Ethics in the Engineering Profession Assignment

Ethics in the Engineering Profession - Assignment Example Thereafter, the consequences of the choices and decisions made in the situation are reviewed, and finally an analysis of the impact the code of ethics on the conduct of engineering professionals is discussed. A facility was needed to store water in a reservoir. The water to be stored was to be drawn from the reservoir by a separate system. The required system was expected to manage the level of water in the storage reservoir. The engineers in the situation used digital signals in which the PLC had two digital inputs, that is, empty reservoir and full reservoir. The digital output of the PLC is used to open and lock the inlet into the reservoir. When the two switches are off, the PLC opens the valve to let in more water. In the event that both switches are on, the PLC by design shuts the inlet to prevent overflow. Float switches were used to avert a situation in which any use of water opens the valve or activates, and subsequently deactivates the pump for a stint, making the system wear down quickly. The analog approach may use water and a valve, which can be adjusted. As for the PLC, a PID reaction loop could be used to regulate the opening of the valve. The engineers tasked with this duty were not getting on well and hence had challenges in communicating to one another; therefore, their ultimate goal lacked objectivity. The system they designed did not optimize the refill rates because one engineer failed to advise the counterpart that using both options of analog and digital system would be the best option to the problem. They ended up using the digital system. The two engineering professionals failed to effectively communicate; hence, performed the activity with dishonesty and without objectivity. The solution they offered the client will cause economic loss since the refill rates were not optimized even though it was possible for the two to ensure it happened. Clearly, the engineering code of ethics three was violated as objectivity and

Management Simulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Simulation - Essay Example A joint SWOT and PESTEL analysis identify various internal and external environmental factors to the enterprise. Competition, a threat under the SWOT model and a political factor under the PESTEL model, from firms such as Valentino, The Junction Shop and Pub Prince of Wales is a major factor that has led to poor market command, and is likely to dictate lower prices for the firm’s commodities. The competition into poor sales also limits the entity’s output volume. Weak management, a weakness under SWOT model, is another factor to the organization as poor insights into the competitive environment illustrates. This has led to poor forecast of the business’ financial capacity and competitiveness, and may force the business into urgent borrowing or force a shut down. Lack of proper marketing initiatives for countering the existing competition is another significant weakness. This has maintained low level of market command and therefore limited the organization’ s production level. The other SWOT and PESTEL elements are not identifiable (Webster 2010, p. 88). Health-in-Pizza Ltd.’s competitive situation and potential action plan for improvements The competitive business environment puts Health-in-Pizza Ltd. at a disadvantage against its competitors. Major targets such as college students and the business class have not been visiting the enterprise and price is a major factor because Health-in-Pizza Ltd. is 20 percent more expensive than its competitors are. Two strategies are available for improving the business’ position in the market, price reduction and a direct approach to promoting the entity’s products among the target population. Health-in-Pizza Ltd. should reduce its prices to values that are equivalent to, or bellow, prices offered by the competitors. This is because the trend in the past five months has shown that the market, regardless of its segments’ social classes is determined by pizza’s price. Awareness campaigns to enlighten the market of the health benefits of Health-in-Pizza Ltd.’s pizza and its reviewed prices should then follow this to change the developed attitude that the business is expensive. Section B Expected effects of environmental changes on the business Entry of a new supplier with cheaper products will reduce the entity’s operational costs and therefore increase its profit margin. This will further allow

How does themed hotels affect the tourism industry Lab Report

How does themed hotels affect the tourism industry - Lab Report Example In case of the local tourists visiting the hotels for their services, the choice of themes to be used should not be of the local culture. It has to be something new since they are used to whatever is in the locality. 7 To sum up the discussion section of this research study, it should be noted that management of any business enterprise is very vital. These hotels if well managed will not only benefit the owners but also the nation in which a given hotel is found. This is through earning the nation foreign exchange, which in turn helps in sky rocketing the country’s economy. This will end up improving the living standards of the citizens. 7 Conclusion/Recommendations 8 References 10 Abstract The main purpose behind conducting this study was to investigate the effect of themed hotels on the tourism industry. The researcher mainly collected information from secondary sources to make the analyses, recommendations and conclusion of this report. The findings of the study outline how the tourism industry is influenced by the type of hotel in question. At the end of it, there are some recommendations, which if put in action, can propel the industry to rise higher and higher. Introduction A hotel can be termed as a commercial place where people, especially travelers and tourists buy meals, pay for accommodation services. A theme on the other hand, despite the various meanings the word bears, in the context of this report, it refers to the hotels having artistic decorations. These decorations can be in form of paintings on the wall that result in to a recurring pattern making the place look more attractive than in the case of ordinary hotels. Another word we need to be familiar with before proceeding with the report is tourism. The definition of the word Tourism can be that it is an activity carried out by either one person or a group of persons. This is usually as a result of people moving from one place to another. It can be from one country to another with the aim of performing a given task or just for the sake of entertainment. This report deals with the facts, discussions, conclusions and recommendations relating to the effect of themed hotels on the tourist industry. As outlined by http://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com; Unusual & Unique Hotels of the World, there are various themed hotels worldwide examples being Reino Fungi Lodge and Nothofagus Hotel and Spa ( both located at the Huilo Huilo Biological Reserver), Magic Mountain Hotel situated in the midst of Chilean Patagonian Rainforest, The Pavillion – London in the United Kingdom and many others. Facts/Findings Themed hotels bearing some sort of uniqueness are slightly costly. Though some tourists shy away, a good number of them being the local tourists, the number is incomparable to those who visit the places or else it could be useless to carry on with the business. In the course of this research study, it was evident that these hotels have a notable impact on the tourism industry. Firstly, due to the unique motif they bear in their establishment starting from the decor, dining and the personnel. This is as according to www.wisegreek.com; (What is a themed Hotel?) The choice of the theme to be used should typically connote every little detail be it in the hotel where the visitors get their meals from, the rooms in which

GIS design and technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

GIS design and technology - Essay Example The paper tells that Geographical Information System (GIS) was created with the ability to assemble, analyze, manipulate, update, store and display information which has been geographically referenced according to the location of the data. For it to function it requires a vast amount of data hence making the projects which use GIS very expensive. Its data originate from images of satellites, maps, GPS data from survey an all other instruments which can attribute data. Before the development of Internet GIS large amount of data of different field like road networks, sewer lines, telecommunication lines and natural resources were useless as they were available in large unorganized states which makes them hard to retrieve and analyze. The creation of GIS solved this problem hence the organization of GIS databases which had all the information needed. Elangovan attributes GIS development is to different disciplines like databases, computer science, computer mapping, Computer Aided Design , remote sensing, geography, Cartography and many more. Different discipline had different functions in the GIS. Databases is used to store, manipulate and retrieval of the data. Computer mapping is used to create maps in the computer while the remote sensing is used to take satellite images. Through the combination of these and other disciplines the GIS emerged a super field which is very helpful. The development of GIS can be generally grouped into four stages of development according to Elangovan (2006, p.10). Between 1960 and 1975 there was introduction of the GIS concept. Due to this fact only few people used in mainframe computers. In between 1973 and early 1980s though many experiment and practice were done, there was little information as individuals were the one doing the research hence duplication of work. There was development of many GIS software between 1982 and late 1990s. This improved the growth of GIS. The last stage is between 1990 and 2000. In this stage there was standardization of the GIS due to the easy availability of software both for ensuring user friendliness and for a platform for working. After 2000 GIS had multi use like virtual reality, mobile mapping and web based GIS. Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965 was successful in the creation of processing of graphic data through computer aid. This fastened the development of GIS. Agencies in USA, Canada and the UK started using the GIS for the processing of large data amounts. The first to use GIS was the Canada government. The Canadian government used the GIS for management of land and other resources. The US government used the GIS for Geographical Retrieval and Analysis System (GIRAS) which is used to analyze data on the use of land and land cover. In 1970s the Swedish bank on land data used the GIS to make the registration of land and properties automatic. After the development of Geographical Information Mapping and Management System (GIMMS) by the University of Minnesota , in 1963, there was publishing of the Atlas of Britain through the use of information in the GIS. It was printed by the Bickmore and his team of cartography. In 1970 there was publishing of the first multicolour map in Britain. The production of commercial GIS was done by the Harvard Graphic labs in 1970. There was also creation of many cartographic packages like GIMMS, GRID, GEOMAP and MAP. Between 1970s and 1980s there was development of many GIS packages. In 1975 after the first academic meeting about GIS in the UK there was release of the

From the Madding Crowd Essay Example for Free

From the Madding Crowd Essay However, when he first met Bathsheba he called her names like lady and miss. The way that Troy treats Fanny after his relationship with Bathsheba shows that in retrospect, Troy did in some ways love Fanny. Ironically, we see this the most after Fannys death when Troy gets a tombstone for Fanny and plants flowers on her grave, but the fact that the water from the gargoyle could wash away the flowers so easily, could signify how fickle Troy is and how easily his affections for Fanny were also washed away. Earlier on in the novel when Fanny comes to see Troy at the barracks, Troy does not realise that it is Fanny, his fianci standing outside his window: 5What girl are you? , He 6doesnt quite recollect that he promised Fanny they would marry, even though he said lots of times that he would marry her. This shows how he doesnt think of the penalty of his words. Fannys terrible relationship with Troy could have been used to predict the consequences of his relationship with Bathsheba. Similarly, the fact that in the few times that Fanny appears in the novel, she is in a gloomy and dreary atmosphere which was dooming her to death with descriptions like 7A heavy unbroken crust of cloud stretched across the sky, shutting out every speck of heaven;. Her appearance in these depressing environments was a prediction to her passing away. Secondly, she is used to show the true nature of Troys character, and highlight this as he is in a relationship with Bathsheba until Bathsheba herself realizes Troys true nature in finding Fanny. Once her role has been fulfilled for Hardy, he kills her off because she has reached the characters limitation and isnt needed in the story any more. This same meeting also exposes Troys cowardice and shallowness, and is a turning point in the novel, as if he had at this point admitted to Bathsheba his connection with Fanny or even that this woman was Fanny Robin, Bathshebas missing servant, then Fannys death and the following events could have been avoided. Thirdly, Fanny is also involved with the character of Gabriel Oak and brought his character out in the way Fanny borrows money of him and Gabriel gives it to her, she brings out generosity in him and that he is caring. Hardy then shows Gabriel to be kind from the heart to the character Fanny and others when he rubs off and child off the coffin lid, this is so we can see that Gabriel cares about Bathsheba being happy with Troy and tries to protect her from the truth. Her life is controlled by fate and chance and this shows how her function for Hardy extends beyond the plot and the development of other characters. Fate plays a big part and is a key part of the storyline in the role of Far From the Madding Crowd. The first time she is included as a fate icon is when Boldwood reads Fannys letter but it was intended for Gabriel this fate causes a description of Troy and the bringing together of the two rivals over Bathsheba, who are Gabriel and Boldwood but dont realize they are both in love with the same person. It is also fate that Fanny confuses the two churches so Troy doesnt marry her and it is by chance that she meets him outside the church and he replys to her plead to forgive her with You fool, for so fooling me! But say no more. But if he really loved her he would forgive her. Once again there is more fate involved with the character Fanny Robin where Troy has been looking for Fanny but re-encounters her when its too late and Troy has married Bathsheba. The chance has been enrolled in Fannys role, this is when Troy keeps a lock of Fannys hair and Bathsheba finds it by chance and she gets jealous, this causes extreme arguments between Bathsheba and Troy and gives Bathsheba a clue to Fannys identity. Hardy seems to evoke pity when he describes Fannys last journey (her death from child birth) with a description of a hostile background and a dog that is helping her, this is her only friend but even that gets stoned off and adds more pity to fannys case. Her death is also to go with the contrast of a melodramatic death of troy. The irony to her death is that she has more effect on the characters than when she was alive. Fanny Robin has a minor role in the novel Far From the Madding Crowd however the sense cannot be said about the significance of the character Fanny Robin. The reason for why Hardy introduced this character is to have impact on various main characters. She is a pivot in the novel and she causes the main key storyline changes. Yet she has a deeper role in the novel as a symbol for Hardys statement about the 19th century men and how they treated the working class girls. It is only when the question What is the significance of the character, Fanny Robin in the novel Far From the Madding Crowd? is viewed from a variety of angles that there is a true answer presented. If Fanny were not in the novel, it would be more difficult for Hardy to emphasise the discrimination against women at the time, as well as creating tension and suspense in the plot and highlighting the true nature of other characters, especially Troy. Therefore, a reader would not be as aware of the irony surrounding her role and so would not realise how her presence in the novel helped Hardy to show all these parts. 1 Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd Penguin Publications, 1985, (Page 135) 2 Ibid, (Page 54 55) 3 Ibid, (Page 336) 4 Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd Penguin Publications, 1985, (Page 366) 5 Ibid, (Page 137) 6 Ibid, (Page 137) 7 Ibid, (Page 322 ) 1 Jordan Daniels 11. 5 Matthew Moss high School.

Agency Theory Accounting practices

Agency Theory Accounting practices Agency theory the contribution of agency theory to the development of current accounting practices Introduction The aim of this report is to develop a relationship between agency theory and the existing practices of accountancy. In the report, the problem of agent-principal will be described with the main consequences for business-related relationship. After identifying the problem, the accountancy practices will be linked to the issues addressed in model that will be explained. The report will look at a case study related to agency theories and its affects within accounting practices. Finally it will show the ways the accountancy practices meet the problems raised by the agent-principal relationships. The agency theory is a mixture of the relationships between principals and agents, it occurs when principal and the agents create a delegation (Donaldson, L. Davis, J.H., June 1991). Berle and Means 1932 stated that the Agency theory argues that in modern corporation, where share ownership is widely held, managerial actions depart from those required to maximise the shareholders return, this was also backed up by Pratt and Zeckhauser in 1985. According to Jensen and Meckling, 1976, In Agency theory terms, the owners are principals and the managers are agents and there is an Agency loss which is the extent to which returns to the residual claimants, the owners, fall below what they would be if the principals, and the owners, exercised direct control of the corporation (Donaldson, L. Davis, J.H., June 1991). The long term strategies for agency theory include the principle of company, business, franchise, etc providing incentives such as increasing commission, continuing to provide advertising, training and motivation to increase outlet operations. To argue this Carney and Gedajlovic stated that regarding of the exogenous factor, outlet managers have an incentive to shirk and misrepresent their abilities because the firm is hard to differentiate the managers performance behavior (Mathieu, 1997), While the short-term strategies include balancing supply with demand at the shortest turn around time. Agency theory tends to impact business decisions by focusing on establishing incentives as mentioned in the long-term strategies above. However, it may be very costly and may create moral hazards if top management tries to over maximise profits for themselves instead of for the employees. The cost to manage and monitor transactions can affect both the domestic and global financial managers due to the strategy becoming very expensive; nevertheless this strategy can have the negative impact upon the organisations survival. Conflicts of agency theory There is a conflict between principals and agents (shareholders and managers) that can potentially have a devastating business consequence. The cost of monitoring efforts, measuring results and opportunities lost can be substantial. Incentives and disincentives may not result in wanted outcome, when businesses should scan their environment constantly to seek opportunities to meet the interest of their own stakeholders. Agency theory is a small entity of financial economics that looks at conflicts of interest between people that have different interests for the same assets, this means that their will always be constant conflicts between: shareholders managers and shareholders bond holders. These are the reason why organisations make constant acquisitions that tend to be bad for the shareholder, why convertible bonds are preferably used while normal bonds are often sold with warrants and finally shows the importance of capital structures. According to Eisenhardt (1989a), agency theory is devoted to the solution of two problems that can arise from agency relationships. The first problem is goal related and arises when: i) there is a conflict between the goals of the principal and the agent; and ii) the verification of the agents behaviour is difficult or expensive to be verified by the principal. The second problem is risk-related. If the agent and the principal have different attitudes towards risk, it is likely that both will behave differently and in accordance to their risk preferences. Identifying conflicting positions between any two agents and explaining the governance mechanisms underlying these relationships (that limit the agents behaviour) is known as the Positivist agency theory (Eisenhardt, 1989a). A different position is found in the principal-agent research (as opposed to the positivistic agency theory) and relies on a more mathematical and abstract approach to the problem. Although in different perspectives, these two approaches can be complementary as it can be seen in the quotation below (Eisenhardt, 1998a: 60): â€Å"Rather, the important point is that the two streams are complementary: Positivistic theory identifies various contract alternatives, and the principal-agent theory indicates which contract is the most efficient under varying levels of outcome uncertainty, risk aversion, information, and other variables†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Problems of agency theory The major popularity of the application of the agency theory to the relationship between shareholders and the board if directors produced a vast amount of research devoted to this issue. In fact, this phenomenon relates to those cases in which ownership and management are represented by different individuals. Being each individual maximising its utility leads to the existence conflicting positions between the agent and the principal. This became the main focus of research, and justifies the need of such an agency theory. This problematic is in the basis of the role of agent theory in the accountancy practices. According to Bricker and Chandar (1998: 488-489): â€Å"Contracts between shareholders and managers are written in order to reduce agency cost, and thereby, the dead weight loss in firm value as a result of the separation of ownership from control. Accounting is considered to play an important role as an integral part of the contracts that define a firm. For example, lending arrangements between a firm and its creditors often contain several accounting based covenants. Accounting-based bonus plans are frequently a component of executive compensation plans. Accounting measures are commonly used in the performance evaluation of a firms cost and profit centers. Watts and Zimmerman argue [1986, p. 196]: if accounting is an important part of the firms contracting process and agency costs (and hence, firm value and/or managers compensation) vary with different contracts, accounting procedures have the potential to affect firm value and/or the managers compensation. This rationale has given rise to several hypotheses regarding the role of accounting information in market valuation of firms and managers use of accounting discretion.† The table presented below summarises some of the key issues associated with agency theory and relates them to several assumptions of different nature: Key idea Principal agent relationship should reflect efficient organisation of information and risk-bearing costs Unit of analysis Contract between principal and agent Human assumptions Self interest Bounded rationality Risk aversion Organisational assumptions Partial goal conflict among participants Efficiency as the effectiveness criterion Information asymmetry between principal and agent Information assumptions Information as purchasable commodity Contracting problems Agency (moral hazard and adverse selection) Risk sharing Problem domain Relationships in which the principal and agent have partially differing goals and risk preferences (e.g. compensation, regulation. Leadership, impression management, whistle-blowing, vertical integration, transfer pricing) Table 1: Agency theory overview Source: Eisenhardt (1989a) Development of agency theory Agency cost is a major problem with organisation and with constant fraud cases that are growing around the world their needed to be major development of the theory in accounting practices. A way of developing the theory is to minimise agency costs that can be accomplished through communications, sharing risks and benefits and seeking to balance the scorecards. The theory has developed by establishing performance standards, using cost effective processes, cost management tools and incentives have all helped the problem of managing agency problems. Accountancy provides information to base future decisions on historical performances. Providing accurate information about costs it is possible to predict the result of future production. This perspective is particularly important in the case of, for example, government contracts, in which an agent- principal relationship is also established. For example, Reichelstein (1992) draws upon the agency models to explain government contracts, showing how agency theory can be used to design incentive contracts, and demonstrating that the agency models have actually influenced managerial economics. A different perspective is that accounting provides an opportunity of control from the agent over the principal. In this respect, the insights about the relationship between the shareholders and management were particularly important in demonstrating the role of accountancy as key information provider. To that extent, it was suggested that accountancy reporting is a result of the separation of ownership from management phenomena. Hence, it can be argued that the reporting practice is a result of the agent problem and serves the control needed to verify the agents performance. Another perspective was the budget development based on historical accounts. Contracts usually include a price for production which has not taken place yet. The pricing of these contracts has to be based on historical costs that can only be provided by accountancy. To that extent, accountancy practice is not a result of the agent-principal problem but is originated to avoid uncertainty in principal-agent relationships. case realted study to agency theory Taking a prime example of Enron and its relationship with accounting practices clearly show the affects of agency theory within an accounting practice can affect organisations. The collapse of Enron was entirely related to the accounting practices adopted by the company. It has a number of these questionable, and in some cases straight out fraudulent, accounting practices that pertained to the most dramatic collapse of a major company in years. An analysis of some of these accounting practices brings to light the problems with the use of concepts such as mark-to-market accounting and the use of special purpose entitys (SPEs), the interrelation of agency theory suggests that the basic ideals surrounding agency theory applied to the Enron Case at some point in time, however the continuation of this principal deteriorated as time went on. The agency theory was clearly an issue in Enrons case because the managers of the firm were transferring wealth from the shareholders to themselves in the form of stock performance. Not only were there the Shareholders to Management agency problem there was also an employer to employee agency problem. With regard to the shareholder to management problem, the shareholders had placed a large amount of decision-making capability onto the management team and had not successfully monitored the agents behaviour. Given that the managers had all come to Enron with a strong reputation, it was expected that they â€Å"would act in the interest of the shareholders. [As such the shareholders] had monitored the managers performance very little† (Godfrey et al, 2008). As a shareholder, it would have been in the best interests to implement monitoring costs to â€Å"measure, observe and control† Schillings behaviour. Unfortunately this would not have been enough. The introduction of Fa stow, described as â€Å"a genius† in a number of sources, allowed for the performance of Enron to appear strong even in dire times. The use of SPEs and mark-to-market accounting allowed for the â€Å"reduction of monitoring costs by incurring bonding costs [in the form of quarterly statements]† that allowed Enron to perform better than it appeared. Another point that links is that the agency theory is the â€Å"the principal will remunerate the agent according to the principals expectations of how much the agents behaviour is likely to be contrary to the principals interests† (Godfrey et al, 2008). Given that managers of Enron were all major shareholders of the company the focus was on driving the share price up which was done by a process called â€Å"pump and dump; this process involved buying up the share price and then selling out† (Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room) this allowed the directors to maintain high remuneration because they were achieving high share prices for the principals and also allowed them to gain from share price rises before selling out at the top. Finally, the principal-agent relationship that occurs between Skilling and Fastow (CEO of Enron) is that of an employee to employer. This relationship is important because it â€Å"emphasises the importance of the ability to monitor employees work efforts† (Akdere, Azvedo, 2004). Skilling and Ken Lay claim that they were unaware of what Fastow was doing with regards to the financial statements, however, Skilling and Lay were acting as the agents for the shareholders as well as acting as the principals for Fastow. Their involvement in such transactions as the one with LJM were â€Å"not only disclosed to the board at a meeting which took place in 1999, but the board approved of [Fastows] participation, following a recommendation to this effect from the then CEO and Chairman, Ken Lay† (Deakin, Konzelmann, 2004). From this we can clearly see that Lay, Skilling and Fastow were all part of the agency problem that occurred. conclusion This report has shown that several areas of accounting have been affected by the agency theory model. This theory has defiantly had implications in the financial accounting, management accounting and in corporate finance. Nevertheless, the strongest argument that relates to agency theory with accountancy mainly relies in the nature of both, the accounting and agency theory rely on the existence of contracts, these contracts rely at the core of the relationship between agents and the principal. Furthermore agency theorys core role is the risk associated with the relationship whereas accountancy reduces risk by providing information about the agents in action. Additionally reporting previous behaviours of the agent showing that the historical agent has kept the conditions of contract, may provide indications for the principal about the future behaviour of agents; increasing trust levels in the relationship and reducing the risk associated with relations. In conclusion, the current features (and practices) of accountancy meet the agency model problems proving the information to avoid opportunistic behaviours and ensuring that relational contracts are met. Referances Journals Davis, J.H., Schoorman, F.D., Donaldson, L. (1997), Toward a stewardship theory of management, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No.1, pp.20-47. Berle, A. and G. Means, 1932, The Modern Corporation and private property (New York, Maacmillan) Jones, D. R. Butler, J.E, 1992, Managing internal corporation entrepreneurship: an agency theory perspective (Journal of Management) Bricker, R. and Chandar, N. (1998). On Applying Agency Theory in Historical Accounting Research. Business and Economic History 27(2): 486-99 Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989a). Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review, Academy of Management Review, 14 (1): 57-74. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989b). Agency- and Institutional Theory Explanations: The Case of Retail Sales Compensation. Academy of Management Journal, 31 (3): 488-511. Kaplan, R.S. (1984). The Evolution of Management Accounting. The Accounting Review, LIX(3): 390-402. Reichelstein, S. (1992). Constructing Incentive Schemes for Government Contracts: An Application of Agency Theory. The Accounting Review, 67 (4): 712-731. References for Enron case study: Serwer, Andy. 2002, ‘Dirty Rotten Numbers: Enron has made us shine a light on the books of Americas public companies. Now, if your company carries even a hint of bad accounting, the stock will be savaged, Fortune. Vol 145, i4, p74+. Shleifer, Andrei. 2000, ‘Are Financial Markets Efficient Oxford Scholarship Online Economics and Finance. Pp 1- 5. Akdere, Mesut and Azevedo, Ross. 2004, ‘Organisational Development, Agency Theory, and efficient Contracts: A Research Agenda. Pp2-8. Deakin, Simon and Konzelmann, Suzanne. 2004, ‘Learning From Enron Corporate Governance. Vol 12, pp134-142. Haldeman, Robert G. 2006, ‘Fact, Fiction, and Fair Value Accounting at Enron The CPA Journal. Pp1-10. Thompson, Robert B. 2004, ‘Corporate Governance after Enron. HeinOnline. Pp99-117. Godfrey, Jayne. Hodgson, Allan. Holmes, Scott. Tarca, Ann. 2006. ‘Accounting Theory: Sixth edition. Wiley, Australia. ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in The room 2005, DVD, Dendy Films. USA. ‘Encarta: Online. Copyright MSN Encarta, 2008, Accessed 15/05/08 from http://encarta.msn.com/media_701610605/the_fall_of_enron_stock.html

Evolution of Escalator and Elevator Advertising

Evolution of Escalator and Elevator Advertising In a noisy, media saturated and distracted consumer environment, the elevator and escalator advertisements ignites curiosity and fires demand for client brands through integrated alternative marketing technologies that authentically engage and truly influence consumers. It work in helping clients reach consumers, surprising and unconventional ways. The companies should take benefit of elevators by marketing their products and services. The elevator is always crowded with people, and these people may be one day will be a potential customers because of that advertisements. the elevator is transferring people every day. In some cases the transferring will continue 24/7 now in the 21st century the elevator advertisements is a successful tool for advertisement. In my opinion, its the most effective tool in the new century. Because in the recent days, most people espically the young people Dont like to read, watch the usuall advertisements and listen to radio advertisment. The elevator advertisements should be creative and attracting in the way that will take the people attention. In Saudi Arabia these kinds of advertisements are not popular. The elevator advertisements are not costly and actually it is a cost effective. In my opinion if use propably, it will make a reveloution in the advertisement world. A few numbers of researches has been conducted about this topic. The elevator advertisement is a powerful tool for attracting the people. Because they dont have any alternatives except looking to your advertisment. So there is no run away from getting the idea of your advertisment. Type of elevator advertisments: Outside door advertising Inside the elevator using brochoures or painting Outside (outdoor) media Inside (indoor) media Sounds (inside the elevator) On the elevator buttons (outside and inside) Creative and innovative advertisments (costly). Outside (door) We had put a media advertisments outside the elevator during the waiting time (period) for the elevator to come and transfer them. The survey shows that the majority of people are looking to the elevator advertisment and the media which we had put it there. The survey shows that the majority of people are looking to the elevator advertisment and the media which we had put it outside the elevator during the waiting time (period) for the elevator to come and transfer them. So their eyes are always looking to the elevator door. Therefore, why we cant use this powerful tool and in my opinion the most effective tool to market our products or services. (inside) The majority of people show that they get board in the period of transfering. So why cant we give them something interesting like a media with music inside the elevator. Or we make the elevator more interesting with colours and brochures. Also in a survey we put an avertisment for a famous product in the elevator for the sake of the research and we asked each one of the respondents wheather it got their attention or not. And 93% of them saw that advertisments. So there is no run away from seeing the advertisment. And when we put a small screen for the media, it shows that 98% of the sample responds to that. (Escalator advertising) The majority shows that the escalator advertising is very attractive and it attract the eyes. Types of escalator advertising: There are many creative types of the escalator advertising and the most attractive on are: Beside the escalator using a brochoures or any type of advertisments Between the esclators using painting or drowing On the escalator floor (steps) using a creative pictures on each one of the escalator steps Advertising using the media (TV) on the top of escalator in the way of going up or going down. Using the sound advertising between the way of transfering (it is not very effective) In the entrance and the exit of the essclator On the escalator handrails: (it enables advertisements, branding, and other decorative communication material to be easily applied to escalator handrails.) Also the escalator and the elevator are usually crowded and the riders are always changing, so your advertising will be for a different variety of people and different kinds of people with different ages and also with different classes. So you will market you products or services for all the types of the people using an affordable and powerful tool for getting the riders attentions. What Escalator Owners Gain: Increased revenue at marginal cost Utilization of previously unproductive structures Better communication with riders Enhanced location aesthetics and ambiance, leading to stronger customer relations and increased ridership Minimal involvement from escalator owner! What the Riders gain: Improved escalator appearance More interesting environments Source of â€Å"food for thought† Antimicrobial protection for handrails, giving riders a sense of comfort and limiting riders exposure to contagious disease What the Advertisers gain: Opportunity to capture public attention with new advertising platform Marketing avenue provides high-impression frequency Innovative ad placement to beat other marketing noise New mode of marketing to drive client â€Å"buzz† Long impression period as average rider is on escalator for 30 seconds Great medium for viral marketing (it enables advertisements, branding, and other decorative communication material to be easily applied to escalator handrails. Easily communicate with riders at shopping malls, transit systems and airports during average rides of 30 seconds.) Methodology: Sampling: 571 in the major cities of Saudi Arabia 197 In the western region (Jeddah, Makkah, Al Madinah and Al Taif) 123 in the middle region 106 in the eastern region 86 in the northern region 59 in the southern region The unit of analysis will be the people who are using the elevators and escalators regularly such as the people who are working in the shopping malls, airports, office building and hotels in the most crowded and busiest places. A questionair was used to collect the data from the respondents. The people who are going to take the left will be extracted by this Ideas and creativety. In the short time those advertisments will push them to read, see or listen to the advertising. Mostly the mirror in the elevator was catch the attention of the riders and they spent time for watching themselves.sometimes they will spent time watching the riders shows, looking to the floor screen in the elevator or seeing the people faces. It is the most effective for attracting the customers attention. Simply the riders are the stressed audience and they are surrounded by this media to entertain them. it is the key for a successful marketing. If used properly in the crowded elevators and escalator, it will be the most affordable and powerful tool for marketing you products or services. The most ideal locations for escalator and elevator advertisements (advertising): Transportation hubs, convention centers, offices buildings hosbitals, hotels, department stores, airports, sports arenas, shopping malls and more. train stations, shopping centres It is innovative and creative It is the best alternatives of other marketing strategies. Escalator Steps enables advertising, branding, and other decorative communication material to be easily applied to existing escalator steps. Easily communicate with customers in high density locations using this high impact medium. It is an innovative media solution. Why Advertising on Escalators? Benefits to Advertisers using Escalator Step Advertising Multi-Impact Impression Usage of Steps Escalator graphics will result in a high impact rate to pedestrians. Pedestrians will see as many as 50 steps as they ride escalators for over 30 seconds. Unrestricted Message Space Aap!Global can tailor installation of graphic to popular escalator step models providing advertisers with large, high impact advertising spaces. High Impact Influence point of purchase shoppers escalator step graphics do not compete with traditional media and capture audience attention before entering points of purchase. Targeted Escalator are usually located at points of purchase. Easy to Use Aap!Steps fit easily in existing properties with minimal owner involvement. Non-Traditional Aap!Steps invites non traditional firms to place adverts in the out-of-home segment It is enjoyable up close or from a distance Benefits to Properties Aap!Step is a unique, dynamic, scrolling advertising display which provides a source of incremental non-rental revenue while aesthetically enhancing and modernizing a property. Companies can now put their advertisements in the hands of millions of economically active customers during average 30 second escalator rides. Escalator Handrail Advertising provides advertisers with an extremely effective new media, property owners with an additional revenue stream or branding opportunity and escalator riders with an engaging handrail that improves safety and comfort. The intelligent use of the elevators and taking benefits of the empty spaces. Your advertisments will achieve your goals. Some of the ads are boring but these kinds of ads are different from others. It is not boring Property owners: Property owners have the opportunity to utilise Escalator or Elevator Media to generate new revenues from advertising sales, or as an effective way to increase internal branding or communications with escalator riders. As a new revenue stream: Escalated Advertising, via selling Escalator or Elevator Media to advertisers, offers property groups the opportunity to generate substantial advertising revenue with no risk. Advantages to Property owners In addition to making existing structures profitable, Escalator or the elevator Media, enhances the appearance, location aesthetics and also improves rider safety and comfort. For the companies which are always looking for highly effective and fresh media opportunities. Escalator and elevator Advertising provides a unique solution. the Creative looks on the elevator and escalator will really grabs peoples attention Escalator and elevator Advertising dominates the environment, providing cut through even in a cluttered shopping centre. Reasons Escalator Handrail Media is a first choice for advertisers. Escalator Handrail Media offers significant advantages over traditional outdoor advertising. Benefits include: 30 seconds exposure to a captive audience Frequently reach mass audiences at targeted locations 76% unprompted advertising recall 30 meters of advertising that surrounds the consumer Hands on advertising which is often unavoidable Close to the point of purchase Escalator and elevator advertising are perfect for: Increasing sales Increasing foot traffic Increasing brand exposure Launching a new brand Building brand image Reinforcing other media at prime locations Directing escalator traffic flow What ever an advertisers goals Escalator and elevator advertising will help to achieve them. Escalator and elevator advertising is the perfect compliment to TV, Print and Radio, and is a must in any out of home campaign. It is fun and easy way to communicate, it can be used for branding, advertising or decoration. Limitation: There was a lack of information on this topic due to the fact that not much research as conducted on the elevator and escalator advertising. Hence secondary type sources did not produce very precise information on this matter. Therefore, primary data acquisition methodologies like questionnaires and interviews had to be used in order to acquire the desired information in order to satisfy the research objectives. Although the ambient media sector is starting to grow up and move away from the stunts that used to dominate, there are still a number of agencies with an eye for a great gimmick. Describes a number of outdoor innovations and explains that as consumers become more used to seeing advertising while they are out and about, outdoor companies are increasingly looking for opportunities to speak to the public when they least expect it. Comments on new technology such as digital escalator panels and elevator advertising. these new developments are only really working for entertainment brands at the moment. that are easier, quicker and cheaper to update, can be shared between more brands, offer flexibility in the messages that can be displayed and are by their nature more eye-catching. Esclator advertising allows extremely high visibility advertising in prime throughput locations enabling you to target shoppers, commuters, families and business people. It is a brand new opportunity. Elevator: you can put a screen with a security camera to monitor what is going on in the elevator Now there is a new media opportunity, it is a dynamic new media that reaches the audience that always in demands. This media that teaches, moves and uniquely interact with its audience. It is an interactive, impactful and informative communication Saudi Arabia community likes to explore and find the new things, the majority of the people there are economically active. It is a rich country and these kinds of advertising will be an opportunity for the companies which are looking for increasing their sales and marketing their products or services. You can put the advertising in the high traffic locations.