Five Milestones in Children’s Literature - 927 Words

Five Milestones in Children’s Literature Five Milestones in Children’s Literature Imagine a world with no books. Imagine gathered around a camp fire listening to stories of hero’s, witches, dragon slayers, ghost, and even biblical blood baths. Well, this is how children were first told stories not from pages in a book but from images and memories of ones mind. Stories were told to children and adults alike. The art of storytelling slowly progress over the years from story telling orally to finally making it’s way to the paper, till eventually there were books made especially for children. The history of children’s literature is filled with many milestones. These milestones show how children’s literature grew to what it is today. The†¦show more content†¦This concept is still a major philosophy in today’s society. The fifth most important milestone in children’s literature came along in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Finally literature made just for the children. John Newbery was the first to public a children’s book. The book titled A Little Pretty Pocket Book was published in 1744. This was a major milestone for children’s literature, these books were written specifically for the entertainment of children. This opened doors and gave birth to a new world of literature, children’s literature. Later along came the famous folktales. The brothers Grimm have published many folktales’ that are still a major part of literature today. Eventually this lead to romantic and fantasy stories like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland this is still very popular today. Children’s literature has traveled a long road sinc e the beginning when children and adults were gathered around the fire listening to tales. Today there are numerous numbers of books for children. Not only are there new stories being published daily but the classics from centuries ago are still among us. 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In What Ways does Malta Differ from the Classical Mixed...

In what ways does Malta differ from the classical mixed jurisdictions? If classical mixed jurisdictions are to be studied collectively, certain sub-groups would need to be taken into consideration. Some would be amalgamations of common and civil law, such as Scotland and Seychelles; some of religious law, civil law and common law, such as Israel; some others with a mix of the previously mentioned laws with a further addition of socialist law and tribal law such as Algeria; others, such as Hong Kong, that combine traditional Chinese law and socialist Chinese law, which itself embodies elements of the civilian tradition and so on. Other systems which have shifted from the socialist sphere to the more civilian tradition, such as Poland,†¦show more content†¦On the contrary such laws cover a far-reaching geographical range. These new branches of the law together with the cross-boundary implications of traditional branches of the law, foremost amongst which is Criminal Law, all pose new challenges to law-making. Such novel branches comprise the Law of Sustainable Development, Cultural Heritage Law, Environmental Law, ICT Law, Communications Law, Technology Law, Biolaw, Media Law, Intellectual Property Law, Gaming Law, Statistics Law, Electronic Commerce Law, Multimodal Transport Law, new aspects of Criminal Law such as Terrorism Law, Money Laundering Law, Trafficking in Persons, Drug Trafficking and so on. H.D. Hazeltines view Law is continuously moving and changing, since it is the nature of law to be restless. This happens in response to the pressure of the forces that arise in the inner life of the community or that penetrate from outside. Whenever a body of law comes into contact with other systems, it ceaces to preserve its native character intact and instead it takes on new colors of form and content derived from foreign law. As for Maltese law, it remains a distinct legal hybrid where both Anglo-American and continental legal traditions have arguable flourished alongside one another. Maltas relationship to other European mixes is complex. As with all mixed systems, Malta suggests the significant limitations of the traditional taxonomies ofShow MoreRelatedIct and Ebusiness Retail Industry88499 Words   |  354 Pageswhich might be made of the following information. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. Nothing in this report implies or expresses a warranty of any kind. Results from this report should only be used as guidelines as part of an overall strategy. For detailed advice on corporate planning, business processes and management, technology integration and legal or tax issues, the services of a professional should be obtainedRead MoreEurope Economic Crisis55278 Words   |  222 PagesISSN 0379-0991 Economic Crisis in Europe: Causes, Consequences and Responses EUROPEAN ECONOMY 7|2009 EUROPEAN COMMISSION The European Economy series contains important reports and communications from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament on the economic situation and developments, such as the Economic forecasts, the annual EU economy review and the Public ï ¬ nances in EMU report. Subscription terms are shown on the back cover and details on how to obtain the list of sales agentsRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 Pageseconomic, social, and political churning, how will these driving factors be influenced by the brutally competitive global economy in which organizations do not have any particular geographic identity or travel under any particular national passport? What will be the effect of the rapid gyrations in markets that emphasize the difficulties that accounting practices face in determining true performance costs and that forecasting programs confront in establishing the economic determinants of corporate

Candor And Transparency Aligning Leadership - Sample Solution

Question: Discuss about the Candor and Transparency for Aligning Leadership. Answer: Introduction In this report, leadership quality of a 21st century leader has been evaluated. In order to conduct this assignment, the co-founder of company Apple, Steve Jobs has been selected. Steve Jobs is considered as 21st century tech leader, who had left behind a legacy. It has been found that most of the companies are now working across global boundaries. Leaders who handle teams across different countries are aware of the fact that they need different leadership styles in order to cope up with different cultures. It has been found that Steve Jobs leadership style is the integral part of the success of company Apple. In order to conduct this assignment in appropriate manner, at first the description of the leader and the organization has been provided along with the situation or context of the organization. In the next section, leadership quality of Steve Jobs has been critically evaluated by referring to the concepts and theories of leadership. It includes aspects such as leadership styles , traits, behaviors and attitudes of the leader. In the final section, some recommendations are provided to motivate people towards their work. Description of the leader, the organization/industry, and situation/context Steven Paul Steve Jobs was the American businessman, industrial designer and inventor. Steve Jobs was the former Chief Executive officer, chairman and co-founder of the company Apple (Apple 2017). He is the majority shareholder of Pixar and member of the board of director of the company Walt Disney. Steve Jobs was adopted in San Francisco and raised in the Bay area of San Francisco during 1960s (Bengtsson et al. 2016). He had attended Reed College during 1972. After dropping out from the college, he came to India during 1974 (Steinwart and Ziegler 2014). He sought enlightenment by studying Zen Buddhism. Steve Jobs had co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and develop Apple I as the first personal computer during 1976 (Yoffie and Cusumano 2015). After one year, they had developed Apple II, which helped them to get fame and wealth. According to Yoffie and Cusumano (2015), Apple II was the first successful mass-produced personal computer. Then after some year, Steve Jobs left the company and took some members with him to develop NeXT. It is computer platform development organization specialized in business markets and developing state-of-the-art computers for higher education. Jobs also helped to enhance the industry of visual effect and produced the first computer animated film name Toy Story. During the year of 1997, the company Apple had acquired and merged with Steves NeXT (Yoffie and Cusumano 2015). It helped Steve Jobs to become the CEO of the company again. Kane (2015) stated that, at that time, the company was verge of bankruptcy. During the time, Jobs helped the company to revive from that critical condition. He had provided a new idea for the advertising campaign of the company Think different. In addition, He worked closely with Jonathan Ive to develop a wide range of product that would have superior cultural ramification. It includes products such as iPod, iPhone, iTune Store and iPad. Mac OS is also modified and become macOS. It is modified depending on NeXTSTEP platform of the company NeXT (Kane 2015). The name of Steve Jobs is connected with American Multinational Technology Company named Apple. The name Apple was given by Steve Jobs during his visit to an Apple firm (Apple 2017). According to Jobs, this Apple will bring a sense of joy in the mind of listeners. The company designs, manufactures and sales computer software, consumer electronics and provides different online services (Apple 2017). The major hardware products of the company include MAC, iPod, iPhone, macOS, AppleTV and Apple watch. In addition, the company offers different types online services such as Apple Pay, iTunes store, iOS App store, iCloud. According to Yoffie and Cusumano (2015), the company Apple is known for its innovative products and services among its customers. For this reason, customer loyalty for the company is high. In terms of revenue, the company Apple is worlds biggest information technology company. In addition, Apple is the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world (Apple 2017). In the year of 2014, the company had become the first U.S. organization to be valued more than US$ 700 billion. As of April 2016, the company has approximately 478 stores in 17 countries all over the world (Apple 2017). There are approximately 115, 000 permanent employees work in Apple. At the end of 2015, the worldwide revenue of the company was $234 billion (Apple 2017). The revenue generation of the company, accounts for 1.25% GDP of U.S. (Apple 2017). The efficient leadership quality of Steve Jobs and his inspiration has helped the company to become worlds most valuable brand for 4 consecutive years (Apple 2017). The name of Steve Jobs is not only related with the company Apple, but also with Pixar and Disney. In the year of 1986, Steve Jobs had founded the Graphics group, which was later named as Pixar. The company had developed partnership with Disney and developed the first computer generated animated film named Toy Story in the year of 1995 (Pixar 2017). Steve Jobs was credited as the executive producer of the film. After the merger, Jobs had received 7% share of Disney and joined the board of director. He became the largest individual shareholder of the company Disney. Under the surveillance of Steve Jobs, the company Pixar has produced numerous numbers of successful animated movies over the last 15 years (Yoffie and Cusumano 2015). Movies like WALL-E, Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Toy story 3 have received best animated films over year. Floyd Noman had described Steve Jobs as mellow and mature individual who had never interfered with the creative methods of the filmmakers (Pixar 2017). The president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Ed Catmull mentioned in his book Creativity Inc. that Steve Job is fast thinker. Jobs advised him to just explain it until they understand. However, in their 26 years of working, they never had any loud verbal augment. Steve Jobs always let Ed Catmull to do the job in his own way and never criticized his work (Pixar 2017). Evaluation of the leader by referring to concepts and theories of leadership According to Yoffie and Cusumano (2015), leadership is the function of a personal or individual, who guides a group of people to achieve their goals. In the year of 1976, Steve Jobs had cofounded the company Apple in his garage. He was ousted from the company in the year of 1985 (Apple 2017). In the year of 1997, Steve Jobs was returned to the company to rescue it from bankruptcy (Apple 2017). During 2011, by the time he died, he made Apple the most valuable company in the world (Apple 2017). There are seven major industries that Jobs helped to transform. They are such as personal computing, tablet computing, retail stored, phones, music, digital publishing and animation movies. After reviewing different models and theories related with leadership, Steve Jobs leadership category can be analyzed. According to Kriger and Zhovtobryukh (2016), leadership style of Steve Jobs is a combination of Transformational leadership style with the personality of autocratic leader. Personally, it can be opined that Steve Jobs was basically an autocratic leader. According to Harris (2015), an autocratic leader prefers to take all the decisions on their own without consulting with team members. It is most applicable to Steve Jobs, as he tried to take all decisions on his own. Carroll (2013) stated that, all the decisions taken in the company Apple has to be gone through Jobs. In order to maintain health and to reduce obesity among employees of Apple, he decided to reduce the plate size. According to Steve Jobs, it will reduce the total amount of food consumption and maintain the calorie intake. After assessing the autocratic leadership style, some major advantages and disadvantages of this leadership style can be found. Rajaraman (2014) stated that autocratic leadership style is appropriate and most applicable in situation, where decisions need to be taken in emergency. It is applicable, where team input or team agreement is not required in order to get successfu l outcome. However, Kriger and Zhovtobryukh (2016) criticized autocratic leadership style by stating that this leadership style can demoralize employees. It can reduce the value of employees for a company. It can increase absenteeism and reduce employee satisfaction. These two factors can increase employee turnover rate of a company (Shah and Mulla 2013). After analyzing numerous journals and articles related with autocratic leadership and Steve Jobs, the reason behind Jobs adaptation of this leadership style has been found. During 1997, The Company Apple announced to buy NeXT for $427 million (John and Shetty 2014). It brought back Steve Jobs as the CEO of the company that he cofounded. At that time, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was his major objective to return Apple to profitability. For this reason, Jobs decided to adopt autocratic leadership style and took decisions on his own. These decisions included terminating few employees and terminating some inefficient projects like OpenDoc, Cyberdog and Newton (Toma and Marinescu 2013). He had modified the licensing program for McIntosh Clones and made it too costly for the manufacturers to continue producing these machines. In addition, he had also decided to improve the recycling program of e-waste during 2005 (Hurley-Hanson and Giannantonio 2013). This program includ ed the environmental friendly disposal of old Apple products. According to Avolio (2016), Steve Jobs can be perceived as demanding perfectionist. He always aimed to make the business of Apple and its product at the forefront of information technology industry. He had modified the company in such a way that, Apple becomes the benchmark of innovation and trend setting. However, analyzing the biography of Steve Jobs, it has been found that he also had transformational leadership traits. Jobs had strong emotional intelligence and integrity with strong focus towards work. There are certain traits of transformational leadership can be found in Steve Jobs. He was humble, empathetic, authentic and self-aware. Lussier and Achua (2015) stated that, Jobs was able to inspire his employees with a shared vision of future. From the theory of transformational leadership, it has been found that the major role of a leader in an organization is to communicate his or her point of view and decisions with subordinates. According to Shah and Mulla (2013), the main responsibility to a transformational leader is to show employees the necessity of change or transformation within a company. Like an efficient transformational leader, Steve Jobs was able to communicate his mission and vision with employees of both Apple and NeXT. According to Kane (2015), Steve Jobs possesse d 3 major characteristics that help him to be reminded as a transformational leader of 21st century. These characteristics are such as visionary, passionate and creative.. However, there are two major characteristics of transformational leadership was missing in Steve Jobs. They are such as instructiveness and empowerment. Northouse (2015) stated that, there are many people who remembered Steve Jobs are innovator. Although, this characteristic is not a part of traditional transformational leadership style, but it reflects the discourse of consumer electronic industry upon which he had significant impact. He was considered as innovators innovator, who has created lots of job opportunity in United States. He had the unique ability to recognize talented and skilled individuals and employ them in Apple. He had faced lots of ups and downs as leader. He was ousted from the company that had been confounded by him. Again he was brought back to the company as CEO, to save it from the verge of bankruptcy. He faced numerous amounts of adversity and setback. However, he rose above those adversities. In comparison to other 21st century leaders, there are some major advantages of Jobs leadership quality have been found. They are such as: Steve Jobs believes in working smart, while other leaders believe in working smart (Heracleous and Klaering 2014). Steve Jobs prefers to take risk in a job while other tries to play safe. Steve Jobs believes in innovation, while other believes in copying Steve Jobs saw possibilities and opportunities in challenges, while others saw only obstacles Finally, in order to view the leadership quality of Steve Jobs, it is require to mention about the commencement speech delivered by him. Live each day as if it was your last, someday youll most certainly be right. Discussing how the company can be lead differently It has been found that, Steve Jobs mainly followed autocratic leadership style. According to Howard (2013), this leadership style has advantages in situations, where it is required to take decisions quickly. It is particularly effective construction projects and military operations. However, in the present corporate world, autocratic leadership has negative impact. It leads to high rate of turnover among employees. It also causes low morale, developing resentment among subordinates and stifled creativity. As Apple is known for its innovation, hushed creativity due to overly autocratic leadership style will not be a good brand image. It will also cause poor employee performance. Hence, it requires some changes to make stronger impact on followers. They are mentioned below: Collecting feedback from employees The most important thing that required to be implemented in the company is to collect feedback. It will help the leader to understand, whether his or her autocratic leadership style is becoming an obstacle in their way of work. It will also work as a method of communication, where employees towards identifying the issues that company are facing. For this purpose, 360 degree feedback can be used. It will provide workers a safe environment, where they can provide honest analysis of the leadership style of their senior (CEO). This 360 degree feedback will help the CEO to analyze the strengths and weakness of his or her personal leadership style and make changes accordingly. It will also help to improve the delegation skills of autocratic managers. Coaching and discussions There are various other ways in which autocratic leadership style of customers can be improved. They are such as books, seminars, discussions and coaching programs. Providing empowerment Empowerment means providing employees the opportunity to take critical decisions in emergency condition. It will help the employees to feel their worth within in the company Apple. It will also make them more responsible towards their jobs and improve the overall organizational performance as well. Conclusion In this assignment, the leadership of Steve Jobs has been evaluated. It has been analyzed that, the leadership trait of Steve Jobs is the mixture of autocratic and transformational leadership style. He preferred to take all the decisions on their own without consulting with team members. He was brought back to the company to save it from bankruptcy and return it towards profitability. Due to control this urgent situation, he was forced to adopt this autocratic leadership style. However, he also had some characteristics of transformational leader. Like an efficient transformational leader, Steve Jobs was able to communicate his mission and vision with employees of both Apple and NeXT. It is not easy to walk in the shoe of an efficient leader like Steve Jobs. However, there some recommendations provided, in which employees can be inspired more. They are such as gathering regular feedback from employees and providing them empowerment. Reference list Apple, 2017.Apple. [online] Apple. Available at: https://www.apple.com/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017]. Avolio, B.J., 2016. Candor and Transparency: Aligning Your Leadership Constellation.People and Strategy,39(4), p.16. Bengtsson, A., Jrnlid, S. and Lindskog, M., 2016. The thin line between toxic leadership and transformational leadership: Stories of Steve Jobs. Carroll, S.J., 2013. Steve Jobs as an Artist.Journal of Business and Management,19(1), p.25. Harris, A., 2015. Uplifting leadership: Leading futures.Australian Educational Leader,37(1), p.19. Heracleous, L. and Klaering, L.A., 2014. Charismatic Leadership and Rhetorical Competence: An Analysis of Steve Jobss Rhetoric.Group Organization Management, p.10-34. Howard, H.Y., 2013. Decoding Leadership: How Steve Jobs Transformed Apple to Spearhead a Technological Informal Economy.Journal of Business and Management,19(1), p.33. Hurley-Hanson, A.E. and Giannantonio, C.M., 2013. Staying Hungry, Staying Foolish: Academic Reflections on the Life and Career of Steve Jobs.Journal of Business and Management,19(1), p.7. Isaacson, W., 2012. The real leadership lessons of Steve Jobs.Harvard business review,90(4), pp.92-102. John, J. and Shetty, A., 2014. Influence of Ex-CEO Steve Jobs's Personal Brand on Apple's Business Success.SFIMAR Research Review,9(2), pp.38-44. Kane, Y.I., 2015.Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs. Harper Business. Kriger, M. and Zhovtobryukh, Y., 2016. The Role of Charismatic, Transformational, and Transactional Leadership. InStrategic Leadership for Turbulent Times(pp. 83-92). Palgrave Macmillan US. Lussier, R.N. and Achua, C.F., 2015.Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Nelson Education. Northouse, P.G., 2015.Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications. Pixar, 2017.Pixar. [online] Pixar.com. Available at: https://www.pixar.com/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017]. Rajaraman, V., 2014. Steve JobsWho blended art with technology.Resonance,19(10), pp.917-935. Shah, T. and Mulla, Z.R., 2013. Leader Motives, Impression Management, and Charisma A Comparison of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.Management and Labour Studies,38(3), pp.155-184. Steinwart, M.C. and Ziegler, J.A., 2014. Remembering Apple CEO Steve Jobs as a Transformational Leader: Implications for Pedagogy.Journal of Leadership Education,13(2), pp.52-66. Toma, S.G. and Marinescu, P., 2013. Steve Jobs And Modern Leadership.Manager, (17), p.260. Yoffie, D.B. and Cusumano, M.A., 2015.Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs. HarperBusiness.

Strategy and Financial Management in the Football Industry Essay Example

Strategy and Financial Management in the Football Industry Essay Strat. Change 13: 405–422 (2004) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www. interscience. wiley. com). DOI: 10. 1002/jsc. 696 Strategic Change Strategy and ? nancial management in the football industry Tony Grundy* Cran? eld School of Management, UK The literatures on strategy and ? nance have developed very separately, notwithstanding the fact that they have a common economic underpinning. Whilst a number of strategic theorists have looked at how strategic management facilitates the most effective leverage of economic resource, studies of the linkages between strategy and ? ance literatures are relatively few. This appears odd because ? nance is pivotal in making the resource allocation decision in management, especially in major business investment and divestment decisions and in the ? nancing strategies needed to accomplish this. Both ? nancial management as a discipline and ? nancing strategies also play a role in in? uencing stakeholder behaviour, which is critical in s trategy. Rarer still are studies of how strategy, ? nancial management, ? nancial strategies and stakeholders interact. With continuing examples of devastating corporates such as Enron and more recently Parmalat, it would seem surprising that theorists have been relatively disinterested in this important border between these disciplines. This paper seeks to make a contribution to our understanding of the topic by focusing on the interesting case of the football industry. Whilst an earlier paper in this journal (Grundy, 2004) dealt with techniques for appraising strategic options to exploit product/market opportunities, ? nancing strategy options warrant separate exploration. Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Overview: structure and context The football industry has been chosen as a particularly interesting, empirical case study to focus on as it highlights the various links between strategy, ? nance and ? nancial strategies (see Figure 1). It also builds from work in previous papers published in Strategic Change (Grundy, 1998, 1999; Cross and Henderson, 2003), and elsewhere (Grundy, 1992, 1997; Grundy and Johnson, 1993; Ward, 1993). * Correspondence to: Tony Grundy, Cran? eld School of Management, Cran? eld University, Cran? eld, Bedford MK4 3OAL, UK. E-mail: a. [emailprotected]? eld. c. uk Figure 1 highlights that: competitive strategy in? uences ? nancial results and generates funding needs; ? nancial management helps identify new value-creating options and projects future ? nancing requirements; ? nancing strategy can proactively facilitate new competitive strategies. The research process is based on a comparative study drawn from data from the annual reports and accounts of four prom inent football clubs, together with other commentators (Bose, 1999; Fynn and Whitcher, 2003). Strategic Change, December 2004 Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. 06 Tony Grundy COMPETITIVE STRATEGY New valuecreating options Financial results Funding needs Proactive facilitation We will write a custom essay sample on Strategy and Financial Management in the Football Industry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Strategy and Financial Management in the Football Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Strategy and Financial Management in the Football Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Projected requirements Figure 1. Links between competitive strategy, ? nancial strategy and ? nancial management. Over the past 15 years the football industry has gone through a phenomenal period of change. This has been achieved in part because of the innovative ? nancing strategies adopted by the leading clubs, which has facilitated expansion — not merely in terms of physical growth (bigger grounds, etc. , but also in terms of development into media, merchandising, sponsorship and other activities. As will be examined below (and echoing Cross and Henderson, 2003), with the exception of Manchester United, major league clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds struggle to cover their cost of capital principally because of competitive market structures, and because of their owners being emotionally overcommitted to funding the game. These football clubs have adopted very different approaches to ? nancing strategy, with varying results and consequences. This paper seeks to explor e the following. How ? nancial management and ? ancing strategies are linked to the business strategy and the diverse interests of different stakeholders. How there are invariably a range of options facing organizations in the ? nancing strategies they might adopt. That ? nancing strategies need to re? ect the interests of key stakeholders. That certain kinds of ? nancing strategies, although appearing to be innovative and exciting and enabling adventurous business strategy to be pursued, may turn out to have some unpleasant downsides that are potentially predicable. How these themes are manifest within the football industry and with what implications. For the purposes of this paper ? nancial management is de? ned as: The process of planning, monitoring and controlling pro? tability, cash ? ow and investment within an organization in both the short and long-term. Strategic Change, December 2004 The football industry has gone through a phenomenal period of change Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Strategy and ? nancial management in the football industry 407 Equally, ? nancing strategy is de? ned as: The sources, structure and mix of capital matched against a company’s competitive strategy and ? nancing needs. The choice of the four particular clubs examined here, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United, is quite a careful one. Not only are the ? rst three of these clubs (as of late 2003/early 2004) close rivals for the Premiership, outdistancing their rivals signi? cantly, but each has set about its ? nancing strategy very differently. Leeds United, until some three years ago, was a contender for the very top of the UK Premiership and playing in the semi-? nal of the European Champions League. In early 2004 the club faced potential administration. Accordingly, the ? st part of this paper examines alternative ? nancing structures and the business context. This is then followed by a fairly comprehensive review of the football industry, the key changes in competitive markets over 1990–2003, ? nancial results, changing ? nancing strategies and also a comparative overview of each of the four clubs. The analysis then turns to examine how value is added within the industry an d how it is being ? nanced. The individual clubs are then presented as four case studies, focusing on their business model and returns, ? nancing strategies and the evaluation of their future ? nancing options. Throughout the paper frameworks are developed for understanding the interplay of the ingredients for effective strategy drawing from systems theory (Senge, 1990). Please refer to Figures 1, 3 and 5. The paper then presents conclusions linking strategy, ? nancial management and ? nancing approaches. safety at grounds and all-seater stadiums primarily aimed at reducing hooliganism and making it a family sport; creation and capture of media income; launch of the Premiership in conjunction with SKY television, estimated to be worth some ? 250 million a year; commercialization of the game; escalating player costs; innovative ? ancing strategies. Focusing on some of the changes above, the launch of the Premiership, the collaboration with SKY and the construction of all-seater stadiums, together helped to improve the image of the game and to mass-market it. Previously it had a down-market reputation, with its association with English football thugs and crowd violence. Football was not perce ived as being a family game. Now and all at once, it had become a much more effective and sanitized vehicle for family entertainment and one to be commercially exploited. The relationship of the football industry and SKY is worthy of an additional note here. Both were strategically interdependent. Almost certainly SKY would have been far less successful had it not been for its screening of major Premiership games on a regular basis. Merchandising revenue also grew rapidly, but with some clubs more successful in exploiting their brands than others. For instance, Manchester United grew its merchandising revenue from around ? 1 million in 1990 to over ? 15 million in 1995, a truly staggering rate of growth. The arrival of vast new wealth and from a diversity of sources had not escaped the players’ attention and that of their agents. In the late 1990s players’ wages continued to escalate at a compound growth rate of 30% per annum. The scale of ? nancial results and also of asset values within this industry can be represented in Figure 2, which shows revenue growth, cost growth and a scenario where revenue growth overshoots and then consolidates. This is precisely what happened, catching all but the richest clubs totally unaware. Figure 2 also shows ‘asset prices’, Strategic Change, December 2004 Changing competitive markets, ? nancial results and approaches to ? ancing, 1990–2003 In the late 1980s a number of major structural changes occurred within the British Football Association industry (see also Bolchover and Brady, 2002). These took the form of: Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. 408 Tony Grundy Revenues Value Cost Players’ wages Transfersvalue 1989 1999 2000 Time 2001 2002 2003 Figure 2. Revenue and cost growth in the football industry. Net Investmentplayers Club Strategy Stadium Investment Cash Flows Financing Securitization Interest Dividends Operating Cash Flows Figure 3. Financing systems: football clubs. articularly player transfers and their reaction to this dynamic. The ? nal piece of the jigsaw puzzle is that of the innovative ? nancing strategies themselves. Most obvious as a ? nancing strategy is that of raising ? nance through share issue, particularly through public ? otation. Tottenham Hotspur was the ? rst club to ? oat itself on the stock market in the 1980s. This led to a series of public ? otations, the most conspicuous one being that of Manchester United in the early 1990s. Innovative ? nancing strategies have not ended here however. In fact, some of the more Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. imaginative strategies have taken the form of borrowing ahead against future income, especially gate receipts. The paper later examines how Leeds United borrowed against its future incoming revenue in order to purchase new players (known as ‘securitization’), in the belief that such purchases would lead to the kind of virtuous ? nancial cycle already enjoyed by Manchester United. The ? nancing system of the clubs is depicted in Figure 3. This ? gure shows key investment decisions in new players and stadium expansion driving future operating Strategic Change, December 2004 Strategy and ? ancial management in the football industry 409 revenues. Cash out? ows would then be mitigated by securitization (or borrowing against future income) and other ways of capturing future income from seat capacity. Also, cash in? ows could be enhanced by share ? otation, loans, player divestment and by sponsorship deals. Cash out? ows would result from interest payments and from repayment of debt. Possible other ways of ? nancing clubs might come in the future from leasing arrangements, the logic being that if clubs already take on players by way of short-term loans, then why not via a two- or three-year lease. Indeed it would not be impossible to imagine a company formed especially to lease players. This model thus highlights how strategy, ? nance and ? nancing operate in a highly interdependent manner, with ? nancing strategies often helping to stimulate and shape competitive strategy, rather than being just responsible to it. Whilst many innovative ? nancing strategies have been tried out in the industry, it is highly possible to imagine a whole array of further possible ones. Value creation and ? nancing strategies are highly interdependent and also ? uid, making it possible to be innovative on both fronts. To varying extents, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United have exploited these options, sometimes well and sometimes not as well, as the paper examines next. many of its best players in the Munich air crash disaster, the club fought back with its young players and went on to win the European Cup. Famous for the 1960s stars George Best, Bobbie Charlton and Dennis Law, United gained a brand heritage which is the envy of many other leading clubs. In the 1970s, United drifted and was for a period relegated into the second division. During the 1970s Liverpool dominated the English ? st division and it was only in the early 1990s that United once again dominated the league, now called the Premiership. In 1999 United won the treble, this being the Premiership, the FA Cup and the European Champions League, under its manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester United is still a very pro? table club — it is a public limited company and has zero borrowings. It has also led the c ommercialization of football in the 1990s (Bose, 1999). Arsenal Arsenal Football Club has an illustrious past, having been frequent winners of the league championship and of the Premiership. Whilst its success in England has, over the decades, mirrored that of Manchester United, it has not been as successful on the European stage. Also, whilst Manchester United pursued an aggressive commercial strategy during the 1990s, coupled with its stock market ? otation, Arsenal has been much more cautious. Arsenal’s exploitation of its commercial activities had only just begun in earnest over the past few years. Also, it has not opted for a major public ? otation of shares, resulting in its capital base being quite narrow. The club thus found it extremely dif? cult to raise ? nance for a new stadium. Arsenal has lost money in recent times. In the late 1990s Arsenal experienced a resurgence on the pitch under its manager Arsene Wenger, who achieved the double (the Championship and the FA Cup) in two separate seasons, depriving Manchester United of a more or less unbroken run since the early 1990s. Until 2003 when Chelsea was acquired by Roman Abramovich, Manchester United Strategic Change, December 2004 Value creation and ? nancing strategies are highly interdependent Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United: an overview Manchester United Manchester United is one of the most famous football clubs in the world, ranking it alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. In the 1960s the club was very successful under the management of Sir Matt Busby. Despite losing Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. 410 Tony Grundy and Arsenal had effectively maintained a duopoly of the English league since around 1996, but it has been far less successful in European football than Manchester United. Arsenal also carries the considerable disadvantage of currently having a very small stadium — 38 000 as against over 60 000 at Manchester United (as of 2003), putting it at a revenue disadvantage. It intends to develop a very expensive stadium option at Ashburton Grove, with the result that it has strained its ? nances, prohibiting investment in new players during the 2002/2003 season and resulting in the loss of an opportunity to compete for the double in the UK (Fynn and Whitcher, 2003). Chelsea Chelsea is one of the major London clubs and has had a lean time in terms of its successes. It has not challenged hard for the Premiership and has only had sporadic successes in the FA and league cups and the second-tier EUFA cups. Its lack of success is in sharp contrast to its more aggressive commercial strategy. More ambitious than Arsenal, Chelsea expanded its ground into a very substantial leisure and hotel centre, called ‘Chelsea Village’, under the chairmanship of Ken Bates. This expansion has not been notable as a commercial success, due in part to the club’s inconsistent record on the pitch. Over the past ? ve years the club had seen a succession of managers similar to Leeds United, another contrast compared with the stability enjoyed by both Manchester United and Arsenal. Until the arrival of its (now former) manager Ranieri, its managers and style of play were ? mboyant and frustratingly inconsistent. Whilst it has bought some reasonably expensive European players it has not over-extended itself ? nancially in the same way as Leeds United has done, nor has it turned such purchases to great effect. Bathed in debt during 2003, Chelsea was rescued by its new owner Roman Abramovich, who at a stroke transformed the potential commercial and ? nancial fortunes of the clu b. For the foreseeable future Chelsea has no further need of Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. debt and appears to have a virtually unlimited budget to spend on new players. Leeds United Leeds United was a major force in the English Football League during the 1960s and 1970s but during the late 1990s, the club appeared to fade into the second tier. After Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle, however, Leeds still had a strong brand image and sought to capitalize on it during the 1990s boom in merchandising. Three years ago (in 2001) Leeds had assembled an impressive number of expensive signings aimed at securing a regular place as part of the top four English clubs with a European Championship place. The Leeds approach was that by investing, as an example ? 50 million, this could be justi? d because it could be expected to generate ? 10 million of extra annual revenue. Indeed, at its peak the Leeds team actually got as far as the semi-? nal of that lucrative competition. Since then Leeds have gone downhill, compounded by the ? ring of several of its managers. Weakening performance on the pitch has dampened revenues further and the club is n ow struggling under the weight of over ? 70 million of debt. This huge debt remains even after the sale of many of its key players, such as Rio Ferdinand who was sold to Manchester United for ? 29 million. Leeds managed to lose ? 49 million in the year to 30 June 2003 and on a turnover of ? 4 million that is quite an achievement! In early 2004 the club has a de? cit of shareholders funds of ? 44 million and creditors of ? 121 million (June 30 Balance Sheet). Leeds requires an injection of new capital together with a capital reconstruction, or faces the prospect of administration. Having reviewed the industry and provided overviews of the four clubs, the paper now proceeds to construct four detailed case studies. These draw heavily for empirical support from the four clubs’ annual reports and accounts, which in themselves are strategically, ? nancially and organizationally highly informative. Strategic Change, December 2004 Strategy and ? nancial management in the football industry 411 Case study: Manchester United Business model and returns Manchester United is a very successful commercial organization. Whilst in 1990 its turnover was under ? 15 million, by 2002 this had grown to an astonishing ? 146 million, with group operating pro? ts of ? 33. 9 million, based on an extensive business value system — a network of interdependent, valuecreating activities (Grundy, 1998). ‘Converting more fans to customers of the business and enhancing the value of customers through the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM). Manchester United has also entered into a number of partnerships, including: Vodaphone; Nike; the New York Yankees, a prominent US basket ball team. By developing longer-term partnerships such as these, Manchester United could then ensure a regular and steady income which would be, in effect, even more reliable and resilient than the sale of its seat capacity. If ther e were possible needs for securitization of income then it is perhaps to this source, rather than gate takings, that United’s strategic thinking might well be drawn. The club’s annual report also draws attention to the upside potential for its media rights. Although two out of the three years of the Premiership’s television deal had now run (by 2003), the possibility of the EU intervening to liberalize the current arrangement with SKY provides some potential upside to the major clubs. Perhaps these sources of income would be potentially more volatile than with sponsorship revenues or gate sales, so are less likely candidates for securitization. Whilst the club is still cash rich and the need for securitization may not seem to be a likely possibility, it is still an option. A further possibility for commercial exploitation for United is its website, relaunched in 2002. Whilst the possibilities to date of realizing economic value through the Internet may have proved elusive, the club are well placed to capture value from emerging activities in this area. Interestingly, the club decided relatively recently to outsource its overseas merchandising activities. This move was accompanied by the loss of a signi? cant number of jobs at Old Trafford, the home ground. This move re? ects the club’s clarity of commercial ambition, which is to invest in and to ? ance those activities where it has distinctive abilities and Strategic Change, December 2004 Manchester United is a very successful commercial organization Manchester United’s turnover in 2002 comprised: 39% = match takings 36% = media 18% = commercial (sponsorship and other) 7% = merchandising Interestingly, whilst merchandising had fuelled the club’s growth in the early 1990s this has p lateaued in the late 1990s and by 2003 had become much less important strategically. Its objectives in 2002 were neatly summarized in its Annual Report and Accounts as follows. Maintaining the playing success by ensuring an evolutionary development of the ? rst team squad by acquiring and selling experienced players and developing the younger players through our Academy and overseas alliances. ’ ‘Leveraging the awareness of the Group’s global brand through developing new products and services with ? rst class partners that will appeal to our worldwide fan base. ’ ‘Seeking to control and develop our own routes to market for media rights which can more effectively deliver value by exploiting the Club’s own performance and reputation rather than relying on the collective appeal of the competition. Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. 412 Tony Grundy which offers it a superior return over its cost of capital. In terms of ? nancial performanc e, Manchester United’s recent results are shown below. 2002 Turnover (millions ? ) Group operating pro? ts (millions ? ) Operating pro? ts (as a percentage of turnover) 146. 1 33. 9 2001 129. 6 31. 7 2000 116. 0 30. 1 1999 110. 7 32. 3 1998 87. 9 27. 0 23. 2% 24. 4% 25. 9% 29. 2% 30. 7% As of 2002, the club’s balance sheet being debt-free was highly conservative. Cash ? ow was approximately neutral (? million positive) after spending a net ? 12 million on players and ? 15 million on ? xed assets. Operating cash in? ow was a massive ? 42. 8 million, although this was down from ? 50. 8 million in 2001. Whilst the club’s results appear to have continued to improve in terms of size of business and size of pro? t, in terms of its rate of return compared with turnover, the ? gures suggest a weakening of performance. This appears to be due in part to the amortization of the acquisition of a small number of very expensive players. Financing strategies In 2002 Manchester United had a zero bank overdraft and no complex share structures, the shares being ‘ordinary’ only, representing the most simple capital structure that can be imagined for an operating context like this. With share capital of ? 30 million, retained earnings of ? 110 million and no loans, the club had a gearing percentage of zero. Future ? nancing options One way of evaluating ? nancing options is to use the ? nancing options grid (see Figure 4), These show acceptable, if declining, returns. Manchester United appears alone in being able to beat its cost of capital but returns are still in decline, due to the same forces such as player bargaining power, discussed by Cross and Henderson (2003). Its summary of the balance sheet as at 2002 is: Fixed/long-term assets Current assets Current liabilities Other liabilities Net assets Shareholders’ funds ? 000 212 327 33 408 (53 459) (54 833) 137 443 137 443 Loans Securitization sponsorship income 2 2 1 2 1 2 Corporate box sale 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 Sufficiency Flexibility Cost Risk Acceptability 2 3 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 12 1 9 1 2 9 Figure 4. Manchester United’s ? nancing options. Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change, December 2004 Strategy and ? nancial management in the football industry 413 which prioritizes using the criteria of suf? ciency, ? exibility, cost, risk and acceptability (to stakeholders). Here, the grid is used by scoring it as: 3 very attractive 2 medium attractive 1 low attractive Whilst Manchester United does not appear to be in imminent need of exploring new ? nancing strategies as such, there may well be a need in the scenario of the club having to try to catch up with Chelsea. For if, as was then rumoured (late 2003), Roman Abramovich was proposing to spend another ? 100 million on a number of additional world class players, it was not inconceivable that at the end of 2003/2004 the season United would come third in the Premiership (which actually happened) after Chelsea! Manchester United might now wish to spend ? 50–80 million, in which case they would look to do this at the lowest risk, lowest cost and greatest ? exibility. Various ? nancing options in the above scenario could include: loans (see grid); further shares — either to existing or new shareholders; Emotional Interests Firm’s Competitive Strategy he sale of the club; securitization of future sponsorship income (see grid); securitization of future gate takings; selling off of corporate boxes such as the ones Chelsea has earmarked as costing (en block) ? 1 million a season (see grid); leasing players rather than buying them outright. Each of these options could then be put th rough the ? nancing options grid. Whether Manchester United actively makes systematic use of criteria for evaluating ? nancing options is an interesting question. Certainly the literature on corporate ? nance gives little guidance on systematic processes for evaluating alternatives vis a vis appropriate ? ancing options, so the ? nancing options grid is a useful contribution to its techniques. Interestingly, this discussion reveals that ? nancing strategies can be examined not only in relation to current competitive strategy, but also to the competitive and ? nancing strategies of rivals, in this case Chelsea. This can be illustrated in Figure 5, which suggests that ? nancing strategies need to be benchmarked and also the importance of stakeholder in? uences on both competitive and ? nancing strategy. It also shows the Benchmarking Rival’s Competitive Strategy Emotional Interests Firm’s Shareholders Rival’s Shareholders Firm’s Financing Strategy Past commitment Rival’s Financial Strategy Past commitment Benchmarking Figure 5. Linking competitive and ? nancing strategy. Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change, December 2004 414 Tony Grundy different emotional interests of the shareholders and their past commitment. These play a role in other industries too, and a particularly marked one in football. Based on this line of argument it would appear that traditional loans might be the most attractive option of the three. A possibility facing the club is takeover by a buyer. This might well not take the form of a billionaire prepared to spend a fortune irrespective of ? nancial returns, but one who is eager to secure it for astute, commercial gain. These thoughts illustrate the dialectical relationship between competitive and ? nancing strategy. Indeed, as of late 2003 Manchester United’s future as a plc did seem to be somewhat uncertain. In the early 2000s two Irish investors began to build signi? cant stakes in the club. Whilst they were at one point thought likely bidders for the club, by 2003, a wealthy Texan began to buy signi? ant amounts of shares in United. This pushed up the market capitalization signi? cantly, discounting the value of a potential bid, which seemed imminent in mid-February 2004. In sum, whilst the club’s combined strategic and ? nancial situation is a little less secure than it has been for some time, its fundamental strengths give it considerable ? nancial ? exibility. It also has no need to invest heavily in eith er a new ground or a whole new team (like Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively). It also has a variety of incremental ? nancing strategies from which it might select. It could usefully appraise these options systematically using the ? nancing options grid and the strategic options grid (Grundy, 2004). The club’s ? nancial results re? ect a sound past competitive strategy, solid ? nancial management and generally good management of players’ salaries, offset by a tendency to overpay the players, re? ecting competitive forces and perhaps stakeholder-led biases. brand, media and sponsorship exploitation, Arsenal’s were more concerned about its proposed new stadium, Arsenal in the community, Junior Gunners and its travel club. This exempli? ed a rather different business model to that of Manchester United, who seemed to focus very much on the commercialization of its activities as much as its success on the pitch. The club’s turnover was broken down as follows: 2002 ? 000 Arsenal percentages (%) 27. 0 35. 1 5. 4 32. 5 United comparatives (%) 39. 0 36. 0 7. 0 18. 0 Gate other takings Media Retail (merchandising) Commercial (sponsorship other) 24 553 31 921 4 940 29 553 90 967 100. 0 100. 0 These comparatives highlight: Arsenal’s much smaller ground; the weakness in retail. As Arsenal’s turnover was 55% of Manchester United’s, the gap in both of these areas is greater. Also, one would expect media income to be similar in absolute terms, but Arsenal’s is considerably smaller. This re? ects its less effective performance in Europe and generally in exploiting its media potential. Whilst Arsenal’s turnover is 40% up on the previous year, this has not been translated into pro? tability, with losses running at a staggering ? 20 million, including a loss of ? 15 million in player trading and ? 15 million exceptional costs relating to its new stadium. Arsenal’s accounts are complex and need some unravelling in order to come to a base picture for evaluating its future ? nancing options, as seen below. Case study: Arsenal Business model and returns Whilst Manchester United’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2002 were full of details on Copyright  © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Arsenal’s turnover is 40% up on the previous year Strategic Change, December 2004 Strategy and ? nancial management in the football industry 415 Its consolidated pro? t and loss account (see below) highlights the following. Over ? 0 million of costs written off relating to its new stadium over 2001 and 2002 (? 5 million and ? 15 million, respectively). A huge increase in ‘operating costs — other’ due to increases in players’ salary costs, suggesting perhaps that Arsenal’s wage bill has begun to get out of control. Indeed, Fynn and Whitcher (2003) describe an interesting scenario of Arsenal imploding due to unsatisfactory results on the pitch, reduced cash ? ow and players and/or the manager departing. This scenario was not unlike the melt-down experienced by Leeds United. They also highlight the emotional attachment to a very expensive stadium option driven by key board shareholders, whose emotional commitment was increased by sunk investment costs, a vision to have a European class stadium and a refusal to consider other options such as sharing Wembley stadium. The deterioration in Arsenal’s position is re? ected in its cash ? ow statement, with an increase in cash of ? 40. 2 million (? 26. 4 million from new ? nancing) in 2001 contrasting with a ? 32 million cash ? ow in 2002 with ? 8. 1 million due to capital expenditure. Arsenal’s cash ? w was clearly in a position which, if temporary, was not exactly precarious but had the potential to become so. Standing back from this recent downturn in Arsenal’s results and looking at the last ? ve years, we have the following: 2002 ? 000 Turnover Pro? t/(loss) before tax 96 967 (22 343) 2001 ? 000 64 689 31 367 2000 ? 000 661 260 21 215 1999 ? 000 48 623 2 068 1998 ? 000 40 391 7 086 buoy ed up by very pro? table and larger disposals. Within six months from its 2002 balance sheet date the situation had deteriorated further. There had been a further out? ow in cash of ? 22 million and Arsenal had used up an additional ? 1 million of ? nancing. By this stage the club had ? 30 million of bank debt falling due within one year, plus ? 19 million

Sectional pressure Essay Example

Sectional pressure Essay (1)Sectional pressure groups are ones that aim to represent the common interests of a particular section of society and are mostly concerned with only that part of society; so as a result, membership is often closed and restricted. The also aim to get as many eligible members as possible to join the group.Sectional groups might include; TUC, the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, British Medical Association, Federation of Small Businesses, National Farmers Union, the Law SocietyMembers of sectional pressure groups are directly and personally concerned with the outcome of the campaigns fought by the group because normally they stand to gain professionally and/or economically.Promotional pressure groups are also known as cause groups. This group follows a specific set of objectives- they aim to promote a cause, the achievement of which is not necessarily of direct professional or economic benefit to the members of the group. Examples of a promotional pressur e group are- CND, whose cause is nuclear disarmament and The Society for the protection of the unborn child, whose cause is the prevention of abortions.There membership is not usually restricted because they aim to promote a cause that everybody is likely to support. These types of pressure groups get members joining them because they want to join and can be sub-divided according to the aims they pursue. A pressure group for both of these categories would be age concern.(2)There are many methods pressure groups employ to influence the political process.Most pressure groups are careful to maintain a non-partisan approach; some can only realistically expect to exert influence if a particular party is in power. For example, it is only since labour came into power in 1997 that the Electoral Reform Society had any realistic change of achieving its goals because the Conservatives were strongly opposed to electoral reform whilst in government.It is important to note that it is not always t he pressure groups that approach parties. Some times if a party wants a particular policy to be supported, the party will approach the particular pressure group.One way in which pressure groups can challenge and sometimes overturn a government decision is to take action in the courts. Legal actions are costly and long; however, pressure groups have now been using this method even more. A few of the larger pressure groups now have a legal representative or department.The cost of taking legal action means that, in general, the courts are only used as a last resort when all other methods have been unsuccessful.There has also been a huge increase of paid political consultants who offer to act as intermediaries between pressure groups and parliament.Lobbyists are used mainly by sectional groups and commercial clients; however, some cause groups do make use of them. Lobbyists have three main functions. The first one is to provide groups with political information, secondly, to bring group s into contact with MPs or officials, or to bring MPs or officials into contact with groups and finally, to persuade MPs or officials to back a particular issue or cause.Pressure groups also need to get the publics support and this can be done using the media. The media plays a central role in modern politics and is used by all pressure groups. Television and newspapers are particularly important in determining which issues appear on the political agenda both nationally and locally.They can also help to create a climate of public opinion which puts pressure on decision makers. There are many ways in using the media. Firstly, the media can provide visibility, secondly, the media acts as a source of information for pressure groups. Pressure groups often scrutinise the media for relevant information and are able to build campaigns around issues that are in the news or which have local relevance. Thirdly, the media plays a part in changing political climate and this can have a direct ef fect on pressure group popularity, e.g. The Abortion Reform Association was set up in 1936 but its views were ignored until a new liberal outlook emerged in 1960s. Pressure groups may also need to react to a news item and, media coverage can demonstrate that a matter is of public concern. Finally, information provided by pressure groups may directly influence the content or articles or programmes. All this being a way of campaigning outside the government system.Three campaigning techniques that pressure groups can use are- paying for adverts in newspapers, direct mail and publicity stunts. Paying for adverts in newspapers can attract support for the cause and bring in donations and new members. As it is an expensive method, only groups with a large amount of members can afford this. Some groups produce mail shots which are posted direct to members of the public. This method allows the pressure group to reach a large number of people in a short amount of time. Others are designed to inform people about developments or ask them to take action. An example of this would be Greenpeace, who have managed persuade almost half a million people to write letters protesting about whaling.On the other hand, some groups are not viewed in a sympathetic light by the media and therefore cannot expect to receive good publicity as a matter of course. Sometimes different issues are given higher priorities, and therefore other groups may find that there press releases are ignored. As a result, some pressure groups may organise events, to gain publicity. These events may vary, from things like, marches or demonstrations or they might be other forms of direct action. In some circumstances, certain pressure groups may end up using violence as a means of publicising their cause.Pressure groups could also use direct action. Direct action is a form of political action which operates outside the formal political process. It can be characterized as a range of activities which have a numb er of essential qualities. They can be highly organised and effective, they are demonstrative, obstructive, publicity seeking, increasingly illegal and at times violent.Campaigns of direct action are highly organised. Even though local campaigns of direct action might not be successful, they can still influence government policy.(3)Some pressure groups are more successful than others. There are many reasons behind this.It is not simple to measure the success of a pressure group. Although there are some cause groups which have a single objective, most pressure groups have multiple objectives and it is difficult to know which has priority. However, it is important to note that there are many other factors other than the achievement of an objective that may affect whether or not a pressure group is successful or not.First, it is important to take into consideration whether decision makers are responsive to a pressure groups message.If a pressure groups message fits with the decision ma kers ideology, it is much more likely to be accepted and the group is therefore, much more likely to accepted and the group is therefore likely to be affective.Secondly, the fact that much of the discussion about a decision often takes place in private is also significant. This is because, later, it might not be clear from records whether a pressure groups actions have been influential.Sometimes it is difficult to know which pressure group has influenced the decision makers. This is because sometimes, several pressure groups campaign for the same outcome which means it can be unclear which particular group influenced the decision makers.If decision makers do not appear to be receptive, this does not mean that they have taken no notice of the pressure groups campaign. Pressure groups demands may be taken on board quietly to avoid a loss of faceGrant, 1995, argues that there are three main categories which affect pressure groups effectiveness. These three categories being, 1) Domain o rganisation 2) Resources and 3) The external environment.The characteristics of the membership of a pressure group to some extent determine the effectiveness of the pressure group. A group who has members that come from a disadvantage section of the population is less likely to be effective than a group whose membership comes from the middle classes. An example would be- the WWF with its mass membership of middle-class activists are likely to be effective than the Claimants Union, the bulk of whose membership is unemployed.The attractiveness of a group in terms of its electoral influence may also play a part in determining effectiveness. It is easier to arouse public concern and, therefore, the support decision makers for the elderly than for, say, for the low paid. Also, competition for members can lead to groups becoming less competitive. Rather than presenting a united front, groups representing the same interests may be fragmented by their differing ideologies and stragerigies. If this is the case, then decision makers are likely to adopt a divide and rule policy which reduces the chance of any of the pressure groups fulfilling their objectives.This is a tactic often used by the government when dealing with unions. An example would be the teaching profession. This is represented by six different unions and is highly unusual for all six to take the same line on government policy. This makes it easier fro the government to ignore views it does not support.The second category, resources, states how the finance, number of staff and the organisational structure of a pressure group have an effect on its success.Financial resources not only affect what campaigning techniques a group can use, they also determine how many members of staff a group can employ.Employees have the time and expertise to ensure that campaigns are organised in a professional, effective manner.Financial uncertainty can also affect a groups effectiveness. Most groups rely on membership subsc riptions and donations. But these sources of funds can dry up easily. Between 1989 and 1992, for example, WWFs income fell by more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3 million because it lost a tenth of its supporters. This drop in the number of supporters was due both to the depth of the economic recession and the fact that the environment had slipped down the political agenda.A groups organisational structure also has a hearing on its effectiveness. Sectional groups tend to have a centralised structure including a council which is the ultimate policy-making body and smaller specialised groups which look after individual areas or campaigns. Cause groups on the other hand tend to have a more decentralised structure. The advantage here is that members feel that they are intimately involved in the groups decision making process.Every pressure group has finite resources, but the way in which a group chooses to use these resources will help to determine that groups effectiveness, a bad choice of tactics can mean a long-term setback.Public opinion can also be an important factor in determining a groups effectiveness. Attitudes tend to change slowly, but a series of events or a crisis may lead to the expression of new views.Often these new views are first expressed in the media. Decision makers tend to be concerned with what the media sees as important and to give priority to these issues. That is one reason why pressure groups cultivate contacts with the media.The importance of public opinion can be seen in the way in which the environmental movement grew in the 1980s.Much media coverage was given to environmental problems such as the reduction of the ozone layer, global warming and acid rain. Public concern about environmental issues led not only to an increase in support for environmental groups, it also led to greater emphasis being placed on the environment by decision bakers. Members rose form 74,360 in 1988 to 231,211 in 1991

Exercises

Exercises er Canstar Cannex, Joshua Zenas, says a car purchase isn't regarded as good debt because the borrowing isn't for something that will appreciate in value (Parker, 2010). It may thus be wise to avoid or minimize borrowing money to purchase a car. Obringer suggests the following sources of finance: dealership, bank or credit union, online financial institution, home equity loan, family member or friend (Obringer, 2013). Exercise 4: Explain how the European Commission, European governments and the ECB have responded to the sovereign debt crisis affecting Euro-based economies? The European Commission has created guides with regards to aiding European countries who urgently need help. The Commissions focus is on responding to peoples needs, targeting those in real need and improving peoples integration into society (A stronger safety net for those in need, 2013). On the other hand, European governments, led by the European Union, have reportedly been concentrating on the bailing out of the countries with struggling economies such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal. These countries were granted billions of Euros of loans to help bring back their economies to stability. The European Central Bank, led by its president Mario Draghi, has declared to grant loans with the lowest interest rates to European nations (Kenny, 2013). Exercise 5: The Closed Fund is a closed-end investment fund company with an investment portfolio company currently worth $200m. It has liabilities of $30 million and 5 million shares outstanding. What is the NAV of the fund? If the fund sells at $36 per share, what is the premium/ discount as a percentage of the NAV? Net Asset Value is equal to the sum of market value of all the securities and cash and equivalent holdings, less the fund liabilities, divided by the total outstanding fund shares. Using the formula, the NAV for the fund would be $34, given that the company is worth $200 million with liabilities of $30 million and 5 million in shares. If the fund sells at $36 per share, then the premium/discount as a percentage of the NAV is 5.56%. Exercise 6: Consider a mutual fund with $200 million in assets and 10 million shares outstanding at the start of the year. The fund invests in a portfolio of stocks which provides a dividend income at the end of the year of $2 million. The stocks included in the portfolio increase in price by 18% during the year, but no securities are sold and there is no capital distribution. The fund charges management fees of 1% based on the year end portfolio asset value. What is the NAV at the start and the end of the year? What is the rate of return for the investor? The Net Asset Value at the beginning of the year is equal to $200 million in assets, less than liabilities, divided by 10 million shares. Since there was no value for the liabilities mentioned, the NAV then is $20 at the beginning of the year. Given that the fund charges management fees of 1% based on the year end portfolio asset value, the NAV at the end of the year is $19.80 since 1% of $20 is $0.20. The fund then invests $2 million in a portfolio of stocks, in which the value increases by 18% at the end of the year. Using the formula for Rate of Return on Investments, the rate would still be 18%. Exercise 7: You purchased 1,000 shares in New Fund at a price of $20 per share at the start of the year. You paid an entry fee of 4%. The securities in which the fund invests have increased in value by 12% during the year. The fund has incurred expenses (including management fees) of 1.2% of its assets (on an average basis) during the year. What is your rate of return and actual gain if you sell your shares at the end of the year? The buyer has initially purchased a total of $20,000 in shares. Paying the 4% entry fee would cost him another $800. During the year, the fund has incurred expenses of 1.2% of its assets, which amounts to $240. At the end of the year, the securities that the fund invested in would increase by 12%, which would be equal to $22,400. The rate of return on investment would be 6.46% and the actual gain would be $1,360.

Comparative Study of Two Indian or Two Chinese Religions Essay

Comparative Study of Two Indian or Two Chinese Religions - Essay Example Hinduism supporters comprise of about fourteen percent while Buddhism followers total to six percent of the global population (Underwood, p 1). Therefore, Buddhism is a derivative of Hinduism. In reality, Buddhism started in order to criticize the offensive fundamentals of the Hindu civilization, taking in the cruelty, in the caste routine (Samad). This essay will analyze the spiritual as well as cultural similarities and dissimilarities involving Hinduism along with Buddhism. Buddhism and Hinduism are dominant beliefs in the world, and they started in ancient India. In that case, they have an assortment of similarities in their beliefs. First, the two religions are alike in the way they both developed in the subcontinent of India. Secondly, they equally believe that there are lower and higher worlds and that there exists divinities on diverse planes. In addition, both religions highlight the deceptive natural world and function of karma in the birth and death phases. The term karma means the sum of all of person’s actions. Further, Buddhism and Hinduism recognize the function of desire in the suffering of a human being. While Buddha supposed that avoiding desire would stop suffering, Hindu believed that desirable actions leads to suffering and that acting without focus reduces the anguish. Next, there is accentuating on compassion as well as peacefulness towards living creatures in both Buddhism and Hinduism. In addition, the two religions have faith that a refutation of the world’s life is a qualification for the religious life. Besides, they both possess their version of practice and rites, which assist in the achievement of internal peace. Next, Buddhism as well as Hinduism trusts in the worthiness of particular spiritual performances comprising mediation and profound concentration (Underwood, p 7-8). Likewise, they both are strict lacto-vegetarians. This is because; Hindus believe that life is holy, while Buddhists consider it not right to ta ke away a life. In addition, they all believe in Dharma, which signifies sacred duty. Lastly, both religions have an objective to attain. Their aim is to flee from the continuous reincarnation cycle (Social Studies School Service, 136). Hinduism varies from Buddhism in various ways. Firstly, Hinduism has no principal figure, while Buddhism is on the foundation of the holy text, the ‘Tripitaka’, a compilation of teachings from a male named Buddha. Therefore, Buddha initiated Buddhism, while there was no founder of Hinduism. Hinduism develops on the caste system, which is a routine formed by the Aryans, and states that individuals should do the work they were born to do. These jobs are such as merchants, farmers, soldiers and many others. Whereas, if someone’s father happens to be a farmer, so they are. On the contrary, Buddhists did not commit on the caste way since they believed in equality to all persons. They believe that every person must work hard to reduce t he life’s stress (Social Studies School Service, 135). Hindus have faith in the supremacy along with efficacy of the Vedas, while Buddhists do not obey the Vedas or any scripture of Hinduism. Hinduism trust in one supreme God; the ‘Brahman’, plus various minor gods like the Shiva, Vishnu, and individual’s soul. On the contrary, Buddhists do not admit their belief in any supreme God or souls. However, they believe that persons are accountable for their actions (Social Studies School Service, 136; Underwood, p 8). Further, Buddhists are arranged into a monastic order, while Hindus do not contain a formal and regular system of arrangement. Buddhists regard stopping human anguish as their main objective in life. On the other hand,

SAB 310 UNIT 7 ASSIGN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

SAB 310 UNIT 7 ASSIGN - Assignment Example The requirements include a specific numbers of different sports available for women and men, participant’s minimum numbers and number of events for different sports, criteria used to schedule the games, and overall financial awards in terms athletics for the students involved. The mens football institutional teams are also grouped into 3 divisions which include within the first group I-A, group 2 or I-AA, which is related to team attendance registers and competiveness. Most competitors who have taken part in these games have not only grown with the competitions but have also enhanced their skills. The NCAA contests of championship have become the focal point of continental media through merchandising efforts. Additionally, the most institutional championships have been the Basketball Tournament for men. This is evident from the sale of broadcast rights by televisions for above game tournament which were sold in 1999 to CBS. The total cost was for $545 million per year on average. Most of the profits made on the championship and game events which include broadcast rights were directed to institutions to support athletics membership programs. This has greatly helped in managing and running championship events which support different world wide initiatives. The most common members and requirements of the NCAA body include marketing strategies, licensing requirements, and promotions that deal directly with the NCAA promotion of different brands within the NCAA championships. The NCAA membership or service division of the national office has a main responsibility of helping institutional members from different universities and colleges to comprehend comply and understand different and vital legislations in relation to NCAA. Membership functions are vital in service provision. These functions include providing the institutions and the public with available access to knowledgeable

External Environment Analysis of Disneyland Park in Anaheim Research Paper

External Environment Analysis of Disneyland Park in Anaheim - Research Paper Example This outbreak started in December 2014 when 36 people including visitors and workers of Disneyland amusement park contracted measles (Leifer, 2015). In addition, further 90 people across seven states in the US and the neighboring country Mexico were reported infected from the outbreak. Though the measles outbreak in Disneyland had adverse effects on their visitors and employees, it only had a slight impact on the park’s attendance (Comb, 2015). The park lost revenues of unvaccinated visitors who were advised by health officials to avoid Disneyland. In addition, Comb says minors who could not be vaccinated were also locked out of Disneyland as a result of doctors’ recommendation. The park’s management incurred extra expenses by catering for the medical bills of their employees who were infected by measles. Even though, the measles had no adverse effects on Disneyland business, the park’s social image was tainted as a result of the outbreak. Currently, many visitors are medically advised before visiting the park something that portrays the park a dangerous place. Unlike Disneyland Park, Universal Studio Hollywood is a working movie studio. Levine (2014) states that the studio began in mid-1960s as modest backstage tour that offered tours to the public. The studio offers big thrills to the visitors by combining scary effects with high-speed coaster rides. These rides and amusement are based on some of the most famous scenes and characters from popular films and televisions. It also offers the celebration of special events such as treatment of intrepid visitors at the annual Halloween Night Horror and celebration of the Christmas holiday (Levine, 2014). Though the studio has over time grown into more of a theme park that offers roller coasters, it has managed to maintain its focus on movies and culture. Additionally, this park offers water activities for its visitors. Universal Studio

Modernity And Cinema In Bengal Film Studies Essay

Modernity And Cinema In Bengal Film Studies Essay Realism and Modernity are two words closely associated with Bengali cinema. Some of the greatest and among the most popular filmmakers of Bengal took realist genre of films to a new height, alongside reflecting modernist ideas. Realism and modernity go hand-in-hand in Bengali films, especially in the work of greats like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. Although defining modernity would mean at least a few more pages, for the sake of this essay, we would deduct it down to merely social, political and artistic modernization. Satyajit Rays magnum opus Pather Pancheli is one of the greatest examples of realist films portraying various elements of modernity. Inspired by Italian neo-realism (especially Vittorio De Siccas Bicycle Thief, 1948), Ray created his first film and a masterpiece reflecting the evolution and social change in Bengal and a modernization of ideas and concepts. In Pather Panchali, Ray talks about leaving old ideas behind and moving on. He talks about how over time, old ways of living, ancestral ideas and traditional lifestyle has become stale and needs to be changed. Apu, with his family, leaves his home and village at the end because the ancestral house held them behind. They moved to find a better way of living. They moved to get rid of the old house which couldnt help them in any way, but instead took their daughters life. This whole film is a transition from pre-modern to a modern way of living. Ray distributes several metaphors throughout the film metaphors of modernity and need for change. One important character which served as a metaphor for me was that of the old aunt. Shes old, tired and just wanders around the house doing nothing. Shes often told to go indicating shes not wanted in the house. The family is fed up of her just as theyre fed up of traditions and the same lifestyle theyd been living in the fear of famine, poverty and survival. The old aunt wanders, trying to find a place for herself, and when she doesnt, she dies. Ray shows death of old ideas. Ray wants change. He shows a need for change and a breakaway from traditions which are holding you back. He wants to show theres always a need for change. The old aunt is a mere metaphor for him to show how traditions have become stale. Charulata (1964), another one of the great films by Ray, also talks about change. But here, he sets it in an upper middle class Bengali society where a lonely housewife falls in love with her brother-in-law while they both encourage each other to write. He puts two different ideas of home and desire, literature and politics, pre-modernism and modernity face-to-face. Rays films have a humanistic touch. He uses his craft to get to the deepest part of human heart and extract out the emotions from there. Scenes like Apu throwing away the necklace Durga had stolen, Amal leaving home to avoid being unfaithful, Durga stealing food for her aunt add to the humanistic approach of Satyajit Rays work. Neo-realism is another thing that inspired Ray. According to me, its mainly because his stories were about society. He couldnt have made them in a fictional style because then they wouldnt be relevant to the society. His stories were not meant to be mere films, but a reality somewhere in time which needed to be imitated in Bengali society and which was a reflection of the same society he lived in. His characters were sketches of real people. They were close to real. For example, when you think Durga, you dont think of her as a two-dimensional good or evil character, but as a girl who existed and had different attributes to her personality just like everybody else. She wasnt a puppet. Similarly, Ritwik Ghataks films introduced different modern themes to the evolving society of Bengal such as alienation, isolation, need for home. In one of his most personal and also socially relevant films Ajantrik, Ghatak introduces the concept of alienation and isolation from the society. He shows a mans attachment to his car, an inanimate object and a troubled social life where he cant connect well to the people around him. Scenes like where the character Bimal is talking to his car, the car responding to him, him taking care of the car like a companion and not caring about what his society says, show how important a character Jagaddal (the car) is. Ghatak doesnt treat the car as a prop, but as a character itself. He tries to show the cars point of view; he wants to make us feel its presence thus implying the fact how relations have also evolved along with modernization of ideas and society; how people have become more involved with their property rather than fellow human beings. Similarly, in Subarnarekha (1965), Ghatak reflects on the feeling of home (along with many other sub-themes such as happiness, relations). His work has been about change, modernity and its effects and mainly, how partition has affected society and Ghatak himself. In Subarnarekha, he tells a story of a family moving to the bank of Subarnarekha River after the partition and how the girl Sita seeks happiness throughout the film. Moreover, he tells of her feeling at the new home. The river becomes the new home for her who she confides in her secrets, woes and happiness. From what I observed in Ghataks films, he believes that society has changed from being a community to more of a collective living of different individuals. I observed individualism in his work, and how people have turned from their fellows to nature or man-made beauty whether it is mountains and rivers to cars and property. I think there are many modernist elements found in both Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghataks films ranging from their content and themes (home, anthropomorphism, modernity itself) to their craft (use of POV shots, different style of cinematography, manipulating space and even the use of Brechtian elements). Mise-en-scene of Subarnarekha Subarnarekha by Ritwik Ghatak has a totally different feel from Ghataks Ajantrik where he uses machinery and artificial elements. Here he turns to nature. He turns to landscapes for expression of emotions. His landscapes speak. For example, in every scene when Sita sings, we see landscapes of river and surroundings. At times, it seems like Sita is singing to the river, telling her story. Ghatak has a strong fascination of juxtaposing sound and landscape and how it creates an impact in viewers mind. Whats interesting to note is how the kind of landscape shows the state of mind of character, such as when shes happy, we see rice fields and river and when shes sad and bored, we see a barren land. Watching a Ritwik Ghatak film is like going on a travel journey around the state. He shows you picturesque landscapes which strongly reflect nature and emotions. Another important thing which is part of the mise-en-scene is strange framing. Ghatak likes to frame his subjects on extreme and odd points of the grid and juxtapose them to their background, giving them a context. For example the scene where Sita is singing of her woes in a barren land around her and when she ends, the camera dollies out just showing Sitas body (which is also cut in the frame and not properly placed). You can expect the unexpected in Ghataks style of framing. He wouldnt use conventional framing in Subarnarekha, but put two images side by side to create a different context. In Subarnarekha, Ghataks art direction also plays an important role. They also help create the mise-en-scene of the film. The river, the lonely plains, one house in the middle of nowhere, very little to no people, an old abandoned place where the war took place they all develop a certain mood. The movement and transition from a small town school to a journey across the border and to a lone house in the midst of barren land. It creates a symphony a lyrical transition from one note to another. Pace of the film is another thing thats part of the mise-en-scene. The time duration of the film determines how long it would feel compared to the real time. Ghatak manipulates time to the extent where Subarnarekha starts to feel realist which means time is slowed down, although not exactly to match the real time. He changes pace continuously to match the action and the passing of time. Subarnarekha is divided into chapters occurring in different passing time periods. Camera movement is quite natural in the film. Most of the time, Ghatak uses the invisible camera method and doesnt change points of view except at a point where Abhiram recognizes his lost mother. In that scene, camera shifts focus as to provide a point of view of Abhiram recognizing her mother. Ghatak uses space quite realistically creating a perfect illusion of real space. I think Ritwik Ghataks choice of shooting on-location really helped him stay true to his realistic nature of the film (just like many realist filmmakers of 20th century). Costumes, as part of the films mise-en-scene, are minimal and are there just to show the traditional way of life. It hasnt been stylized like setting, sound and camera work. Acting (considering it a part of mise-en-scene) has been reduced to appear natural unlike some of the early films which imitated theater.

HCS 483 Information System Briefing Essay

Information System Briefing Health Care Information Systems HCS 483 August 25, 2013 Information System Briefing Providing quality health care is rapidly becoming synonymous with health care organizations acquiring technology and information systems that are the most current. Success of the health care organization depends on the implementation of information systems that are designed to meet the standards of quality set by the organization and the health care industry. Acquisition and implementation of new or upgraded information systems pose big challenges. Understanding the organizations goals and the roles of the stakeholders will help in the process of choosing the correct information system for use by the organizations health care providers. Selection and Acquisition Creating a steering committee to start the process of selecting and acquiring is the first step for a health care organization when looking at implementing a new information system. Appointing a project manager to lead the committee to help give the appropriate information and guide the committee in making decision. The steering committee determines the process of implementing the new information system and conducts research to help determine the best information system for the organization’s needs. The steering committee must look at the needs of the organization for not only the current use but also how the system will grow with the organization into the future. Identifying the standards of care that the health care organization will help define the objectives the committee must meet and the scope of analysis to evaluate that the organization system requirements are met. Research Researching the vendors for products that will meet the needs of documentation and records storage is vital in acquiring the correct product. Contacting different vendors and setting up product demonstrations is the best way to compare products. This will provide for hands-on research for  ease of use and real-time questions to be answered by the representative. Collecting predetermined evaluation criteria from the members on the steering committee so that the selection process can begin. Collecting the individual remarks on the product must be done on the day of the presentation. Comparing the different information systems, this way will help with the selection process. Cost Analysis â€Å"The heightened awareness in recent years of the need to live within budgets in the health care sector would seem to create the perfect climate for cost-effectiveness analysis† (Russell, Gold, Siegel, Daniels, & Weinstein, 1996, p. 1). Cost analysis is part of the findings that the steering committee must submit in their findings while researching the different products. Cost is a driving factor in the selection of a new information system. If the new system does not integrate into established systems within the organization, there will be more cost associated with that product. Organizations Goals Upholding the health care organization’s goals in every aspect of the acquisition phase is first priority. Forming strategies that identify with the mission and goals set forth by the organization will help guide the recommendation from the steering committee. Involving other project leads from supporting departments such as Information Technology (IT) will be necessary. IT has the knowledge on the existing systems and will have the insight that is needed when adding or combining system products. It is probable that IT has projects that will need to interface with the new information system. Combining ideas and research may help lead to a better information system choice for the organization. Roles of the Stakeholders The stakeholder’s roles in the organization’s acquisition of new information system are from start to finish. There should be a stakeholder’s presence in the steering committee to put their skills and knowledge of the plans of the organization on the table to help influence decisions. The active stakeholder on the steering committee can report to other stakeholder’s on the progress and changes in the process of choosing the information system. The broad range of stakeholders is identified as anyone who holds interest  in the failure or success of the organization. This can range from Chief-Executive-Officer (CEO) to business managers and administrators, doctors to the nursing staff and even patients. Patients are a vital source of information because the patient is the owner of the data entered in to the information system. Stakeholders should have active input in the entire process of research, acquisition, and implementation of a new information system . For example, â€Å"The medical user may want an easy-to-use system releasing him or her from documentation tasks, while the administrative user wants a system enforcing complete documentation† (Ammenwerth, Graber, Herrmann, Burkle, & Konig, 2003, p. 5). Conclusion When considering the addition or expansion of a health information system the organization must conduct research with several vendors and a steering committee to make recommendations of the product that will best fit with the requirements set forth by the organization. The goals of the organization will help guide the decisions on what information system will fit the needs currently and into the future. The stakeholder’s involvement in the entire project gives unique insight from the different levels of stakeholders. Patients, nurses, doctors, management, and executive management are all stakeholders. Combining all of these elements will help in the process of acquiring the appropriate information system for the health care organization. References Ammenwerth, E., Graber, S., Herrmann, G., Burkle, T., & Konig, J. (2003, June 7, 2002). Evaluation of health information systems—problems and challenges. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 71, 125-135. http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1386-5056(03)00131-X Russell, L. B., Gold, M. R., Siegel, J. E., Daniels, N., & Weinstein, M. C. (1996, October 9, 1996). The Role of Cost-effectiveness Analysis in Health and Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, 1172-1177. 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