Why Content Marketing Fails in Information Technology (and how to fix it) - The Writers For Hire

WHY CONTENT MARKETING FAILS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (AND HOW TO FIX IT) As the world moves toward an increasingly digital existence, the IT industry has been growing more than ever. With that growth comes a need for IT companies to stand out from the pack and establish themselves as leaders in their field. Content marketing — which is a form of self-promotion that uses web content such as blog posts, emails, white papers to help companies build relationships with potential customers — has long been celebrated as one of the best ways for a company to establish authority in their field. Content marketing isn’t a one-size-fits all solution, though. Sometimes you may find that, despite your best efforts, you’re just not achieving your goals. People aren’t sharing your posts (or even reading them). No one has liked any of your Facebook posts, and your email open rate is just embarrassing. It’s OK. This happens all the time. IT can be a tricky field from a content marketing perspective. Even though IT spending is on the rise, finding a way to engage with your customers (past, present, and future) can be tough. If you’re an IT marketing manager who’s been trying to figure out why your content marketing efforts haven’t been doing what you’d hoped, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a helpful list of common mistakes that people make when putting a content marketing strategy in place for the IT world. As an added bonus, we’ve included a few helpful tips to break the cycle. It’s Boring! IT is one of those fields where everything is technical. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking server capacity, redundancy, or uptime; you’re going to be describing something where details matter — but you have to choose the right details, or you will inspire a non-optimal reader behavior.   This is, they’ll stop reading. That’s because no one wants to read something that isn’t interesting. Not you, not your boss, and definitely not your potential customers. If you’re spending time creating content that isn’t exciting, your content marketing efforts aren’t going to achieve your goals. Engaging content does several things: It tells a story. And when it’s appropriate, it tells your story. It helps people connect with your brand. The more people understand you, the more likely people are to spend their money with you. It’s sharable. The more interesting your content, the more people are going to want their friends, family, and — most importantly — their business contacts to see it. The thing is, just because you’re in what many people would consider a boring market, doesn’t mean your content has to be boring. A lot of industries fall victim to this trend, but you don’t have to. Paddy Padmanabhan is the CEO of Damo Consulting, a B2B health care technology firm that specializes in thought leadership. â€Å"Most people don’t realize that being good at what you do, doesn’t mean you can write about it,† he says. Take the time to learn about storytelling. Being able to tell the kind of story that people want to read can turn any topic into something interesting. A great example of this is the TV show, How It’s Made. Working in a factory is about as boring as it gets. You do one task, like putting empty boxes on a conveyor belt. All. Day. Long. The job itself is pretty uninspiring. What is interesting, though, is the process of manufacturing. How It’s Made nails this with well-produced, highly engaging segments on everything from light bulbs to fishing rods. It’s been so successful in telling the story of manufacturing that it’s been running since 2001. If a TV show can do that with something like manufacturing light bulbs, you can tell the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of your IT solutions. Quantity Over Quality Some people think that if they start a blog and load it with as much content as possible, they’re running a successful content marketing campaign. They’re not. What they are doing is filling up space — space that could be used to publish high-quality content that readers and potential customers will love — with fluff. Fluff isn’t a good thing. No one likes fluff, not even people who produce cotton balls. Liz Bedor is a content strategy manager who works in the health care technology sector. â€Å"It’s all test and learn,† she says about trying to figure out how often to post content. â€Å"Start with one a week and go from there.† It helps to set goals with your content marketing efforts, Bedor says. They could be something like generating leads and building your email list. Whatever your goals may be, your content needs to drive people towards those goals. If your one post a week isn’t quite doing what you’d hoped it would do, try two posts a week. Keeping tinkering with the frequency of your posts until you find the spot that is hitting all your goals. Stick with it. Not only do people appreciate well-crafted content, the more time you spend publishing and producing that content, the more likely you are to become one of those places that people go to for information (like Slashdot or Ars Tehcnica). Attaining this level of readership is a gold mine for any industry, but in the IT world, people love thought leaders. It’s not always easy to attain thought leadership status, but the value that comes from being a thought leader is undeniable. You Don’t Promote it This is a big one. You could have the best, most engaging content in the world †¦ but if you’re not sharing it, telling your friends to share it, or talking about it on your email list (we’ll talk about these next), no one is ever going to see it. Love it or hate it, social media is undeniably a great tool for getting your content out there, especially in the IT world. If you don’t have a social media presence, now is the time to get one. Social media might not lead to more sales, per se, but it’s a great way to let people know you’re there and showcase your content. Interestingly enough, for IT professionals, LinkedIn is the place to be. Up to 80 percent of IT professionals consume content on LinkedIn at least once a week. So if you’re not on LinkedIn, get your company a profile and start posting your content up there ASAP. â€Å"Tech professionals are all about LinkedIn,† says Padmanabhan. â€Å"They are looking at LinkedIn all the time, checking it out at least once a day. It’s where they gather to exchange ideas and share articles.† Not only is the platform a good one for helping educate yourself, he adds, but it’s a great medium for promoting your content. LinkedIn helps you target very specific audiences, and regularly posting there increases your chances of other tech professionals reading your content. We’ve already talked about how IT professionals love to follow influencers and thought leaders, but they’re also big on social media sharing. If you haven’t managed to establish yourself as a thought leader, see what you can to do to get one to share your content. The more shares you get, the more people see your content. The more people see your content, the more people think of you. The more people think of you, the more likely they are to visit your site when they have an IT need. You’re Using the Wrong Kind of Content Every bit as much as you need your content to be interesting, you need to make sure you’re using the right kind of content. This is an easy one to overlook because every industry is different. If you’re not paying attention to current trends, you’re going to end up publishing the wrong kind of content for your audience. First of all, despite what you’ve heard, email isn’t dead. Not by a long shot. If you’re not using email, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to engage with your customer base. Well-written emails can point people in the direction you want them to go and help them make critical decisions for their company (like choosing your solution over a competitor). Secondly, IT professionals love content that is: Relevant to their company Helpful with skill development Interesting to others in their network Engaging (this is one of those things that comes up time and time again) If you want to reach IT professionals, your content needs to be some combination of these things (like an engaging series of blog posts that other IT professionals could use to stay current, for example). Finally, it helps to understand what kind of content IT professionals consume. If there’s one thing IT pros love, it’s white papers. They consume almost 30 percent more white papers than non-IT professionals. When you think about it, it’s kind of a no-brainer. Padmanabahn says that C-level executives, like CEOs and CIOs, love white papers because they allow them to quickly cruise through the content and gather up the relevant pieces of information about the topic, product, or trend they’re reading about. IT professionals also have a pretty healthy appetite for webcasts and podcasts, so don’t overlook these content platforms when you’re planning out your strategy. Ultimately, the kind of content you use depends on who you’re targeting. You’re Winging It Very, very few things work out the way you’d want them to if you don’t have at least some kind of plan. Content marketing is no different. Not having a documented strategy in place could be the thing that kills you, even if your content is killer. It’s easy to just sit down and start producing content. There’s always something to write about, no matter what your industry is. The problem is, if you’re just posting random blogs or sending out emails that don’t have a purpose, your efforts will inevitably fall short. Taking the time to thoughtfully plan out your content makes all the difference in the world. The key thing is to write down what you hope to achieve with your content marketing efforts. If your goal is to attract potential new customers to your site, producing high-level content aimed at people who are already customers isn’t going to help. Here’s a great example of a company that did things right. Logicalis, an IT company based out of the UK, came up with a plan that revolved around putting out an ebook that their prospects would find interesting. Instead of just throwing together an ebook and posting it on their website, they put together a plan that combined the use of a microsite (a series of eight web pages that existed separately from their main web page), the ebook, and a series of emails. The end result was $8 million in new sales for their HP products. Of course it wasn’t just a matter of putting together an some emails and a microsite, either. Each phase of the plan was carefully thought out using a brand storytelling agency. First of all, they had a goal, which was to increase sales of a certain product using a non-sales approach. The ebook topic was determined by sitting down with the sales team and figuring out what pain points potential customers were experiencing — they did this by following conversations people were having. The end result of talking to their potential customers was an ebook called Elements of Design: How the Data Center of Today Can Be The Data Center for Tomorrow. Once they had a topic, the next step was figuring out how to reach potential customers.   A series of six emails was put together to help drive traffic to the microsite. Each of the emails addressed a particular need that potential customers may have had and directed them to a microsite where they could download the ebook. The emails were sent out to a segmented list of 2,000 prospects based on what they had either previously purchased or expressed an interest in. The microsite was designed to capture leads by offering a just enough of a taste of what the ebook contained that they would want to enter their information and download the ebook. From there, Logicalis followed up with leads via the phone and, eventually, moved further them down the sales cycle. Compare that approach to going to the grocery store without a shopping list. Sure, you can do a successful grocery shop without a grocery list, but odds are, you’re going to discover that you left out a main ingredient for dinner because you were distracted by the cookie aisle. It happens to the best of us. Having the proper plan in place will keep you focused. You might still get distracted by cookies, but you’ll have a constant reminder of why you went to the store in the first place. You Don’t Understand what Your Customers Needs Sometimes, no matter how successful your company is, you can be disconnected from your customers. This is something that can easily happen if you’re been in the business for a while, especially if things are going well. It’s easy to think that, because your business is successful, you’ve got your customers figured out. And you know what? You probably do. At least to a certain degree. The thing is, though, while you might be dominating in one area of your customer’s desire, you could be underservicing another. The easiest way to solve this problem is to simply talk to your customers. A quick survey could show you that, while your customers are happy with what you do, a lot of them might wish you offered a related service. In fact, you might discover that you do offer that service, but they don’t know about it. Interviewing past customers is another great way to find out if you’re meeting all the needs of your client base. â€Å"If you are struggling to understand the topics you should be using,† says Bedor, â€Å"then talking to the customer helps.† Reaching out to customer success teams — whose job is to help develop customer relationships that promote retention and loyalty — can be another great way to figure out the kind of content that your customers want, according to Bedor. Finding out what questions these teams deal with most often can be a useful first step to determining the kinds of content customers want. Once you figure out those needs, you can start talking directly to those points in your content marketing. After all, there’s no sense in talking someone’s ear off about email servers when all they want to do is set up virtual workstations for their remote employees. Creating content based on customer questions helps take some of the burden off the customer success team, too. No one wants to answer the same question 10 times day. Moving Towards Better Content Hopefully, by now, you have a sense of what might be going wrong with your content marketing efforts. It usually doesn’t take much to set things down the right path (reading this is a great step toward correcting the problem). As with a lot of things, there’s bound to be a little bit of trial and error involved with figuring out your ideal content marketing strategy. But with everything from light bulbs to dishwashers being connected to the internet, there’s never been a better time to be in the IT field.

Psychology

Psychology Introduction Sex and gender fundamentally illuminate the effects of being male, female or transgendered considering a variety of explanations from different fields. Sex in psychology is explained in a myriad of ways which highlight how women and men behave within the constraints of the society (Fiske, Gilbert Lindzey 629).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Psychology sex and gender specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Differentiating sex and gender Sex is illustrated in genetic/biological terms while gender is expressed through environmental factors. In biological terms, sex bears reference to the condition of being male, female or transgendered considering the reproductive attributes of an individual. Biological expertise has it that these groups differ in associated hormones, chromosomes and reproductive organs. In everyday living, categorization of sex is based on individual evaluation or judgments’ wi th the exception of the intersex (Unger, 3). The term gender bears reference to the societal/ communal perceptive of the male and female sex. In collective terms, the dissimilarity that exist between male and female are attributed to the division of labor. In this sense, gender roles and identity are given a more artistic meaning and understanding. Society possesses stereotypical attitudes and practices which influences the behavior of men and women extensively. Differences in hostility and pro-social behavior between men and women are influenced by the community which houses different individuals. Impacts of biosocial sex behavior The distinctions arising from the differences in biological and social aspects in sex are illustrated by different theories of complexity. It is not forgotten that gender is influenced by socio-cultural factors housed by the environment. For example, according to experts, genes are hereditary but their functions are influenced by socio-cultural issues. On the other hand, biological factors are also influenced by the conditions present within the environmental. As an example boys’ preference for masculine toys is attributed to hormones within the body; however, environmental factors such as parent and friends also play a vital role in infusing attitudes and practices (Unger, 3). Biosocial influence on division of labor The nature of labor in the society with respect to male or female characters is influenced by different factors such as biological, environmental and to greater extent socio-cultural concepts (Fiske, Gilbert, and Lindzey, 629). Women bear children placing them in a better position to nurse them in comparison to men. This is despite men’s masculine body and immense strength. Technically, labor is divided in the society on the basis that one sex can perform a task better than the other.Advertising Looking for research paper on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Influence of gender roles on men and women behavior The conduct of men and women in the society is defined and explained by their roles; however, a person may wonder exactly how this happens. Hormones are known to change from time to time thereby releasing chemicals/substances which influence an individual’s behavior. Societal stereotypical beliefs also play a role in defining an individual’s behavior as far as sex and related activities are concerned. Cultural aspects portrayed by the wider society indicate that men and women behave differently as per social roles attached to each sex. Conclusion In as much as stereotypical behavior is a barrier when talking about change, it is a perfect tool that serves to preserve our cultural and traditional identity. Biological and environmental factors are the key instruments that determine an individual sex and gender. Furthermore, they also explain the role and behavior of persons in the soc iety. Rhoda, Unger. Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2004, 3 Susan, Fiske. Daniel, Gilbert. Gardner, Lindzey. Hand book of Social Psychology, 5th Edition, Volume One. New Jersey: John Wiley and sons, 2009, (5), 629

The Effectiveness of the Royal Family and how it has changed the Essay

The Effectiveness of the Royal Family and how it has changed the United Kingdom - Essay Example The leader of the political which acquires the most number of seats in the House of Commons can form a government and this opportunity is granted to the Member of Parliament by the monarch. INTRODUCTION TO THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY The last monarch who took active part in the government was Queen Anne and she was responsible for the Act of Union 1707 according to which England and Scotland were united into a single Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1714, Queen Anne was succeeded by George I (Luttrell 1857). Formation of the British Royal Family The new monarch was not as active in the government as his predecessors but he did not let go of his governmental control over his German kingdoms. Due to his comparative inactiveness in the government, the governmental powers shifted towards the ministers of George. In this regard, most powers were shifted to Sir Robert Walpole who is regarded as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The title of the Prime Minister was not officially used at that time but due to the powers held by Sir Robert Walpole, it is said that he was the first Prime Minister (Pinches & Pinches 1974). This was the initiation of the change in the political structure of the United Kingdom and it can said that this was the start of the formation of the United Kingdom as it is today. ... The next monarch was George II and with his ancestors, the Royal Family grew. The members of the Royal Family increased and since then the Royal Family holds a very special position in the political structure of the United Kingdom. The Royal Family has a number of formal responsibilities and whether the responsibilities are taken care of is recorded. The formal responsibilities include meetings among the members of the Family and other public engagements (Collins 1984). Role of the Royal Family in the United Kingdom The members of the Royal Family take part in hundreds of public engagement that take place each year all around the United Kingdom. The members of the United Kingdom attend the ceremonies to encourage and know about the endeavors of institutions and individuals in their work regarding different aspects of life. The members of the Royal Family take part in certain activities on behalf of HM The Queen and act on her behalf. The members of the Royal Family often take part in commemorating historical events, celebratory occurrences, holidays and tragic occurrences. Due to the involvement of the Royal Family in such occurrences, the Royal Family holds an important position for the people of the United Kingdom. The citizens of the United Kingdom attach great respect to the Royal Family and honor the involvement of the Royal Family in national activities with great enthusiasm. The Royal Family also sponsors a number of cultural, social and charitable activities. This is also one of the reasons behind the constant high position of the Royal Family among the citizens of the United Kingdom. By these activities, the Royal Family shows that it cares for the people of the United Kingdom and in turn the people of the United Kingdom

Aspirations for Future-Social Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aspirations for Future-Social Work - Essay Example The purpose of life may also change continuously for some individuals as they gain more experiences in life .I have also wondered about how my life should take shape , in order to figure out my career options I made a not of how my personality is and what career options will best suit me .I have always been troubled by my desire to help people. I have noted since my early childhood days that I become worried when people around me are facing any trouble. I simply cannot ignore their situation and move on in life. The desire to help anyone in trouble sometimes becomes an obsession for me. I am not talking about helping only the poor people or things like that; I even want to help people who face any family or personal problems. I have learnt to live with this attitude of mine and have even decided to move ahead my career path in this direction. Work Environment Social work; although a very satisfying career option but is also a very challenging one. The work environment is not the one which is provided by corporate world. Understaffing and large caseloads is the norm in the industry. Social workers also have to work under a lot of budgetary constraints as unlimited amount of money is never available to a social worker. The work also involves a lot of field visits and leaving your desk to visit the client. The working hours are normally 40 hours a week but may even increase in emergency situations. Educational Qualifications and Trainings Required A bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) is the basic requirement that most organization demand for entry level positions in social work .These programs deal with social work values and ethics, promotion of social and economic justice human behaviour and social research methods. Most of the programs also provide you with minimum of 400 hours of field work. (British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) As a thumb rule in England I need 5 GCSE’s grade A to Cincluding English and Mathsand 2 A-levels.These aret hegrades that Ineed to obtain in order to enter a BSW program. (Prospects, 2011) However if I want to move into heath and school work or even clinical work ; then a masters degree in social work will be required(MSW).At this stage I really do not know if I would like to go for the Masters degree but would decide as time progresses. A doctorate degree will be my preferred option if I want to teach in a university. I am currently not keeping this as an option as I would like to work on the field and leave the research work to others. Apart from these necessary degrees a social worker also needs to undergo various certifications and programs in order to advance in his career forward. Most states also require social workers to fulfil licensing, certification or registration requirements-these will be studies by me when I actually work on the field. Some of the colleges which I will be targeting for my BSW programme have been listed by me in the table below- (Social Work Training, 2011) Bristol University Middlesex University Birmingham University Bradford University Cardiff University Lancaster University Leeds Metropolitan University Liverpool University Employment Opportunities According to department of labour statistics, 67% of jobs in 2008 were in the healthcare and social assistance industries and 23% were employed by the government. (British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) Most of the social workers have been working in the cities but some do get a chance to work in the rural areas as well .The BASW predicts tough competition in urban

How Microsoft Office is Used in Businesses Today Research Paper

How Microsoft Office is Used in Businesses Today - Research Paper Example The software allows the user to type, edit, save and format a document which can later be printed or virtually viewed. This application is used to create business letters, reports, written deals, thesis, research reports and almost anything which requires word processing. The software gives convenience to business users through features such as spell checking, preset formats, convenient referencing, reviewing, convenient flow charts, inserting tables and much more (Manzo, Piziak, & Rhoads, 2009, p. 23). Organization can use the mail merge feature to conveniently send letters to their large number of customers. The software is also used to create questionnaire. It provides shapes, buttons, check boxes and other features for this purpose. Word can also be used in creating different pads and forms. Microsoft Excel This is the spreadsheet tool. The software is extensively used in the accounting departments of organizations for recording, editing and formatting. Businesses uses Excel to c reate different financial statements such as Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Inflow/Outflow and their subparts (Gross, Akaiwa, Nordquist, & Littlefield, 2007, pp. 19,20). The software is used in managing the budget, keeping the customer records, business intelligence, sales analysis, performance dashboard and etcetera (What is excel?). Organizations use the Pivot Table function for data summarization where it helps in totaling the data amount and calculating the average of it. The software is used for problem solving. By using the correct tools, not only it can deal with immediate problem presented, but those which are expected with the help of, for example, tools like â€Å"what if† analyses (Gross, Akaiwa, Nordquist, & Littlefield, 2007, p. 24). Most of the companies are using Excel for Corporate Budgeting, especially the smaller one which cannot effort costly BPMS. Organizations are also using Excel for Inventory Management with the help of formula and function featu res of the software. The software can also present the inventory record in a customized way through drop down boxes entries etc (What is excel?). It is also used to create customized forms. The chart feature is often used to give the data a visual presence for greater understandability. Businesses prefer to use Excel in finding out Profit Breakeven because it makes the process very simple. Microsoft Access Access is the database software. The application is widely used by businesses, especially the smaller organizations. The application can be used to build small databases for customer tracking, inventory management system, data extraction, data mart, custom report, sale recording & analysis and much more (Manzo, Piziak, & Rhoads, 2009, p. 656). Different types of organization can use it differently. Schools and universities can use it to create database of their student. Hospitals can use it for their patient’s entry. A FMCG can use it to have record of all their inputs and outputs. Organizations finds effective integration and low cost the main reason to use this software. Microsoft PowerPoint PowerPoint is the presentation creating tool of Microsoft Office. Businesses worldwide are using this application to create presentations in order to better explain their

Growing demand for corporate governance reform

Growing demand for corporate governance reform 1. Introduction: In recent years, various researchers and scholars have argued that globalisation is leading to escalating convergence in the nature of corporate governance systems, across the corporate world. Hansmann and Kraakman (2000) states; a global compromise has now emerged that corporate managers and authorities must operate exclusively in the economic interests of shareholders, and as a result, all jurisdictions will inevitably move towards a newer model of corporate governance. However, before analyzing in-depth nuances of this concept, we should first try and understand this terminology. The definition of corporate governance can be traced back to the time of the formation of Cadbury Committee (C.C.) in the year 1992. This committee was appointed by the conservative government of the United Kingdom in this year, with obligations of addressing the financial aspects of corporate governance. The C.C. came into existence in response to a number of corporate scandals that radiate uncertainty o n the systems for controlling the ways corporations are run. This committee described Corporate Governance as the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Firstly, it is imperative to understand the significance that corporate governance as a concept holds to its beneficiaries. The importance of corporate governance lies in its contribution both to the concepts of business prosperity and to accountability. Its a strategic sword which has both its sides sharp enough, either to enhance the business efficiency or prove detrimental in the longer run. However, off-late the unprecedented inclination in the corporate scandals and failures around the world rather depicts a gloomy picture. Whilst progressing in this article I will illustrate various such corporate and financial fiascos and the reforms that have been put in place to avoid such massive failures around the corporate world. Besides, an in-depth analysis of the objectives and obstacles associated with corporate global reform measures would also be put forth. 2. Discussion: 2.1 Understanding Corporate Governance Reforms and its Implications. A corporate governance dilemma occurs, at the most basic level, whenever an outside investor desires to implement control differently from the manager in charge of the organization. Disseminated ownership amplifies the problem by giving rise to differences of interest between the various corporate stakeholders and by producing a collective action problem among shareholders  [1]  . More often, an elementary predicament of corporate governance surfaces from an overview that: regulation of large shareholder involvement may provide better security to small shareholders, but such policies may escalate managerial discretion and scope for abuse, (Becht, Bolton and Roell, 2003; Weiss, 1990). Since the year 2001, there has been renewed curiosity in the corporate governance practices of modern organizations, predominantly due to the high-profile disintegrations of a number of large corporations in the United States, such as  Enron Corporation  and  WorldCom. Such collapses have further led authorities to examine the necessity of improved and stronger corporate governance reform measures. Convergence among stakeholders is an essential part of the organization and economic stability, adhering to the corporate reform measures. According to OSullivan (1999: p.4), convergence arguments are emphasized by the neoclassical idea that the formation of liberal markets, which corporate governance reform is seen as facilitating, leads to finest economic outcomes and, in particular, greatest efficiency in terms of the distribution of scarce economic resources. Opinions such as these stiffen our beliefs of corporate governance measures being implemented. Besides, according to Rosse r (2003), corporate governance reform needs to be understood, not in terms of the extent to which it endorses development and effectiveness, but in terms of the extent to which it serves or harms particular political and social interests. It has become extremely essential for all the stakeholders to take into consideration various necessities of a deftly crafted governance reform. Efficient governance ensures that constituencies with a relevant interest in the companys business are completely taken into consideration. 2.2 Why Corporate Governance is an important issue? Claims that corporate governance systems are undergoing scrutiny have intensified in the wake of the Asian crisis and its aftermaths. Limitations in Asian corporate governance systems were widely seen as a primary cause of the Asian crisis and its consequences (Johnson et al, 2000; Dickinson Mullineux, 2001). With the advent of various colossal corporate crises all over the world, institutions such as The World Bank  [2]  have launched a range of schemes to promote corporate governance reform in developing and transition economies. Especially after what happened to corporations such as Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, it has become all the more essential to adopt measure to streamline and conserve corporate governance policies. Corporate structures and governance agreements diverge widely from country to country. They are a product of the local economic and social environment. However, the fundamental issues of management accountability are more or less similar everywhere. The Cadbury Committee was a landmark in thinking on corporate governance. Cadburys suggestion were publicly endorsed in the United Kingdom and included in the listing regulations. The report also proved to be influential in many abroad countries and it has presented a benchmark against which standards of corporate governance in other markets are being measured. Traditionally, the corporate governance models have long been adopted from countries such as the US and the UK. With globalization, increasingly more corporations and governments have been driven towards the more efficient mode of conducting economic activities modelled after the Anglo-American system (Gourevitch, 2003; Jomo, 2004). According to Deakin et al (2005: p.1), The corpor ate governance atmosphere in the UK and the US is generally thought to be aggressive to the emergence of cooperative employment relations of the kind exemplified by labour-management partnerships. Becht, Bolton and Roell, (2003) have identified some factors which can be attributed to the prominence of corporate governance as a crucial issue. They state events such as, world-wide wave of privatization, growth of private savings and the takeover wave of the 1980s, which have put the limelight on corporate governance in developing markets. Besides, the colossal takeover wave in the US during the year 1980s and in Europe in the 1990s has further fuelled the public debate on corporate governance. 2.3 Understanding Corporate Governance Reform Policies and debates. Governance reform measure in the emerging and ripe markets has not progressed despite the willingness shown by the policymakers. According to a report developed by McKinsey Company, there are various ways in which a new life to a reform agenda can be given. Firstly they propose that governance reforms measures need to allocate more emphasis to driving transformation through institutional reforms of capital markets. Secondly, they stress upon the fact that family run business should have separate rights and must be recognized separately. Corporate governance reform continues to be a major concern for most of the emerging economies, throughout the world. International organizations have played a very active and determining role regarding this issue. The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank and The Organizations for Economic Cooperation have all been raising the profile of the corporate governance reforms across the corporate and financial sector. Despite their persistent effort s, corporate market standards in emerging markets are still far behind as compared to those of the US, UK and Europe, as stated by the McKinsey Report. It has been identified that there is a lack of progress and this topic or issue needs much more to be addressed towards itself. Typically, corporate governance practices are crafted to suit the needs of core shareholders of the organization. However, due to this very reason, there has been an increase in the amount and intensity of conflicts between all the stakeholders of the organizations. Problems: The state of Equity holders of corporations worldwide is gloomy, to say the least. According to a recent finding by a financial institution, stock markets are off 50% almost everywhere, banks and similar financial institutions are constantly under the threat of nationalization, dividends are being cut constantly, and to top it all there has been a constant upsurge in the number of frauds happening. According to Hadiz (1997), company employees have not been a key factor in corporate governance policy making, which in turn has given rise to the ever inclining ramshackle corporate governance. Other factors which contributed to this problem have been excessive risk taking by managers, failure on the part of the board and lack of knowledge of financial products. Besides, differences in ownership structure have two palpable consequences for corporate governance, as stated by Morck, Wolfenzon, and Yeung (2005). Apart from this, governing shareholders have both the enticement and the power to discipline management authority. On the other hand, concentrated ownership can create conditions for a new agency problem, because the interests of controlling and minority shareholders are not aligned. There have been a lot of failures in the corporate circuit, which have in a way fuelled the ongoing debate about the corporate governance reform measures. Some of these failures include undetected off-balance sheet loans to a controlling family, deliberate misleading of investors, insider trading and other such infamous events (Becht, Bolton and Roell, 2003). 2.4 Scandals in the corporate domain 2.4.1 Enron: This is the most popular of all the scams and is still being referred to after so many years. This scandal involved unrevealing of debts, increasing revenues and dishonesty. It resulted to the dislodgment of more than twenty thousand people, the death of Americas Most Innovative Company for many years in a row and the termination of one of the Big 5 global accounting firms (Andersen). 2.4.2 WorldCom: WorldCom is now known as MCI, Inc. is part of the Verizon Communications group, today. The company emerged from bankruptcy in the year 2003. The allegations included, inflating overall assets through capitalization of operating costs. The scam amount was estimated to be around, a whooping $11 billion. WorldComs intense bankruptcy filing comes second only to the Lehman Brothers which happened in the year 2008, in the history of such filings in the United States. 2.4.3 Qwest Communications: Its a telecommunications company offering services to 14 states in the in the economy of the US. In the year 2002, it was understood that the company engaged in counterfeit accounting practices which resulted in the inflation of its revenues generated from its deals with Enron Corporation. 2.4.4 Satyam Computer Services: This is a company based in India (now taken over by Mahindra Group). This is the most recent scandal in the financial domain, where the chairman overstated the cash and receivables by a total of over $100 million. Overall Satyams assets were inflated by about $1.85 billion. 2.5 Progress of efforts towards corporate governance reforms In spite of all that has been happening all over the world, pertaining to the fiascos of the financial infrastructures of corporations, there has been a lot of effort taken towards developing measures to curb such events. In the last couple of decades, three largest continental European countries (i.e. Germany, Italy and France) have enacted noteworthy corporate law reforms to strengthen the system of internal governance, empower shareholders better, improve revelation requirements and toughen public enforcement regulations (Enriques and Volpin, 2007). Special prominence is being placed on empowering minority shareholders of the organization, which can hugely contribute towards streamlining the way corporate governance functions. Apart from this, Ziegler (2000) points out that, a long era of political fight between workers and employers in places such as Germany has produced a corporate governance system in which employees in many companies are represented on supervisory boards and a re consequently able to play a role in company management. Also, economies across the world have now started to try and implement US corporate and securities and laws, pertaining to Americas well-developed legal framework. Besides researchers also suggest that, corporate governance framework should also ensure equitable treatment of all the shareholders, which also includes minority and foreign origin equity holders. As Nestor (2000) states, the board should be the main means for effective monitoring of the administration and for providing strategic supervision to the organization. There are many economies still, which are on the verge of falling down, due to the lack of corporate governance mechanisms. However, a proactive nature will have to be adopted by economies and its organizations to understand the nuances of corporate governance, so that they dont go bust all of a sudden. Some other measures include complementary legislations such as accounting law, commercial law, contract law, banking and dispute resolutions, and other such factors. Leuz and Verrecchia (2000) find evidence suggesting that firms cost of capital does decrease when they voluntarily switch to a reporting regime that requires gre ater disclosure. So there has been such a brawl adhering to the importance and significance of disclosure settings. Some of the key objectives of corporate governance reforms include maximizing economic value of the institutions, maximizing market value portfolios, furthering interests of other stakeholders of the organization, and alike. In a much talked about recent book, Roe (1994) Stiglitz (1975) disputes that politics rather than economic competency shaped American corporate law framework, at least at the Federal level. However, the reason why governance reforms come into existence is not the issue, the problem is whether they come forth or no. All the economies in the world must try and act towards the single most goal of increased efficiency in corporate governance. 2.5 Obstacles associated with global reform Although it is often stated that good corporate governance is mandatory, it is also a fact that one size does not fit all. So it becomes futile for economies where they try and imbibe governance measures based on other economies. There is a particular problem as noted by an author. The essence of Agency Problem (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997) is the separation of management and finance, or in simpler words ownership and control. This problem states that there is ideally a contract that financiers and managers sign, however they state trouble that most future contingencies are hard to describe and foresee which leads to mismatch in contract fulfilment. Apart from this, enforcement problems are a commonality. Most of the objectives and plans are not very simple to implement in a corporate structure. If one constituent stands out among the economies, it is that enforcement is an overruling concern. Most countries have significant substantive rules and regulation and disclosure requirements that cover most basic authority disclosures. However, without a market supervisor that can efficiently monitor for violations of law, the disclosure regime will not function One of the other major problems with the implementation of global reforms is the coordination of the parties involved in type of setting. More often than not, synchronization among the stakeholders becomes extremely complex, resulting in inefficient governance measures. Besides, a common global reform measure will not suffice the subjective needs of individual economies, as has already been explained above. 3. Conclusion: In summation, obligatory governance rules are necessary for two apex reasons; firstly, to conquer the collective action difficulty resulting from the dispersion among shareholders and secondly, to make certain that the interests of all applicable constituencies are put forth. Apart from this, it is essential on the part of the management to ensure that they cater to all the stakeholders of the organization. Not only will the management of various corporations, but also the government of the economies will have to stand in together to frame impeccable measure of corporate governance. All over the world, the regulatory framework for corporate governance reform measure has been substantially revised and strengthened, especially in the domains of financial reporting, minority shareholder rights and merger acquisitions (Rosser, 2003). Hermalin and Weisbach (2006) state that, economies across the world, in spite of a long era of studying regulation, has been slow, to provide a conceptual framework for their evaluation. They also mention that such framework requires treating governance organizations as endogenous, so it is easy to evaluate behavioural changes in reply to a new governance restraint. In the end a synchronized effort is required by the economies (on a macro scale) and by the organizations (on a micro scale), to sustain the measures of corporate governance for the longer run. Otherwise, the ongoing debate over the corporate governance reforms seems endless to me. Word Count 2,722

Economy Shipping Company :: Business Management Finances Essays

Economy Shipping Company It is recommended that Economy Shipping Company (ESC) replace the steamboat, Cynthia, with a new diesel powered boat. The analysis assumed no operating cost in 1950. Although ESC was presumably still in service during this analysis, the costs associated with the project evaluation were not accounted for until 1951. It was also implicit in the NPV calculations that any upgrade required subsequent to 1950 could be performed without any interruption to the daily operations and were performed at the beginning of the year. Therefore, the stoker upgrade and the engine replacements were considered on Jan 1st of the intended year and did not require any downtime for the installation. The evaluation considered four different scenarios: 1. Rehabilitation of Cynthia with the stoker conversion occurring in 1950 2. Rehabilitation of Cynthia with the stoker conversion occurring in 1952 3. Purchase of a new diesel-powered boat with 2 shifts, 12-hour working day 4. Purchase of a new diesel-powered boat with 3 shifts, 8-hour working day Since ESC was considering other projects with a rate of return of 10%, each of the above options were considered using the same rate of return. The company?s balance sheet suggests that management was very conservative. The debt-to-equity ratio in 1950 was 0.075, indicating that the company could easily borrow at the going rate of 3% without fear of bankruptcy. Moreover, the company had sufficient funds to purchase four new diesel-powered boats. Overall, ECS was in a very strong position to quickly upgrade their fleet and gain any advantage that may come with the new diesel-powered boats. The influence of the union to change the working hours for the crew members is noteworthy in this analysis. If the union succeeded, the steamboats would not be capable of accommodating the 3-shift requirement and therefore be noncompliant with the new regulation. If the new regulation had fines associated for any vessel not in compliance with the new guidelines, the results for the steamboat scenarios would only get worse. In this case, the diesel-powered boats could accommodate the anticipated ruling and therefore continue to operate without fear of being unlawful. Another disadvantage against rehabilitating Cynthia was its age. At the time of the decision the steamboat had already been in operation for 23 years. Although, the realizable cost to renovate the steamboat was already known, the intangible aspect of this alternative was the status of the boat once refurbished. It should be noted that with any overhaul, there are still aspects to the boat that will remain ?old? and will eventually fail. The maintenance and repairs listed in

Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus Essay

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus (1831) is considered as one of the oldest yet significantly popularized literature that symbolizes the tandem of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. The horrendous creation, Frankenstein –the Modern Prometheus, is used to symbolize Mary Shelley’s time period wherein men are continuously advancing the level of possible knowledge present in their society. From the scientist Victor Frankenstein to the monster named as the Creature, Shelley creates an innovative argument that illustrates the trends of the progressive industrialization in European countries. Shelley’s Frankenstein involves with the societal dilemma of men’s overreaching efforts against the limitations of science and Mother Nature by initiating actions to dehumanize the conception of life. II. Brief Summary Shelley’s Frankenstein had give birth to physically deformed being with the sensations and needs similar to a human being. After abandoning his creation due to its horrendous look, Victor, the creature’s creator, heard the occurrence of death of his brother William. Frankenstein blamed the monster for his brother’s death, which further advanced to the death of his fiance – Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor tried to avenge the deaths of his beloved; however, he was not able succeed. By the end of the story, Victor felt very ill and eventually died. Walton found the monster after the death of Victor mourning the death of his creator. III. Judgment and Evaluation In Shelly’s version of Frankenstein, there were two essential literary implications that illustrate the purpose of the story: (1) the symbolism of men’s progressive scientific revolution and (1) concluding the outcomes of industrial revolution. IV. Support In the first argument, Shelley illustrates Vincent Frankenstein as the portrayal of men’s over-exceeding desire of power. Shelley utilized the role of Victor to illustrate the capacity of knowledge to violate the concept of life. Furthermore, Shelly even illustrated the possibilities of breaking the limitations of men over the godly and mortal realms. One of Shelley’s influential inspirations in the novel of Frankenstein was John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) wherein the character of god was referred to role of â€Å"the victor†, which defined as â€Å"the triumphant one, the winner, the ruler. † Meanwhile, Frankenstein was patterned from Milton’s lonesome illustration of Victor; hence, he became subdued by the hopes of creating a companion through science. â€Å"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley, 53). † In the second argument, Frankenstein also symbolized the social trends and the prevailing concepts of the European society during its scientific revolutionary age. Frankenstein illustrated the modern anxieties and fears about the possible outcomes of industrialization and science, and their impacts on ethics and morals of human. In the 18th century, readers considered Shelly’s Frankenstein as an allegorical illustration of ethical nature versus industrialization and scientific revolution.

Comparing Culture - Germany and America essays

Comparing Culture - Germany and America essays When many people think of Germany, the first thing that often comes to mind is its dark history, including the Nazi Regime that ruled during World War II. However, much has changed since then, and Germany today is one of the centerpieces of the European Union and economy. Today, the German economy, which is based heavily upon the American Wall Street, is a flourishing part of Europe. Like the United States, Germany has one of the most vast and broad media industries in the world. German-based print, radio and television deliver high-quality journalism that is widely respected by both the German public and international media experts. Sports take up a considerable amount of peoples free time in Germany. There are more than 87,000 sports clubs affiliated with the "Deutscher Sportbund" (DSB; which is the German Sports Federation). Approximately 27 million people - nearly a quarter of the entire population - are members of a sports club, and another 12 million partake in sports independently. In all the various branches, there are approximately 2.6 million people working as coaches, trainers, physiotherapists or officials. At the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, Germany was ranked No. 5. The most popular sport in Germany is soccer, called "Fussball. Soccer is called football in most of Europe, while football from America is referred to American Football. America is one of the few countries that calls the game soccer." The German national soccer team has won the World Cup three times and came close in 2002 before losing to Brazil in the final. Germany is gearing up to host the 2006 World Cup. The all-time best-known German soccer player is perhaps Franz Beckenbauer, who is known today as the soccer "Kaiser" for his influence on the sport. The Grundgesetz (the German Basic Laws, which is the German equivalent of the US Constitution) guarantees freedom of faith and freedom of religion and dec...

3 New CoSchedule Features You Should Know About (+1 On The Way)

3 New Features You Should Know About (+1 On The Way) Attention marketers! Get ready to feel the HEAAAT. It’s ONLY February †¦but your #1 marketing calendar is pumpin’ out some seriously HOT features just for you + your team. One month into the year and we’ve got 3 NEW features for Team Pro plans  (and another major player coming very soon on the docket.) Intrigued? Cool, keep reading. Here’s your quick highlight reel from this month (+ an exclusive first look at ONE serious feature coming VERY soon). 3 @Features You Should Know About + 1 More On Its WayGet serious about segmentation with Facebook Targeting Segmentation matters. Blanketed responses don’t work on readers AND your Facebook messages are no different. You’ve gotta speak to the right people and the right time. And thanks to ’s recent feature, Facebook Targeting (available on all Team Pro plans), you can now get specific; catering your messages to a very specific audience. Simply create your highly targeted list with FB’s Preferred Audience settings AND save: Age Gender Relationship Status Interested in Location Language Education Level College Graduation Years Interests AND best of all, with ’s Facebook Targeting, you can create your audiences once, save them in your settings, and reuse them again and again. As a marketer, you sell a product (whether it’s YOU, a service, or a tangible item) to a specific audience. Thus, utilizing options such as age ranges, relationship status, location, education level, etc can assist you in converting users MORE effectively. Why? Because  when you share the right content, with the right people, you ADD  VALUE. And when you add value, you build a following that’s a bagillion times more likely to convert. A bagillion. Build a following that’s a bagillion times more likely to convert with @Every message should be seen as one to one, not one to many. When you write a message, you write to ONE reader, and segmenting your messages empowers you to write to a very specific audience. An audience that (thanks to FB targeting) you now know VERY well, and therefore have the means to convince on a very personal level. Get Your Reports Sent to the RIGHT People at the Right Time (With Minimal Effort) You and reports have a love-hate relationship. It’s the bane of your existence and the reason for that pay raise. Every boss, big wig, investor, and client wants to know the fruits of their (your) labor and reports are the tell all. Only frustration: getting your data into a nice, neat, easy to read report and sent ON TIME. You’re busy doing the work, and now you need to make time to report on it. With ’s export capabilities we’ve done the manual work for you. You can now choose to export your Social Analytics reports  via CSV, PDF, or even schedule a recurring email to send to your team, clients, and/or stakeholders. Annnnd you can even add a little branding to your reports. Grab a logo, insert your company (or client’s) name, and a little description to give your reports that added personal touch. In a world where marketing can feel like a bunch of warm fuzzies, having the report to back you up and the numbers to prove your worth are MUY BUENO. Hit the easy button with ’s export report features (available on all Team Pro plans). Hit the easy button with ’s export report featuresBecause Your Content Rarely Fits the â€Å"One Size Fits All† Category Create your own content types (made for you just for you). Content isn’t a â€Å"one size fits all† AND what your team does on a daily basis is unique. Create your own custom content types (available on Team Pro plans) for everything you do! TPS Reports Blog Posts Presentations Podcasts Social Media Campaigns If you can do it, you can organize it. If you can do it, you can organize it with @.Prioritize the Content YOU Care About Not all pieces of content are created equal. With Content Types, you can now prioritize the content that matters most to your team. Easily create a hierarchy of content types based on the pieces of content you use most so you can get to the real work faster. Give your team even more context with Content Types. Clarity is crucial when there’s multiple folks working on a single piece of content. Add context and get specific with Content Types so you can keep your team on the same page and get projects moving forward (faster)! What’s Coming Up? Marketing Projects Are a  BEAST and We’re Here to Tame ‘em Marketing is more than a blog post. It’s more than social promotion. It’s more than an email or a newsletter or a webinar. It’s a million different things†¦ †¦.happening all at once†¦ with finite resources. And you are the MAESTRO of it all. You are the one managing every detail Making sure the right people are working on the right parts Coordinating tasks, timelines, resources, and tools†¦ AND you are the one making sure the entire production of [insert BIG project] is executed  on time. It’s a lot to manage. Especially when all those moving parts are spread across your calendar. Which is why we’re building Marketing Projects (coming soon to a Team Pro plan near you). Why get excited? ‘Cos  with Marketing Projects by you’ll be able to: Keep your entire operation in one big piece of content! (eeeeHHHH!) Track your project’s overall progress with a nifty BURN CHART, cuz we’re all nerds and graphs are our love language. Easily manage your team’s time (know who’s on a project, and what they’re working on) Get a visual preview of your entire project on the main calendar (yes you’ll be able to create events that last more than one day) It’s organization on steroids. And this product marketer here is freakin’ out. Its organization on steroids.It’s gonna be an awesome feature for folks that manage A LOT more than blog content (which is basically all of you!). Stay tuned. P.S.  Not on a Team Pro plan but want a test run? No problem. Go to your billings page and you can trial Facebook targeting, custom content types, and export scheduling FREE for 14 days with a Team Pro trial.

Timed essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Timed - Essay Example Individuals within the hard sciences would point to the fact that the World Wide Web has promoted education and prompted a level of dialogue and discussion that would otherwise be constrained to specific scholarly journals. In terms of political science and governance, the World Wide Web has created a dynamic in which democracy and freedom of expression has come to be something that is expected by many individuals throughout the world. Furthermore, in terms of equality, gender rights, and the prevalence of violence, the Internet has assisted in seeking to reduce stereotypes and promote a more thoughtful level of engagement with respect to the individual rather than the group that they are supposed to be a member of. In short, the Internet has been a transformative force on each and every level; so much so that societies that have engaged with a high level of Internet use are invariably those that are among the most educated and fastest developing. However, all of this leads to a fund amental question; namely what the impact of the web has for the developing world. Firstly, with respect to issues of education, the impact is extremely powerful. Inquiring minds, educational facilities, and institutions within developing countries can provide invaluable resources to those that seek further education within their own sphere. Taking an example of rural schools within India or South Africa as a case in point, the reader can quickly appreciate the fact that these students have a wealth of resources, if they are connected to the web, that they might not otherwise have as a function of their own government education program or the texts/materials that they are required to read and understand as a function of their studies (Simons, 1998). Another relevant impact that the web has for developing countries is contingent upon the way in which it creates a further level of health understanding; both

Statement of Purpose for PhD in Supply Chain Management Essay

Statement of Purpose for PhD in Supply Chain Management - Essay Example These activities include buying product parts from the suppliers, assembling those parts for the manufacturing of the product, and selling the manufactured parts to the customers. For every supply chain process to be efficient, there are some key steps, which the management of a company must take. These steps include plan, develop, create, deliver, and return. Planning is the step which initiates the supply chain process. In this step, a proper strategy is developed by the management in order to make the product or service meet the needs and demands of the customers. Next step is to develop the product. This step includes some important activities such as identifying the reliable and efficient suppliers, planning the method for shipping, product delivery planning, and making payments. Make is the third stage in the supply chain process. This step includes manufacturing, testing, packaging, and scheduling activities. All key issues related to the product manufacturing and packaging are managed at this step. The fourth step in the supply chain process includes delivery of the manufactured product to the targeted customers. At this step, orders are taken from th e customers and the requested products and services are delivered to the customers by the company. Return is the last step included in the supply chain process. In this process, customers deliver the defective products back to the company either for replacement or for refund of money. I am fully aware of all issues related to these steps, and my skills and innovative nature motivate me to do something new in the field of supply chain management. One of the reasons for why am I applying for the doctorate program being offered by the Dublin Institute of Technology is the level of motivation which I have for obtaining doctorate degree in Supply Chain Management. It has been one of my desires since I started my university life to get a