philippines in order to establish a terrestrial channel on the country. In doing so, NBC is able to impart their mastery in distribution and operational expertise in the Southeast Asian country. Through its Music awards it is also able to attract big time sponsors such as PepsiCo and Ford Motors. This would even attract more market. In PepsiCos case, its food and drink consumers and through Ford, car consumers. It has also been endorsing the channel through political and social causes for poverty and AIDS. Multi-domestic Strategy MTV expanded by telecasting local contents whichalso allowed them to divide and reach individual markets who will want a music channel who knows not only their music interests but also their locale. MTV then acknowledges its slogan â€Å"I want my MTV† as it is able to give consumers the MTV they really want based on their culture and not merely western or European. The consumers are clearly interested to a channel that knows them enough to speak their own language and sensibilities. SWOT Analysis It is an integral procedure and a very powerful tool for organizations and businesses to instigate effective marketing plans. It aims to comprehend the environmental as well as the organizational influences that surround a particular business establishment. There are actually two types of situational analysis that are both equally significant. One is the external analysis and the other focuses on the internal environment. When conducting an external situational analysis, the business customers, market and competitors are analyzed. Whereas, internal situational analysis focuses on the identification of the companys distinctive competencies, expected growth, their assets as well as their liabilities. It also illustrates the core values of a company so that these value can be enhanced or beneficial to the market. The evaluation of the internal environment of the company involves the analysis of the companys structure, culture and resources. When a strategy is selected for implementation, it must be appropriate given the way the organization is structured or the way an organization must be restructured. The strategy must be consistent with the organizations culture. Finally the organizational resources must be available to actually implement the strategy that was formulated. Without the proper people, skills, abilities, finances and physical resources, the strategy cannot be implemented (Buhler, 1994). The success of the business organization entails detailed understanding and examination of political, social and economic factors that influence the growth and continuous operations of the company. Studying the important consideration relevant to the organization to serve the purpose and objectives of the company will determine its success. Consequently, decision-makers of the company should be sensitive of the general trends and changes that are taking place in their industry. This will include efforts to maximize the opportunities available while reducing the risks that confront the business organization. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks that characterize the operations of MTV are detailed in the discussions that follow. (S)trengths MTV dominates the young adult population who are some of the strongest money spenders due to its association of popular culture. MTV appealed to the population not only through the music but also through its coverage on lifestyle, film, fashion and other forms of leisure and entertainment that captured this market. MTV is a channel that has a personal appeal that cable networks and advertisers come knocking on MTVs door. MTV positioned itself as it gives the young adults what they want and at the same time, this market determines what MTV should show them. It was percieved that MTV is an empowering vehicle to the young adult market, which allows them to have a more pronounced self-esteem, power and personality which allows MTV to constantly claim the dominating position. One of its strength also MTVs appeal to its advertisers. During its many programs such as the Music awards, MTV has received sponsors from many companies that are confident to enjoy exposure in MTVs sought after programs.Ex- PepsiCo and Ford. MTV has been served as a launch pad of present favorites and successful artists. It expanded and exploited other media and entertainment forms other than music such as those brought by films and video games. Its constant mergers with companies such as the Philippines National Broadcasting Company will further localize MTV and fit the interests of its audience and bridging cultural as well as regional differences. MTV has since expanded to India and China and has been continuing its move towards alliances and mergers for wider distribution and for tailored products. Partnerships will allow MTV to cement its influence in a fast moving insatiable consumer market. MTVs constant support for social and political causes will allow greater relevance and presence. Its involvement with such issues strengthens its power and influence in the realm of entertainment media. Its expansion to other media forms will allow it to deliver more services other than just mere music. MTVs VH-1 will allow MTV to maintain its dominant position among other markets. (W)eaknesses MTV had encountered obstacles in reaching the local audience through their cultural misunderstandings therefore it started to lose its dominating power as there are other interest the markets and audience wants to be met. Thus MTV will need to find out what exactly these interests are and expand to this if they would want to maintain a dominating position. Cable Television offers several other choices that MTV is removed from its monopoly. They must understand the cultural background they are penetrating by making appropriate aspects such as advertising, brand, and cultural contexts. (O)pportunities Thes channels have an opportunity to merge into mobile and Internet companies for the wider distribution of their products and better solution what the market demands. At the same time, MTV may enjoy visibility in wireless technologies allowing the market to â€Å"have its MTV† when they want it. MTV can give an enhanced on-demand viewing experience the web and mobile. Globalization has helped MTV to get into international deals and the emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil having rich growth opportunities to venture into.Since two thirds of Asias population belongs to the 12-34 age group which is MTVs Target market.It will be a large market to explore and cater toand also due to Asia having interest in Western Products.Data says that MTV has up to 54 million homes in China. (T)hreats   Ã‚  Ã‚  Other substitute and the emergence of Digital cable will be a threat to MTVs current dominance. Germany had created their own local music channels that would be a threat to MTV. They have the advantage of their familiarity of the audience that MTV hardly has. Many Digital platforms provide other alternatives for the population to spend their past time and thus MTV must know well to penetrate this. For MTV to continue setting trends, it must be open to other possibilities as its consumers are known to be demanding and possessing short attention spans. New cable networks and channels have been eager to take a chunk out of MTVs advertising share. However, the advertising revenue has been decreased as cable networks lose their appeal. The presence of new digital and media forms provide advertisers other new and emerging ways and alternatives in marketing their products. The threat in MTVs chosen market is that the young adult stage is a turbulent and short-lived stage and the young adults sensibilities and interests are quick to change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Production of more channels as a result of technology development allowing local cable and satellite technology to create more and increase bandwidth. Recommendations MTV must continue its expansion of local content as competition and rivals decide to attack MTV through local channels. Globalization has only increased the chances for MTV to meet its hungry competitors and it is easy to have the means to try to top MTV through new digital and media platforms. MTV has already its share of imitations from countries around the world and people may not mind this. By integrating these technologies and continuing its expansions throughout the world especially in emerging countries found in Latin American and Asia, it may continue to meet success. MTVs chance of success and survival is not as high in the 1980s and 1990s where MTV has been a pioneer of music television, and establish itself as a cultural icon. MTV must first correct its weaknesses foremost of which is its need to reach out to a local audience by researching about the market they are entering. This can be repaired through alliances with local companies such as the Philippines NBC. It also needs to appeal to the governments. In each country there is an obstacle or challenge waiting like the limitation of pay television and the propagation of free channels which will discourage purchase of MTV. The young generation or the 12-34 demographic is the hardest market to pin down due to changing trends and interests. They are inconstant with their desires and most likely, they would not be the slightest bit similar to the generation that popularized MTV. These are the children of digital and new technologies that would have a shorter attention span and fleeting interests. The 21st century is an even more distracting world. MTV must constantly reinvent itself and start something new in order to ride along the changes and the thirst towards innovations. In order to be the trend-setter it was in the past, it must be able to encompass or conquer its challenges of globalization and technology and create from here COMPETING IN CHINA China with its 330 million television sets is considered as the major growth market. Because of the vast size and growth potential both the channels actively competing for local partners in anticipation of reaping future benefits. But the Chinese market is strictly regulated by the central government, because of the communism in the country. Satellite broadcasts were officially banned so foreign satellite TV must be filtered through registered cable approved by state administration for film, radio and television. Unlike the road shows and dance parties in India, Chinese market has largely been in the form of hosting music award ceremonies (1999 onwards). CONCLUSION MTV has become a symbol of globalization. It adopted right international strategies and controls at the right time to regain its lost popularity, especially in non English speaking countries like India and Europe. The rationale behind MTVs localized approach is to â€Å"get inside the heads† of the local population and produce programming that matches their tastes and preferences. Whereas Channel V lacked to achieve this target till great extend.