text:
Ethics and Financial Services
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.Get custom essay
90 writers online
Question A1
Outline the frauds identified in the case and explain the inconsistencies with proper accounting treatment. Relate your answer to broad accounting concepts and accounting standards where relevant. (8 marks; approximately 800 words)
Livent Inc. is a theatre production corporation registered in Toronto, Canada. Therefore, all the accounting behaviours were subject to the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of Canada. In a broad sense, the GAAP imposes four main constraints on the accounting behaviours of companies – objectivity, materiality, consistency and conservatism. In the case of Livent Inc., there are several behaviours that was inconsistent with the proper accounting regulations in general. Large kickback scheme
At the very beginning of the entire fraud by Livent, the two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, fabricated transactions that did not exist at all, in order to transfer the revenue of the company secretly to their own pockets. They made the fake transaction on their balance sheet by colluding with their vendors. Drabinsky and Gottlieb received the money from vendors and asked them to fabricate evidences of charging fees. Manipulation of accounting records
The kickback scheme sacrificed the net profit of the company, and as a result, Drabinsky and Gottlieb started manipulating the records. There were evidence from later investigation that Livent was exaggerating its revenue from the box office to show that it kept good income statement with good profit. Also, they asked the accountants at Livent to modify the financial statements to hide the potential financial problems Livent had and to exhibit good operating performance to attract more investment. Drabinsky even used special software to manipulate the financial statements to make them as if they were the original record and hard to be detected. Keeping the fraud as secret to auditors
With the help of the special software, Livent Inc. was able to keep two records of their financial performances, the phony one and the real one. And the outside auditors did auditing of Livent based on the phony financial records Livent provided. Therefore, the Deloitte, Livent's outside auditing company, could hardly see signs of fraud during annual auditing.
Significantly, the fraud of Livent Inc. broke the accounting principle of objectivity, which is also the primary standards companies should stick to. The objectivity principle basically requires that all kinds of financial statements the companies offer should be based on the facts. That is to say, every transaction and item recorded in the financial statements should be supported by unbiased and objective information. Under no circumstances are the managers, shareholders and accountants allowed to fabricate or distort any accounting reports and materials of the company. However, what Drabinsky and Gottlieb did at Livent went against the accounting standards. The fact that the two partners urged the internal accountants to modify the seasonal expenses and liability is definitely away from the proper professional behaviours.
Livent benefited from manipulating its performance with additional investment and bank loans, which boosted aggressive expanding plans of Livent. It is even intolerable that the company invented the special software, which allowed unlimited arbitrary modification of all the accounting records of the company. This made the fraud much easier and less likely to be discovered because it enabled the manipulation looked as if they were the original data. Elrod and Gorhum (2010) made quantitative research on the way of detecting fraud by examine the extent to which the cash flow from operation and the earnings from continuing operations are correlated.
Livent Inc. forced the accounting staff in the company to comply with the fraud behaviour without any doubt. The executives showed a "matter-of-fact" attitude toward the fraud. The accountants, independent auditors were not working independently and objectively as required by GAAP. On the contrary, they have been coerced or instructed to make fake accounting records, and did not show cooperation with the independent outside auditors. GAAP intends to ensure auditor independence. But Messina used her previous influence at Deloitte to disturb the independency of Deloitte auditors in examining the financial performance of Livent.
The objectivity principle additionally restricts unreliable reports, materials and sheets offered to the auditors for annual auditing. Under the current accounting principles and standards in Canada and the United State, the auditors are responsible only for ensuring the preparation of all the accounting documents of the company align with the GAAP. But the outside auditors do not have access to the detailed daily record of the company. Therefore, the annual auditing is unable to prevent managerial collusion if the company provides counterfeit accounting materials. Livent was giving the fake balance sheet, income statement and other reports to Deloitte, which is not allowed by the accounting standards to a broad extent. Some companies correct their cheating behaviour when the situation improves, which makes it even harder to be detected. Nonetheless, such behaviours done by Livent are inconsistent with the standard professional ethics and regulations.
Moreover, the aggressive developing strategy Livent had taken also violated the conservatism principle that the GAAP requires. This principle asks the accountants to exclude the uncertain income or revenue, while include the possible losses and risks in the financial statement. The conservative accounting behaviors are necessary because they can effectively prevent the shareholders and investors from potential losses. But in this case, Drabinsky is in such a haste to pursue aggressive development of the company, and obviously was exaggerating its revenue as well as concealing its losses. Question A2 Describe the corporate ethical culture at Livent Inc. How did this culture affect employee behaviour? Explain and justify your answer. (12 marks; approximately 1,200 words)
Several researches supported the argument that the corporate ethical culture had large influences on the behaviours of the employees and their ethical judgements. The company does not have to have a specific code of ethics for the employees to constraint their ethical behaviours. The corporate environment in itself is enough for influencing the ethical behaviours inside the company. Nwachukwu and Vitell (1997)'s research found that the ethical culture in corporate has certain impact on the moral conviction of the employees upon what is right and wrong. Fraudulent behaviour was a very significant issue in the development of companies. It was because that it had tremendous impacts on the corporate, the employees as well as the public. Also, the difficulties in preventing such behaviours were to define, prevent and detect it. Schwartz (2013) made research and emphasized the three key factors in maintain an ethical corporate culture in the company.
They are the set of ethical beliefs or values throughout the company, establishing "formal ethics program" and the ethical leadership throughout the development of the company. However, in the case of Livent's fraud, all the three factors were lack in the system of the company. They had no clear ethical values, as the self-regulation mechanism, set and administrated inside the company to constraint the behaviours of not only the employees, but the senior executives as well. The unethical culture set by the top executives had not only influenced, but also forced all the staff, especially the accountants, to cooperate and to help conceal the fraud from being detected by the outsiders. This caused the company running under a set of very unethical corporate culture.
It seemed to be routine to manipulate the financial records in Livent Inc. for quite a long time. As early as the year of 1990, Drabinsky, together with his best partner Gottlieb, began the kickback scheme to illegally create fake transactions to transfer money from the company to their own pockets. Then later Dranbinsky and Gottlieb had to tell even bigger lies and got more people involved in in order to make up for the expense losses from the kickback plan. The company lacked ethical leadership from the very beginning. To make the financial performance of Livent look promising, Drabinsky and Gottlieb meddled in the daily accounting records as well as the preparation of the annual financial statements that were handed in and were examined by the auditing company, Deloitte. The executives and the senior level staff were not establishing positive example inside the company so as to maintain a positive ethical corporate culture.
What's even worse, they acted as the leading role in such fraudulent behaviours and arbitrarily got the other employees into the serious fraud scheme. Drabinsky and Gottlieb shouted at and coerced the staff and even the senior level managers to fulfil their ambition. They developed a specific computer software inside the company's accounting system, so that they were able to take control of the financial status of the company. They could adjust any amount and transaction records in the system to make the quarterly, semi-annually and annually report of financial performance of Livent look promising to invest in. Even worse, by applying the software, Livent was able to cheat on the accounting records as if they were the raw figures, and avoid being discovered. It had also facilitated the fraudulent behaviours and motivated the employees and the executives to fraud continuously.
Another serious issue inside Livent, besides the manipulation of the accounting records and financial statements, is the overwhelming attitude of viewing fraud as a matter of fact among executives as well as the employees. Even if some of the accounting staff including Messina and Webster questioned the unethical behaviours they got involved in, they were influenced by the overall environment and paid no attention to the fraudulent behaviours in Livent. They took for granted that what they did was to follow the instructions of the executives so as not to get fired. The employees would see Drabinsky shouting and bullying the accountants and even the senior level staff in the company if they had any different opinions against him.
This was in fact establishing bad example for the employees and was to warn the other staff to just accept the deviant behaviours as a matter of fact. For a long time, employees were aware of the fraud happening, but were unwilling to avoid it. Llopis et al. (2007) argued that "effective communication is essential for the ethical message to be properly assimilated". However, in Livent, the top two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, were much too autocratic in the way of managing the company. There were barely any information about the ethical culture passed to the employees, and the staff had little freedom to do their job but to listen to Drabinsky's instructions.
Last but not least, Livent Inc. lacked proper self-regulation mechanism to prevent the non-ethical behaviours. More often than not, self-regulation are considered as the last prevention of bad corporate ethical culture. Schwartz (2013) pointed out that the set of ethical value of the company was critical for making ethical decisions. Real self-regulation should not be independent of the public interest. Instead, the behaviours under self-regulation should be compatible with the social values and principles. In addition, as the ethical value of the company should not be arbitrarily decided by the executives or a few people in the company; instead the set of ethical value should gain the consent of the majority of the employees (Llopis et al. 2007).
Yet, what the set of value acquiesced by the employees in Livent went against the public's interest, and thus led to the unethical corporate culture overall. Formally, inside Livent, they did not have complete ethical programs including regulations on the professional operation of each position to prevent fraud. The ethical value of the company should be clearly stated in the policies and regulations, or even set incentive mechanism to encourage the employees to follow and to form good habits.
In conclusion, there were three factors causing the unethical corporate culture inside Livent. The first is the long-standing fraudulent behaviours from the top executives, which were then passed down to the employees of lower levels arbitrarily. Second element of the unethical culture was the attitude of taking committing fraud as a matter of fact, and thus no one in the company were willing to discourage it. Finally, the lack of internal ethical corporate regulations or values established throughout the company accelerated the forming of unethical corporate culture. Working under such environment, the employees got involved in the fraudulent behaviours willingly or unwillingly forced by their boss. Moreover, their original ethical judgement became vague as they got used to the prevalent fraudulent working culture after a long time. They loss the sense of justice to judge the right and the wrong things. They might even rationalize what they had done to be just and necessary.
Question B1
Why do you think Maria Messina become complicit in the fraud(s)? Explain your answer using the fraud triangle. (15 marks; approximately 1,500 words)
The fraud originally started with the large kickback scheme by Drabinsky and Gottlieb, and finally Maria Messina, as the chief financial officer of Livent, got involved and helped in the huge fraud. Messina's motivation to become complicit in the fraud can be explained by the theory of fraud triangle, which reveals much of the psychology of committing a fraud. The three key factors in the fraud triangle, considered as prerequisites of fraudulent behaviours, are the pressure, the opportunity and the rationalisation of doing it.
The pressure of committing the fraud, according to the theory of fraud triangle, is more often than not "non-shareable" (Dellaportas 2013). The type of pressure may be related to financial issues, or may come from the job and working atmosphere. Dellaportas (2013) pointed out that the evil ideas can also be the source of pressure that causes fraud.
People in Livent who joined in the fraud had different reasons of incentive to do illegal things as they had different kind of pressure. For example, for the two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, they shared financial pressure. At first, their greed for money stimulated them to design the large kickback plan to secretly transfer money from the company to their own pockets. And later, just as Brenna and McGrath (2007) described in the paper, the executives had the motivation to fraud to keep the company at good performance so that they could gain high bonus as well as keep continuous outside investment for the company.
But the motivation and pressure for Messina was a little different. Although as CFO of Livent, her bonus was linked with the performance of the company, the evidences in the case and in the trial were insufficient to decide whether her fraudulent behaviour was directly motivated by financial pressure. However, it is clear that she was forced to involve in the fraud, like many other accountants at Livent, because of the coercion of Drabinsky and Gottlieb. Messina testified that the executives including Drabinsky would shout at the accountants and force them to cooperate in work. She worked under the pressure of the executives in the company. Messina would be at the risk of losing her job if she did not follow the instruction of Drabinsky.
The financial situation was negative long before Messina joined Livent, meaning the fraud had already started before Messina was able to stop it. Taking over the responsibility of managing the financial performance of the company, she was faced with the situation out of her control. The environment of fraud and routine to manipulate the financial records had long been formed. The frequent use of software that enabled Drabinsky to easily manipulate the financial records and financial statements as much as he wanted was a common behaviour in Livent, acquiesced by everyone in the company. Under the threat of Drabinsky, Messina thus had no choice but to try her best to manage the fraud from being detected, making herself really exhausted by the daily work.
The pressure Messina faced as the chief financial officer was unable to share with other colleagues and she was forced by the financial pressures to involve in the fraud. She could feel the threats from Drabinsky and the already very troublesome financial situation. And she could perceive that her subordinates and other staff in Livent were suffering the bully and coercion from their executives as well.
The factor of opportunity in the fraud triangle refers to the ability to commit the fraud and in the situations like the one in the case, such opportunity mainly results from having specific professional skills or knowledge. That is to say, the person was able to manipulate skilfully and knew how to avoid being discovered by his supervisors or regulations. In addition, the trust that the person is able to accomplish the job in accord with laws also contributes to the opportunity. The trust existing in the relationship between the supervisor and the employees may contribute to getting authorized without careful screening. The trust caused the space of opportunity to fraud expanded.
In case of Livent, Messina was an experienced accountants as well as a Chartered Accountant, who had been promoted to partner of the Deloitte &Touch, LLP in Canada. Her previous experience in the industry enabled her to have a good knowledge both in accounting and auditing. That is to say, Messina potentially knew how to manipulate the accounting records daily and prepare the fraudulent financial statement annually. Also, she understood the normal practice of outside professional auditors, who were responsible for examining the financial performance of the company and avoiding inconsistency with the GAAP.
Thus, Messina could give professional advice to Drabinsky and Gottlieb so that their manipulation of the accounting records would not be detected in the annual auditing. Besides her professional knowledge and skills in assisting in the fraud in accounting, the opportunity for Messina to get involved also includes the trust on her and her influence in her previous company. Messina had worked at Deloitte Canada for quite a long time and had been promoted to position as partner before she left the company and became CFO of Livent Inc. She had therefore built broad relationship within Deloitte, who was the outside auditing firm for Livent at that time.
As Dellaportas (2013) pointed out in the research, insufficient internal regulation and supervision upon such fraudulent behaviours prompted the fraud to continue without being detected by others. However, in the specific case of Livent, there was no self-regulation mechanism at all, since the entire company, from the executives to the employees of the lowest-level, got involved in the fraud. Thus, it was hopeless to discover and discourage such deviant behaviours by the people inside the company. This caused the fraud of Livent to continue to expand and to be very serious.
The rationalisation is not rational, instead it is an excuse for the person who commits the fraud to justify the behaviour to himself. Coleman (1987) discussed this factor of fraud within the context of white collar crimes, and he argued that rationalisation is not an "after-the-fact" excuse. In fact, people who commit the crime do not realize that their behaviours are deviant. A large number of white collar crime criminals argued that they considered the laws to be unjust or unreasonable, causing them to break the rules (Coleman 1987). The factor of rationalisation is more risky than the other two factors because the people who have violated the laws believed that they had the right reason to do so. He also mentioned other common argument of the fraudulent behaviours.
They claimed that such behaviours were the only way for them to achieve the goal or to "survive" (Coleman 1987). Based on the research results from Dellaportas (2013), he identified the three most common way of denial that people think to justify their fraudulent behaviours. People would rationalize their behaviour as they deny the "responsibility, injury and victim". First, the offenders will shirk responsibility and say someone else are supposed to be in charge of the fraud. Secondly, they justify what they have done by arguing that there is no victim in this situation. Finally, if there is victims, the offenders may consider that the victims deserve the sufferings. Thus, they are free from taking responsible or even committing their fraud is illegal.
Definitely, there were rationalisation inside Messina that made her behaviour "just" according to her own value. After quitting the partner position at Deloitte, Messina believed it to be right or rational for her to help Drabinsky in the fraud. Or otherwise, she would lose her job and would be unable to survive. And the overall atmosphere inside the Livent, considering what they were doing as "matter of fact", alleviated the employee's sense of responsibility for the fraud. Messina could hardly feel guilty and never considered about the consequences of helping the company's fraud. She might rationalize her efforts in the fraud as under the instruction of Drabinsky, instead of out of her own willingness.
The above analysis clearly dissected the reasons why Messina became complicit in the fraud from the perspective of psychology. However, as Dellaportas (2013) discussed, the influence of each factor in the fraud triangle varied from case to case, and was not often equally impacting the fraud behaviours. Recent researches intend to improve the fraud triangle by considering additional factors into the model to better understand the behaviour of fraud in current times. What Messina had done assisted the fraud in Livent to continue for quite a long time after she joined Livent. Messina became the complicit in the serious fraud due to the pressure she was facing, mainly financially, the opportunity she was able to take advantage of and the rationalisation she found for herself to justify her deviant behaviours. Dellaportas (2013) discovered, through case study from ten accountants' committing fraud, that the opportunity of committing fraud was a much more important factor in detecting fraud and to take control of it. The motivation and rationalisation contributed less in this kind of accounting fraud cases.
Question B2
Comment on the adequacy of the disciplinary action taken against Messina. (5 marks; approximately 500 words)
Finally, Messina was fined for $7,500 and was suspended from doing accounting practice for two years. It is adequate but not enough punishment for Messina's violation to the accounting standards according to the facts already known. After joining Livent, what Messina did in the Livent's case of fraud went against the code of professional ethics, which discourages cheating and manipulations. Also, her behaviours broke the securities law in the United States, where the trial of Livent was held.
Her involving in the fraud conflicted the interest of the public, especially the investors, who were unable to judge the real performance of Livent from their financial reports. Messina abused her authority in Livent and her influence on Deloitte, for the interest of her own and the executives at Livent. At the very beginning of joining Livent, Messina faced coercion and threats from Drabinsky to keep decent records by manipulation. However, she did not take positive action to resolving the conflict of interest between Drabinsky and herself. Proper ways when one faces conflict of interest is to quit the job or decline to do the fraud. Messina could have turned to a confidential counselling firm for advice so that she did not have to get involved further in the fraud.
On the one hand, it is enough punishment for her involvement in the fraud. She helped the accounting department at Livent to conceal the manipulation of financial statements. Also, as former partner at Deloitte, she abused her influence on the outside independent auditors to comb the financial reports of Livent before they filed to ensure the fraud undetected. What she did violated the standard professional codes for accountants and auditors, and thus she should be subject to penalty. According to the documents from Securities and Exchange Commission (1999), Messina was involved in discussion and approval of every manipulated records. She helped to hide these materials from the auditors so as not to be discovered the inflation in the company's revenue.
On the other hand, the SEC is conservative in judgement because of lack of evidence in proving Messina's role in the fraud. First, it requires further investigation of the case to identify what she really did and her attitude in the fraud supported with evidence. Moreover, Messina, according to the case material, did show adversarial attitude toward Drabinsky's fraud plan at first. It means that she still sticked to professional discipline in the beginning, though she yielded to Drabinsky's bullying later. Also, Messina showed humble attitude in investigation and trial, and cooperated with the commission to investigate the case.
It is adequate that the judges punished Messina both financially and professionally. She not only has to give back the illegal money she gained from the fraud, but also should be prevented from doing the practice until she can finally reflect on her mistakes before returning to the business as chief financial officer. However, the amount of fine is too little for Messina to realize her improper behaviours, considering the massive consequences of the fraud and the amount of money they benefited from manipulation. But the judgement should after all based on the evidences and regulations. The judge should take the good and bad things Messina had done throughout the fraud into account to decide. Also, the punishment against Messina requires further investigation of her role in the fraud, which is disputable.
Coleman, J W 1987, 'Toward an integrated theory of white-collar crime', American Journal of Sociology, vol 93, no. 2, pp. 406-439.
Dellaportas, S 2013, 'Conversations with inmate accountants: Motivation, opportunity and the fraud triangle', Accounting Forum, vol. 37, pp. 29-39.
Elrod, H & Gorhum, M J, 'Fraudulent financial reporting and cash flows', Journal of Finance and Accountancy, vol. 11, pp. 56-61.
Llopis, J, Gonzalez, M R & Gasco, J L 2007, 'Corporate governance and organisational culture: The role of ethics officers', International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 96–105
Nwachukwu, S LS & Vitell, S J 1997, 'The influence of corporate culture on managerial ethical judgments', Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 757-776.
Schwartz, M S 2013, 'Developing and sustaining an ethical corporate culture: The core elements', Business Horizons, vol. 56, pp. 39-50.
Securities and Exchange Commission, 1999, Securities and Exchange Commission versus Garth H. Drabinsky, Myron I. Gottlieb, Robert Topol, Gordon C. Eckstein, Maria M. Messina, Diane J. Winkefein, D. Grant Malcolm and Tony Fiorino, 99 CIV.0239, Litigation Release No. 16022, retrieved 15 Aug 2013, .


text:
Hip examination
|Hip examination
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
In medicine, the hip examination, or hip exam, is undertaken when a patient has a complaint of hip pain and/or signs and/or symptoms suggestive of hip joint pathology. It is a physical examination maneuver.
The hip examination, like all examinations of the joints, is typically divided into the following sections:
- Position/lighting/draping
- Inspection
- Palpation
- Motion
- Special maneuvers
The middle three steps are often remembered with the saying look, feel, move.
Position - for most of the exam the patient should be supine and the bed or examination table should be flat. The patient's hands should remain at her sides with her head resting on a pillow. The knees and hips should be in the anatomical position (knee extended, hip neither flexed nor extended).
Lighting - adjusted so that it is ideal.
Draping - both of the patient's hips should be exposed so that the quadriceps muscles and greater trochanter can be assessed.
Inspection done while the patient is standing
The hip should be examined for:
- Abnormal gait - i.e. antalgic gait
Inspection done while supine
The hip should be examined for:
- Masses
- Scars
- Lesions
- Signs of trauma/previous surgery
- Bony Alignment (rotation, leg length)
- Muscle bunk and symmetry at the hip and knee
- True leg length - anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) to medial malleolus
- Apparent leg length - umbilicus to medial malleolus
In hip fractures the affected leg is often shortened and externally rotated.
The hip joint lies is deep and cannot normally be directly palpated.
To assess for pelvic fracture one should palpate the:
- Ischial spines
- Pubic rami
- Internal rotation - with knee and hip both flexed at 90 degrees the ankle is abducted.
- External rotation - with knee and hip both flexed at 90 degrees the ankel is adducted.
- Flexion
- Extension - done with the patient on their side. Alignment should be assessed by palpation of the ASIS, PSIS and greater trochanter.
- Abduction - assessed whilst palplating the contralateral ASIS.
- Adduction - assessed whilst palpating the ipsilateral ASIS.
- Assessment for a hidden flexion contracture of the hip - hip flexion contractures may be occult, due to compensation by the back. They are assessed by:
- Placing a hand behind the lumbar region of back
- Getting the patient to fully flex the contralateral hip.
- The hand in the lumbar region is used to confirm the back is straightened (flexed relative to the anatomic position). If there is a flexion contracture in the ipsilateral hip it should evident, as the hip will appear flexed.
Normal range of motion
- Internal rotation - 35°
- External rotation - 45°
- Flexion - 135° (L 2, 3, 4)
With the patient seated, place your hand on top of one thigh and instruct the patient to lift the leg up from the table. The main hip flexor is the Iliopsoas muscle, innervated by the femoral nerve.
(Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)
Hip flexion
- Extension - 25° (L5, S1):
With the patient lying prone, direct the patient to lift their leg off the table against resistance. Test each leg separately. The main hip extensor is the gluteus maximus, innervated by inferior gluteal nerve.
(Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)
Hip extension
- Abduction - 45° (L 4, 5, S1):
Place your hands on the outside of either thigh and direct the patient to separate their legs against resistance. This movement is mediated by a number of muscles.
(Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)
Hip abduction
- Adduction - 25° (L 2, 3, 4):
Place your hands on the inner aspects of the thighs and repeat the maneuver. A number of muscles are responsible for adduction. They are innervated by the obturator nerve.
(Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)
Hip adduction
Video: Hip Examination
Special maneuvers
- Trendelenburg's test: Telescoping axial movement is tested with knee bent 90 degrees and lying on couch. Tests for dislocation
Other tests
A knee examination should be undertaken in the ipsilateral knee to rule-out knee pathology.
See also
External links
- Clinical Hip Examination - Orthopaedic Research Institute Australia.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Artist jewellery isn't rare, but it is normally produced by specialists in collaboration with the artist using the artist's motifs, as in the extensive collections by such as Louisa Guinness or Elisabetta Cipriani. For example, I rather like the Jannis Kounellis 'Lips' from the latter (top, 2012), which recreates a gold sculpture from 1972 as a ring. It was interesting and seasonally appropriate, then, to come across the brooches recently created by Rand Jarallah, who is more associated with performance-related work but has hand-made range of one-off brooches using recycled silk thread, beads and gems in a deliberate contrast to less sustainable and more industrial methods of production. One could easily imagine these operating the other way around – converted from jewellery to sculptures.
This whimsical flamingo's first layer is embroidered with silk thread followed by gem embellishments through which Jarallah aimed to capture 'the colour gradient which you'll find if you closely examine a flamingo'.
The playful beaded kite linked by a silver chin to its pilot is a paean to childhood in the pre-digital world; Jarallah recalls colouring newspapers to turn into kites which she would fly with her brother.
This, says Jarallah, is for 'the brave-hearted' to wear, and was inspired by the juxtaposition of the beauty and horror she feels 'when really examining the spider's majestic nature'. Louise Bourgeois is the artist most famously associated with the arachnid, and she did indeed collaborate (in 2005) on the spider brooch – very different from Jarallah's – with which I finish…
Art writer and curator Paul Carey-Kent sees a lot of shows: we asked him to jot down whatever came into his head
Buy Art jewellery and watches from The MET here


text:
Empowering player communications with Vivox - Unite Now
Find out how to enable powerful voice and chat comms for stronger communities and in-game experiences. You'll also learn about Vivox's cross-platform support and 3D positional audio. Speaker: Ashley Alicea (Games Evangelist) Ask your questions here: https://on.unity.com/2Lq8jmX Did you find this video useful? Room for improvement? Let us know: https://on.unity.com/2WurbYo Check out the Unite Now page to be among the first to watch upcoming sessions: https://on.unity.com/2Z2i4zU


text: EcoDecors 23 x 15 inch solid teak floor and shower mat provides elegant functionality in our out of the shower. It has a non slip rubber track on the back to prevent the mat from shifting on the shower floor. Slats provide space for ease of water drainage through the floor. Teak is naturally water, mold, and mildew resistant due to its natural density and high oil content. It has been the wood of choice for hundreds of years of luxury boat builders. This natural resistance has been supplemented by using our proprietary DecoTeak stain which is a deep penetrating stain with added mold, mildew, and fungus inhibitors. It provides the ability for this teak mat to be used outdoors as well as indoors.


text:
German Shepherd
7 years
This German Shepherd puppy will make a great addition to any family. He is a good natured and social puppy who will love a good romp in the yard! This puppy is AKC registered, vet checked, vaccinated, wormed and comes with a 1 year genetic health guarantee. Please contact us for more information or check out our website at www.keystonepuppies.com for pictures of all of the puppies.
This puppy can be shipped (ground or air*) for an estimated fee of $495.00. *Snub nosed breeds may not be flown.
*Not applicable on marketplace listings.
Member Since: July 2012
Located Near: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Phone Number
†All information regarding this puppy listing has been provided by the breeder.


text:
River Bank Run race weekend kicked off Wednesday night with the Amway River Bank Run Junior race!
Hundreds of kids from schools around West Michigan showed up to Grandville Middle School to participate in this fun event! Kids were able to participate in the mile or half mile and then head over to the family fun area after the race.
The family fun area included bounce house, activities, face painting, refreshments and more! Kids even got the chance to meet Jake Vedder, a National Snowboarding Champion! Jake was there with Milk Means More passing out chocolate milk to kids! Kids were also able to hang out with Cruiser from Craig's Cruiser as well as Tortoise and Hare from the River Bank Run.


text:
Perspective – How to Sell on Amazon in 2020
To Be or Not to Be another Amazon Seller
In January of 2019, Amazon reported that 50,000 sellers exceeded $500,000 in sales, and 200,000 sellers sold more than $100,000. As our world is reeling from the shock of COVID-19 pandemic, is selling on Amazon still going to be a profitable business in 2020-2021? The economic gurus are predicting an economic downturn. There is talk of recession and even an economic depression. Many entrepreneurs are born in the lull of the economy. Netflix started in 1997 when most companies were hit by bursting of the dot-com bubble. The same recession was the time that Apple blossomed into the icon we know today. Airbnb was born in the Great recession of 2008. If history is something to build on, this may be a good time to start a business.
Two factors that an entrepreneur looks for getting a foothold in any industry are opportunities and capital. In this time of devastation from the virus, new niches are being identified. A great example is the designer masks that are flooding every e-commerce site. Those sellers found an opportunity of the times. Yes, it is a risky time to invest in a business but no business is without risk. The beauty of using Amazon as your business platform is that it requires little capital while it showcases sellers' wares to a huge number of buyers.
Coronavirus or not, e-commerce is here to stay and grow. In fact, it is going to be the preferable way to shop considering that a lot of people will stick to social distancing for a while. According to Marketplace Pulse, "So far this year 255,000 sellers joined all Amazon marketplaces. This equals to 2,435 new sellers every day, or 101 every hour, or even 1 every minute. At the current rate, 888,000 new sellers will have joined Amazon by the end of the year." So the $500,000 question is: is this a good time to start selling on Amazon? We think it is.
What is involved?
Whether you take the leap or not, it is a good time to research opportunities and look to the future. Because this too shall pass. When it does, we want to be at a crossroads of our choosing not where destiny dropped us. Starting a business is not a cakewalk, even if it starts and hums like a well-oiled machine. The day to day operation is hard work and often all-absorbing. And though selling on Amazon is comparatively an easier business it is still quite a bit of work. It would be misleading to not mention that there will be some heartache along the way. You may run into an unreasonable customer. Amazon itself may become one of the hurdles. If hard work does not scare you, it is time to get inspired.
So to help your research, we are posting a series of blogs to add to your knowledge of becoming an Amazon seller. We will cover questions such as the cost involved, opening an account, shipping, etc. Cost is a major factor in the decision-making process. That's why it is the topic of our first blog.
How to sell on Amazon: Upcoming titles in the series
- Startup Costs for Amazon Sellers
- Pricing your products
- What to sell on Amazon
- Opening an Amazon Account
- How to Create an Amazon Listing
- Amazon policies – Be compliant or be sorry
- Shipping – Quick & Reliable
- Communication with customers – Feedback & Returns
- Product Listing Optimization – Standing out


text:
September 18, 2020
The MU Civil Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni (CEADA) held its annual meeting on Sept. 11. This organization is very active in its support of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). The event was held virtually this year for the safety and health of participants.
CEE Department Chair Praveen Edara began the meeting with a department update for the attendees. He mentioned the recent hire of Dr. Oliver Giraldo from Georgia Tech who starts Nov. 1. Edara described other department highlights, including having two past Kemper Fellowship award winners within CEE, the challenges and opportunities that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple research grants recently awarded to CEE faculty.
Edara also touched on the opening of the Missouri Center for Transportation Innovation. The Center is a UM System collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and resides within the MU College of Engineering.
In addition to Edara's update, Dr. Sarah Orton, director of undergraduate studies, and four CEE student organizations presented during the virtual meeting. The American Society of Civil Engineers, the Mizzou Steel Bridge Team, MizzouITE and the Mizzou Concrete Canoe Team each gave an update on their organizations' activities during the previous year. The MizzouITE student chapter won the 2020 Best Student Team Award from the Midwestern Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) district. The district comprises 11 states.
In the business portion of the meeting, James E. Smith was installed as president. He was inducted into CEADA in 2014. Smith is a retired employee of the Missouri Department of Transportation and still consults with them on selected projects.
Scholarship Winners
The CEADA scholarship committee reported their scholarship selections for this year. The recipients were Ross Buehre, Shelby Hanes and Jake McFail.
Buehre a Lee's Summit, Missouri native, transferred from Metropolitan Community College (Longview Campus) before the start of the 2019-20 academic year. He transferred to MU because of its "great reputation as an engineering school." Buehre eventually wants to work under a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and obtain his P.E. license.
Hanes is from Ballwin, Missouri and transferred to Mizzou from The Ohio State University. After transferring, she improved scholastically due to the smaller class sizes and hands-on experiences available at MU. Hanes plans to pursue a career in construction after graduation.
McFail, originally from Sedalia, Missouri, transferred from Missouri S&T. He transferred to be able to focus on his education, be closer to home and attend the same university as his siblings. After graduation, McFail wants to gain experience as an engineer and make a lasting impact within his community.


text:
Cottagers who've experienced damage due to faulty plumbing (or who are vulnerable to damage) might want to see if they're eligible for compensation from a class-action settlement.
There's a long list of problems caused by flooding and leaking from Kitec pipes, which were sold between 1995 and 2007. The pipes, also identified at ASTM 1281, and have also been sold under the names PlumbBetter, IPEX AQUA, WarmRite, are easily identified by their bright orange (for hot water) and bright blue (for cold water) covering, leading from hot water heaters or baseboards.
The problem is that the plumbing system can deteriorate, leading to leakage and damage. IPEX, the company that manufactures the Kitec pipes, has denied this but agreed to settle.
The recent class-action lawsuit has been settled for US $125 million.
According to a report by the CBC, Kitec pipes were widely used because they were cheaper and easier to install than the traditional copper piping. Well water is particularly hard on the Kitec pipes.
If you've had damage from Kitec pipes, you're likely eligible for compensation. Claims must be filed by January 2020. Even if you haven't suffered damage, you should still file a claim, according to the claims website. Remaining funds might be available for those who didn't suffer damage but had to remove the plumbing. You can find out more by visiting: www.kitecsettlement.com.
Featured Video


text:
Land Clearing
Contact Us
There would come a time when you would want your landscape to be free from any type of plantation. This is especially done if you're planning to have an entire garden or landscape makeover. The process of the lot and land clearing is done to properties that need proper planning and maintenance.
Myrtle Beach Tree Trimming and Stump Grinding Services are the best in terms of land clearing and preventative tree care maintenance and services. We are best known for our tree and landscape maintenance, healthcare monitoring, and overall tree care.
Who We Are
Having years of service in the industry, we have been deemed as a company that can perform a wide variety of tree care services in the best and most efficient manner. We are capable of performing even the most complex of projects and services such as tree and stump removals, deep root injections, land clearing, stump grinding, and many more.
Our clients love our services because of the quality and the category of the materials we use. We utilize cutting-edge and advanced machinery targeted to bring the most out of our services. Unlike other companies, we have duly invested in equipment and resources and we're continually doing it to further heighten and improve our performance and our services.
Our People
We are staffed with excellent, reliable, and respectful tree care service experts, tree doctors, as well as ISA certified and licensed arborists. Myrtle Beach Tree Trimming and Stump Grinding Services is a perfect combination of the right and accurate experience, advanced tools and equipment, and the most responsible and skilled people and personnel.
No other company can compare to what we perform. With us:
- You'll get flexible and inexpensive pricing
- Professionally-done services
- No overcharging and hidden fees
- Safe, efficient, and high-quality tree care services and maintenance
Give us a call and we'll be at the agreed-upon location in a jiffy – we're prompt, proactive, and persistent. Let us handle your landscapes and experience nothing but extreme satisfaction!
We are always available when you need us to provide you with the best solutions. Reach out to us today for the best solutions and handling of trees.
Here is a list of our main services:
We service all of South Carolina. Below is a list of cities most of our services are at on a daily basis:
And all other cities throughout South Carolina, just fill out the form below for a free quote!


text:
Where my Real Housewives at?! This is the perfect wine tumbler for all those ladies that have been locked up during this quarantine! (We can change out the text on this tumbler too, just ask)
This super fun wine glass is perfect for keeping your wine chilled and comes with an acrylic lid for keeping spills to a minimum.
This 12oz stemless double walled wine tumbler is powder coated and laser etched for a finish that will last forever!
This wine tumbler comes in several different colors and all of the powder coated tumblers etch through to the stainless except for the actual stainless tumbler, this will be etched in black.
Don't like this design? Send us a message with your ideas!


text:
|Resume Samples
Maintenance Clerk Resume
A maintenance clerk resume highlights the candidate's ability to provide technical support to the infrastructure of a given organization, projecting his experience in repairing machinery, stationary, office equipments, etc, including welding and plumbing tasks, if he/she has undertaken any. A resume, being the major part of a job application, has to sustain the reader's interest throughout his read, so as to influence his judgment favorably. Not only should it demonstrate your skills, abilities, and knowledge effectively, but also connect your vision to that of the employer. It is in fact a great idea to visit the company's website and learn about their objectives, which will give you an idea of what the recruiter might be expecting to see in your application. If you wish to seek further clarity pertaining to their needs, then you may even try contacting one of the recruiters and discussing the job specifications and requirements, as put forth by the employer. Although your resume intends to promote your capabilities and project you as an active competitor, all the information it portrays must hold complete relevance and significance to the specifications of the job you're seeking and must comply with the needs of the employer.
Organizing the information
Now that you have collected primary data, you can start working on your resume. The best way to organize your contents is by jotting down all the contents on a rough piece of paper, then selecting only those elements that are specific to the job profile you're after. Eliminating the contents that hold negligible importance will actually keep your resume personal to your scenario, thus avoiding any chances of the reader becoming disinterested in your application. In truth, generic information adds neither value nor shape to your profile. Often recruiters are found discouraging such practices, so it's better to keep it all specific to the most.
Study the contents of the maintenance clerk resume sample given below, in order to get a clear idea as to the presentation of your professional qualities. Pay close attention to sentence construction, and grasp the idea of customization, which gives its layout that personal appeal. Arrangement of information can prove messy, and if proper care is not taken to ensure uniformity in the flow of information, it might actually negate the effect of all that customization. In the sample resume given below, you'll see that it features a profile summary, comprising of 6-8 bulleted points. Here, you need to summarize your professional history, considering the most significant responsibilities that you have undertaken during your previous employments. Try clubbing multiple details together, so as to facilitate space planning. Remember, an ideal resume is restricted to the length of one page, so as to facilitate the busy recruiter with an easy, yet worthwhile read.
Similarly, showcase your skills, highlighting them using bullets. Together, these sections work to keep the reader engaged in your application. These sections must be crafted with care, so as to avoid repetition or missing out on essential information. Also, you must have noticed that the example starts with the contact details, leading to the career objective. Every resume must feature an effective objective, which quantify the candidates' interests, and also act as an official title to their profile. Comprising of details such as your current designation, amount of experience, and your key skills or knowledge, it plays a major role in drawing the attention of the reader.
Given below is a free sample of a maintenance clerk resume. Observe its layout, adopt the idea of customization, and refer to its contents for effective sentence construction and optimal arrangement of crucial data. The employment section need not be detailed, as the details have been reduced to a profile summary. Also, educational details need not be elaborated, unless you have graduated recently. You may choose to include your accomplishments in the profile summary or in a separate section, before you mention the references. However, these achievements must hold somewhat significance to your scenario, otherwise there's no point in adding extra set of words that don't even mean anything to the recruiter.
Tim M. Jones
Maintenance Clerk, with over 20 months of experience in the repair and refurbishment of office premises, including repair of equipments and machinery, seeks an opportunity to further perform advanced maintenance activities, delivering optimal outcomes, directed at the development and maintenance of the organization's infrastructure.
Profile Summary:
Key Skills:
2011 - present
Acquired high school diploma from Franklin Heights High School, 2010
Available on request
Note that references need not be included unless the employer specifies. Also, do not forget to include an effectively crafted cover letter to introduce the reader to your profile, before he can move on to reviewing your resume. Browse the website for more resume templates and cover letter samples.
|Copyright © 2004 - 2014 aroj.com All Rights Reserved


text:
Factors affecting customer perception
|✅ Paper Type: Free Essay
|✅ Subject: Beauty Therapy
|✅ Wordcount: 5423 words
|✅ Published: 1st Jan 2015
This is a report on the survey of the factors that affecting the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider. The use of "customer perception" is to require the company figure out what their customers think. Customers always evaluate the perceived benefits before they decide to purchase a particular product. They also include costs of usage, the lost opportunity to use other offering, potential switching costs etc. Consumers always value these added benefits when making a purchasing decision. Therefore this is making it important for company to understand the customers' need when marketing to their customers.
If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Essay Writing Service
Recently, the hottest topic in the Malaysia's mobile industry which is Mobile Number Portability (MNP) are discussing by everyone. In simple, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is taking our Mobile Number from one mobile phone network to another. It enables us to maintain their existing mobile phone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another mobile network operator. This removed one of the major restrictions on changing mobile network operator, and allows users to freely select from among the mobile network operators on offer. In Malaysia, there are four main mobile service providers – Celcom, Maxis, DiGi and U-Mobile. A desire for cheaper calls is the reason that most consumers cite for possibly changing to a new network. Everybody is looking to change networks give a heavy weighting to four major factors: cost, coverage, technology and service options. This indicates that service providers need to take a multidimensional approach to managing their corporate customer bases.
MNP will allow further flexibility in the mobile phone market, as a result of which mobile network operators will be subject to other competition. This will cause mobile network operators to clarify their features in various policies such as fees and services. We have seen some of the mobile network operators introducing measures such as fixed price for calling other users of the others mobile network operator.
There are five factors that has been found out how on what factor that influence the customers to select the certain telecommunication service provider- peer influence, product quality, customer service quality, promotion and network coverage. The consumer are getting the benefits from the result of this fierce competition among the telecommunication service provider in Malaysia because these company will keep improving and offer more attractive promotion in order to maintain and attract the new customers.
Background of the research
Malaysia's telecommunication infrastructure market was opened in 1989 when a second mobile operator, Celcom, launched service. From 1993 to 1995, the market was further opened when three additional companies were granted various operating licenses such as fixed, long distance, mobile cellular allowing them to compete as full service operators. The telecommunication companies are competing among each other and create a competitive environment in the telco industry. There are some of the companies had merged with others big company and some of them gone bankruptcy. Today, four companies make up the major telecommunication market segment. The companies are DiGi, Maxis, Celcom and U-mobile.
Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad is the oldest mobile telecommunications company in Malaysia that was established in 1988 and Celcom had transform itself as the market leader by offering the quality services to the customers. It continues to spread its wings and is undeterred by the dynamic nature of the mobile communications industry. Currently, Celcom offers its mobile postpaid and prepaid services under the access codes 019 and 013, serving a combined customer base in excess of 5 million with network coverage spanning over 95 per cent of the populated areas in the country. Furthermore, businessman was the major user of this Celcom service provider due to the stable network coverage.
According to the Maxis website, Maxis Mobile Sdn Bhd, which started operations in 1995, Maxis has steadily built up its role to become leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia by focusing its core business, adding 600 base stations during 2003. In 2003, the company acquired an additional 25 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band and with a 3G license which launched by 2006. Being the leader within the telecommunication industry, the corporation is the fifth largest Public Company in Malaysia with total subscribers of 6.4million, providing a wide range of innovative mobile, fixed and international network services to their customers. Maxis Mobile Sdn Bhd first used the Cardax System (CC Unix) since 1998 when they moved their operations into Menara Maxis, owned and managed by Tanjong City Centre Property Management (Tanjong Plc Group of Companies).
DiGi Telecommunications is smallest of the major mobile service provider that is majority controlled by Telenor, is holding its own in the face of its two bigger rivals. DiGi is supported by Telenor with the financial and technical stability. DiGi as the smallest of remaining mobile cellular companies has benefited from the sustained growth in market demand for cell phones in Malaysia. DiGi tend to serve their customers with high quality services and products by offering an affordable price, convenient and easy to access the broadband services in order to enrich the customers' life. DiGi is the first mobile service provider to launch the prepaid concept for mobile services in Malaysia and till today, DiGi Prepaid remains the market leader. To achieve the quality and innovation services, DiGi is placing a lot of emphasis upon backend systems, efficient billing system and customer relationship management system. Now they had come out the broadband package which has a higher speed so called 3.5G.
U mobile Sdn Bhd is Malaysia's new established mobile service provider by offering value added services such as 3G video call to attract the youth market. U Mobile is using 018 prefix and provide the call charges with per second per block charges. This uniqueness had become their strength and a point to attract the light users of mobile. They just need to pay as how many second they are using. In April 2007, U Mobile signed Malaysia's first ever nationwide roaming memorandum of understanding as a precursor to an agreement with Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd. This initiative allows U Mobile's customers to experience nationwide coverage from day one of service availability, whilst U Mobile continues to progressively rollout its own unique HSDPA – driven mobile network. KT Freetel of South Korea and NTT DOCOMO of Japan's combined investment of USD$200 million in December 2007 marked an exciting new chapter for U Mobile. This strategic partnership supports U Mobile's rapid go-to-market and product enhancement and diversification plan. U Mobile introduced 3G mobile phone bundling packages for its U38, U68, and U98 Postpaid plans at attractive prices in August 2008.
These few company's core business is segmented of the Malaysia telecommunication market, mobile markets and also the broadband markets. Besides, the telecommunication companies are also provided mobile services such as Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol, subscription services, General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), and Third Generation known as 3G that enable the customer to connect with a video call. These companies are offering the price promotion in order to attract the customers. Now there is an aggressive competition among these companies, so the company should figure out the factors of playing a vital role to choose the telecommunication service providers
The Malaysia mobile industry is going the new era of competition. Therefore, all these mobile service provider need to differentiate themselves from others and presence itself well to become the one of the market leader in telecommunication industry. They can differentiate themselves by delivering more value added service such as the superior call charges and quality and improve their network coverage to maintain their market position and generating more innovation in their performance to meet the customer expectation.
Problem Statement
"To what extent do the peers influence, customers' services quality, products quality, promotion and network coverage affect the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider?
Research Objective
The overall goal of this study is to determine and identify the factors that affecting customers' perception in choosing their mobile service provider. The following objectives are built to achieve the goals of this study:
- To access that how peer influence, customer service quality, product quality, promotion and network coverage going to become the factor for customer to using specific telecommunication service provider.
- To determine whether the customers like the mobile service providers' marketing activities
- To determine the mobile service provider positioning strategies in serving their customers.
Justification for the research
The telecommunication industry is undergoing in a dramatic changes. The value of the paper will indicate the consumer behavior in the competitive market. This study provides insights of the factors that affecting the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider nowadays. This research is done for the contribution that will bring for the family; society, country, and it also lead us to a better living environment with advanced technology.
The result of this research will be beneficial for the telecommunication operator to serve as a guideline in implementing their business strategy. With the information, those telecommunication provider will be able to design packages that satisfying consumers to improve their company performance as well as to maintain their market share. This research is important because it can outline what the factors that affecting the consumers' perception in choosing their mobile service provider.
Also, this research able to provides the factors that cause the switching behavior. When service provider understand what is the wants and needs of the consumer. Thus, it helps to reduce their cost in research and development. By then, service provider can focus to increase their product features or quality that serves to the consumers. Superior customer service and products quality can affect customers' perception in choosing their mobile service provider.
Through this study, service provider can focus on what is the best business quality and services to consumers in order to maintain their life long relationship to create maximum life time value to the company itself. This research can figure out the relationship between product and service quality with the customers' perception in choosing the mobile service provider. Therefore, Telecommunication Company should emphasis on its product quality and customer service aspect in order to improve customers' satisfaction.
Before taking any actions to change the customer perception, the most crucial thing is to understand what factors influence customer satisfaction, and then try to make improvements in these critical areas so that they can have more satisfied and loyal customers.
The methodology used for the survey to collect data in this research is through questionnaire. The population of this study is individuals who are mobile users in Malaysia. It is impossible to get all mobile users to conduct the survey; therefore survey will conduct to selected samples to gather the data. Besides, non-probability purposive sampling method will be used as this is an exploratory study. Other than that, the questionnaire conducted would be self-administered and made from secondary data obtained from journals from other researchers due to the lack of local research on the topic. The methods used for this research also come from review of literatures and books from the internet as it is more time saving and less costly.
Limitations of the research
Despite the useful findings of this study, this empirical study has several limitations to be acknowledged. First, the findings in this study depend on the honesty of the respondents. It is known individuals would agree more on socially desirable answers and disagree more towards socially undesirable answers rather than fully and truly express the feeling and opinions. Next, the limitation of this research is that the data of this study is collected through the surveys, so there is a high probability of inaccurate information. The sample size of 300 is not enough to determine the actual factor. There are too many factors that will affect the customer's perception. More researches need to be conducted on the higher population in order to get the actual factors.
Outline of the research project report
This research paper is divided into five chapters.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The background of study is mentioned in this chapter. The discussion of the overall question and the relevance topic are being carried out. This chapter includes the objectives and the problem statement of this study. Besides that, the explanation of who is gaining benefits from this study is included. Lastly, important terms are clearly defined to avoid confusion amongst readers.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter is the part to cite those relevant studies from authors and year of the study. Both dependent and independent variables will then be identified and highlighted as the foundation to build the theoretical framework and hypotheses development. Arguments and opinions from different authors are included to support the study. During this chapter, readers will have a clear idea about the problems and the possible solutions that can be made to solve.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Theoretical framework and hypothesis of study will be stated. Theoretical framework shows the relationship between variables. Next, testable hypotheses will be developed based on their relationships. These hypotheses are to examine whether or not the framework is valid by using appropriate statistical analysis.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
Before proceed into this chapter, data collection is needed from respondents through various methods. The results will then be tested to analyze the response in order to get a clearer and more concrete result.
Chapter 5: Discussions and Conclusion
Chapter 5 contains the conclusions and justification on the hypothesis constructed in the research. Other than that, the chapter also summarized the research findings and suggestions on the future findings are given supported by assumptions made from the research. Figure 1 below shows the outlines of the research.
- Peer Influence
Past research shows that peer influence has emerged over the last 50 years to be the chief source of values and behavioral influence in adolescence, replacing the influence of adults. By examining the peer influence on the consumer perception, we can know why peer influence is a factor that affects consumer perception in choosing their mobile service provider.
- Customer Service Quality
Customer's service quality includes trust, reliability and responsiveness of the company in telecommunication industry. This study will figure out how this factor affects the consumer's perception.
- Product Quality
Product quality is the characteristics of a product that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Customers always focus on the product quality when they purchase a product/service.
- Promotion
Promotion is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Promotion able to attract the customers to disseminate the information of a product. This study will discuss how promotion works as one of the factors to affect the consumer perception.
- Network Coverage
Network Coverage is the range of mobile network signal provided by the telecommunication mobile service provider. This study will also discuss about how the network coverage will affect the consumer perception.
This research is particularly interested in investigating consumers' behaviors and perceptions such as motivations of changing or remaining with mobile operators with the introduction of MNP. This paper is tending to find out what are the factors that affecting customer perception in choosing their service provider through this study. All respondents are assumed to have basic mobile knowledge. There are many factors that cause the consumers to choose their mobile service provider. The study will also include the implications of switching cost on the telecommunication industry, service providers and consumers.
Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs.View our services
This research is aim to complete successfully within the time frame so that the result would accurate and will achieve the research objectives. This research had confirms the significant positive relationship of peer influence, customer service quality, product quality, promotion and network coverage to affect the consumers' perception. It is expected to provide a broader understanding of mobile service provider in Malaysia and explore the real factors that affecting the consumers' perception in choosing their mobile service provider. It is also hope that the successful completion of the survey would have positive impact on the mobile service provider strategies in order to grab the customers and maintain their customer relationship.
Chapter 2 Literature Review
Dependent Variable
Customer's perception in choosing their mobile service provider
The understanding of consumer perception in a virtual environment is limited. It is important to develop an understanding of the factors that affect consumer perception in this market space. This will enable mobile service provider to develop more effective and focused strategies for optimizing the visibility of their product offerings and to attract more customers. There are various factors that can affecting the consumer perception when making buying decision on a product.
Independent Variables
Peer Influence
Peer influence is commonly defined as the extent to which peers exert influence on the attitudes, thoughts, and actions of an individual (Bristol and Mangleburg, 2005). There will be some of the people will affect the perception of the customer when they decide to buy a product. When they decide using which mobile service provider, most of customers will think which mobile service providers are currently using by their friends and family. Peers influences include the spread opinions of friends, family, colleagues and reference group. Mostly individuals will be influenced and get into following their trend and take their opinions as a standard of their purchase decisions. Peers can influence each other either in a positive way or negative way.
The potential power of WOM (Word of Mouth) as a form of promotion is generally accepted (Arndt, 1967; Buttle, 1998; Dye, 2000). WOM is a strong factor to affect the customers' perception. If the customer is less well understood the product, he/she will refer to the people around them. WOM can be negative or positive, so the company should utilize the effectiveness of WOM as a good promotional tool and build goodwill of the product in order to enhance their company reputation.
The influence that a source's word-of-mouth information exhibits on the receiver has traditionally been explained by models of interpersonal influence (Bansal and Voyer, 2000; Bone, 1995; Cohen and Golden, 1972). Within this stream of research, it has often been suggested that interpersonal or social influence can be categorized as either informational or normative influence (e.g. Deutsch and Gerrard, 1955). Word of mouth can operate through both channels: Informational influence occurs when information is accepted as evidence of reality (e.g. Burnkraut and Cosineau, 1975). In contrast, normative influence operates through compliance, which means that the individual conforms to the verbalized expectations of referent others (Kelman, 1961)
Customer service quality
Service quality had become an important attention to the company due to its strong impact on their business performance. Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction. That is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.
Customer service quality is the perceived quality of service obtained by a customer when using the current mobile service providers. Customer service is what an organization provides to its customers and is relatively easy to measure. Typically the measures include response time, time required to provide service, ability to handle a customer's issues on the first call, procedures for handling customer complaints. Customer service is always important and companies should enhance all the ways in which they touch their customer, the service they provide and their measures to continuously improve that service.
Superior service quality measurably increases a firm's overall profitability. Mobile users always requested the fast connection either in calling or sending short message from the mobile service provider. They will make judgment based on the service quality given by their mobile service provider in order to change the mobile service provider or being loyal to their current mobile service provider. If the customers maintain loyalty to their mobile service provider, thus it will bring continuous revenue to the company.
Service quality is associated with the relationships between server and customer, The customers will consider the politeness, helpfulness, speeds of delivery, and pleasantness of the service (Berry, 1987) when they received the services from their mobile service provider. Customer service is playing an important role in mobile service provider; it helps to maintain the loyalty of consumer towards the company. According to Taylor, 1992, service quality enhancement differentiates the service providers from competitors. Consumer often compares the service quality within other mobile service provider companies. There is huge amount of support in the service quality literature for a link with customer loyalty and future purchases. Customers always put the service quality they receive as the factor that affects them to do purchase of the product. If the service is bad, the customer will tend to change to mobile service provider.
Service quality is very important that companies have gone to great efforts to evaluate and keep records of service quality levels. Service quality is about the consumer's judgment about the overall excellence or superiority of a service" (Zeithaml, 1988). If the mobile service providers provide the bad services in handling the customers' issues, it will leave a bad impact of the brand name in the customers' mind. In order to have a better understanding about service quality, there are few attributes about services:
- services are intangible;
- services are heterogeneous, meaning that their performance often varies with respect to the provider and the customer;
- services cannot be placed in a time capsule and thus be tested and re-tested over time; and
- The production of services is likely to be inseparable from their consumption (Gronroos, 1990).
The service evaluation can be associated with service delivery process, along with output (Cody and Hope, 1999). These two underlying processes generally explain the contribution of service quality to profitability. First, service quality is regarded as one of the few means for service differentiation and competitive advantage that attracts new customers and contributes to the market share (Venetis and Ghauri, 2000, p. 215). Second, service quality enhances customers' intention to purchase again, to buy more, to buy other services, to become less price-sensitive and to tell others about their favorable experiences (Venetis and Ghauri, 2000, p. 215).
Reichheld and Sasser (1995) had proposed that the high level of satisfaction lead to increase the customer loyalty. There is growing evidence that customer perception of service quality they received when using the mobile service provider will affect their behavioral intention.
Nowadays, the telecommunication industry is become more competitive and there are more new entrants of other small mobile service provider to grab the market. According to Melody (2001) public utilities is derived from the law in any country. Where the demand for a good or service is considered a common necessity for the public at large and the supply conditions are such that the public may not be provided with reasonable service at reasonable prices. Service is a form of attitude which is related to satisfaction and also leads to consumer loyalty (Johnson and Sirikit, 2002) and future purchase. In particular consumers prefer service quality when the price and other cost elements are held constant (Boyer and Hult, 2005). It has become a distinct and important aspect of the product and service offering (Wal et al., 2002). According to Leisen and Vance (2001) service quality helps to create the necessary competitive advantage by being an effective differentiating factor. Service quality was initiated in the 1980s as the worldwide trend when marketers realized that only a quality product could not guaranteed to maintain competitive advantage (Wal et al., 2002). Competitive advantage is a value-creating strategy, simultaneously which is not implemented by any existing or potential competitors (Barney, 1991). Service quality is essential and important for a telecommunication service provider company to ensure the quality service for establishing and maintaining loyal and profitable customer (Zeithaml, 2000; Leisen and Vance, 2001). Conversely, Johnson and Sirikit (2002) stated that service delivery systems have the ability to allow managers of company to identify the real customer feedback and satisfaction on their telecommunication service. Since, quality reflects the customers' expectations about a product or service. Lovelock (1996) stated that this customer driven quality replaced the traditional marketing philosophies which was based on products and process.
Product quality
The quality of a product is a conceptualize service quality as the relative perceptual distance between customer expectations and evaluations of service experiences and service quality using a multi-item scale called the SERVQUAL model.(Parasuraman et al., 1988). The SERVQUAL model includes the five dimensions of tangibles which is the physical facilities and the appearance of personnel, reliability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately, responsiveness as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service, assurance where employee knowledge base which induces customer trust and confidence, and empathy which is the caring and individualized attention provided to customers by the service provider.
To get products or services in good quality is a must in customers' perception. Especially for telecommunication industry, customers cannot touch the physical product before they make their decision. To gain trust in consumers, it is necessary for the mobile service provider to provide the identity and complete information of the company such as their physical location, pass record, product quality approved. Besides, telecommunication company have to ensure they provide only good quality product or service to consumer because can gain word of mouth. Once they fail to do it, they will suffer it.
According to lemons model (Akerlof 1970), product quality is the basic idea in a competitive market. Products only differentiated by their exogenous quality. If product quality is undistinguishable beforehand by the buyer, then there is one price. If cost are increasing in quality, then at that price the highest quality products may not be offered, and as a result buyers become reluctant to pay high price. They learn to expect low-quality products which mean the price must fall.
Product quality is always an important aspect of a purchasing decision and in market behavior. Since, consumers regularly face the task of estimating product quality under conditions of imperfect knowledge about the underlying attributes of the various product offers with the aid of personal, self-perceived quality criteria (Bedeian, 1971 adapted by Sjolander, 1992). According to Sjolander (1992), the consumer behavior in modern market is different from the theoretical case of consumer decision making in free markets.
In order to promote a company's product, a company often uses advertising to create brand and or product differentiation in order to soften the price competition. To the extent that persuasive advertising create customer loyalty through perceived differentiation over essentially identical products, they create market power in the sense that consumers may be willing to pay more for preferred brands, thus allowing Telco Company to raise prices above marginal costs. The most preferred outcome by firms is where one advertises while its competitors don't, leading to market share and profitability gain at the expense of its rivals.
In the price promotion, the Telco companies are using game theoretic model (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981) to provide a homogenous product and have sufficient capacity to serve the market demand. It is a non-cooperative game as there weren't any enforceable agreements between them as they compete in the marketplace. It is a repeated one-shot simultaneous game as they were driven by quarterly performance accountable to shareholders. As such, they would decide on their pricing strategies independently and aware of rivals' prices in the market while forming certain expectations about rivals' pricing strategies. Actions available are Maintain Price and Undercut Price. Payoffs are ranked in order of preference (higher number is preferred). The most preferred outcome by firms is where one undercuts price while its competitors maintains price, leading to market share gain at the expense of its rivals. When all firms maintain prices, there is no change in market-share and profitability. When all firms undercut prices, market-share remains with reduced profitability. Price plays a vital role in telecommunication market especially for the mobile telecommunication service providers (Kollmann, 2000). It's included not only the purchase price but also the call and rental charges. Generally, a price dominated mass market leads to customers having more choice and the opportunity to compare the pricing structures of different providers. Therefore, the company that will offer lower charges, the more customers will commit themselves to the telephone networks, so more call minutes will achieved.
It will be interesting to study the impact of the two or more mobile service provider having price competition. One of the impact will be the customers will keep switching from one mobile service provider to another one. For example, there is a new customer will think of reducing its switching cost. The customers that keep changing their customer due to price promotion offered by the mobile service provider
Cite This Work
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below:
Related ServicesView all
DMCA / Removal Request
If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please:


text:
Investing Is not Too Arduous To Get Information about
Bond Yourself To those Efficient Investment Concepts
Investing in real property can appear like a huge enterprise, but it's not only for specialists or millionaires. Property values usually go up over time, and can make a house more helpful once you resolve to promote it. Learn on for some more great tips on investing in real property!
Be pikavippi heti of an investor group online or follow the blogs of some of probably the most profitable real estate investors on the earth. This helps you keep privy to invaluable data regarding the true property market. You can even contact the skilled instantly.
Do not let your feelings cloud your judgement. Choosing a property to put money into ought to be a business choice, not an emotional one. It can be straightforward to get connected to a home or actually fall in love with a location. Try to always have a look at things objectively. Pikavippi https://www.lainarahaa365.fi/pikavippi/ for one of the best deal with out getting attached to one in all the primary few places you look at.
Making The fitting Investments: Ideas And Tips of deals that are too good to be true, especially with buyers that you cannot trust or should not have a great status. It is very important stick to these who've an excellent popularity as a result of getting ripped off on this enterprise can value you some huge cash.
Never spend money on real estate unless you will have some reserve money to again up your funding. The cash you put aside is beneficial paying for expenses pertaining to the rental property reminiscent of minor repairs. Another good cause for having extra money is just in case you can't discover an appropriate renter as soon as potential. http://de.pons.com/übersetzung?q=loans&l=deen&in=&lf=en will help you make the payments while the real estate is unoccupied.
Be sure that that you've got of your finances in order so to jump on opportunities where time is crucial. You might lose out on the deal of lifetime for those who wait till you discover a property after which attempt to get loans and financing in order. Being able to act rapidly typically is the difference between a deal of a lifetime and a possibility lost.
Survey the market typically in an effort to see when tendencies are beginnings so that you may get in on chances like that when the opportunity for revenue is the very best. Whenever you see that there's a demand for a certain type of property, then you already know what forms of properties you've got the most effective chance of profiting with.
Be open to creating sacrifices. A lot of time goes into real estate investments. If you'd like to achieve success, you have to surrender your enjoyable time. There is at all times time for leisurely actions as soon as the work is completed.
Attempt to surround your self with a workforce that has a lot of information on the topic. You will need to have contacts who are ready to supply sound estimates of rehabilitation projects, choose potential purchases and educate you about issues with which you are unfamiliar.
If you are going to incorporate utilities in the price of a tenant's rent, ensure you ask native companies how much they cost for utilities. You need to be able to have a good idea of the renting prices involved. If you don't, you may very well be in for a nasty surprise and lower into your profit margin.
When renovating, ensure that not to choose the alternations you desire. Potential consumers have to see themselves residing there, and if the model is just too private, this can be a challenge. Protecting things classic and simple permits them to visualize they manner it is going to look once they live there and may decorate it as they wish.
Investments And also you: Suggestions And Tips in all the easiest ways to save lots of your cash is to have a certain sum taken out of your paycheck and invested directly. Doing this forces you to save lots of frequently. You'll be able to have the money sent to the financial establishment and account of your alternative. http://www.loans-opportunities.biz/search/?q=loans allow you to purchase U.S. financial savings bonds immediately in this method.
Reference: http://de.pons.com/übersetzung?q=loans&l=deen&in=&lf=en
Actual property investments have too much to think about, but informing yourself is the best technique to go. You've made a great begin with this article, but there's by no means an excessive amount of to know! Remember the following tips and be taught extra earlier than you begin to invest in an incredible and helpful piece of property.


text:
Table of Contents
Journey to Health Interviews
Beginning in May 2021, Dr. Cirino launched the podcast Your Health Forum. The featured series Journey to Health explores health and the future of healthcare by interviewing researchers, authors, physicians, and health advocates. The video files for the interviews are posted here.
Online Conferences
Dr. Cirino has offered several conferences online. Below are the recordings. Stay tuned for a future online course in Finding Wellness in the Fall of 2021.
1. Ways to Protect Yourself from Severe COVID-19.
Dr. Cirino presented this talk to the Stroke Focus Group on Friday, April 24, 2020. Dr. Cirino gives an overview of COVID-19 infection, and he identified risk groups. He discusses the immune system components and the association of the immune system and vascular health. He then discusses key points in optimal health that protect from severe infections, including COVID-19.
2. The Mind's Eye: Understanding the Blind Spots and Shaping the Future You
Our neural circuitry enables quick thoughts and actions, often before our consciousness can interpret underlying meaning. These actions fall in our "blindspot," which can lead us away from healthy relationships and wellness. Dr. Cirino explores the many ways that our central processing system, the brain, receives inputs from the environment and projects a perceived reality. He discusses how understanding the concept of neuroplasticity can empower one toward a path to your best future self. Additional remarks/question section
3. Health and Behavior 101: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
What are the constituents of health and disease? What is behavior? How does an organism interact with its environment, such as a human, with the external surroundings?
In many ways, behavior is an adaptation from prior experiences. The process of behavior is a conserved interpretation and output. The brain attempts to predict external cues from the only methods that it has available: the senses and past experiences. Another process is a dynamic interaction with the signals, as the brain attempts to decode the signals from the environment. Much of our behavior has been conditioned upon us from prior experiences exerting neurotransmitters that enable neurocircuitry and adaptive cycles. In this way, understanding behavior is not about weighing "right" versus "wrong" but gaining an appreciation of the source of the behaviors, the triggers, and understanding if it is adaptive or maladaptive, conservative or propagative.
We will discuss the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. We will use egregious examples such as drug abuse to illustrate the strength and amplitude of behavioral cycles. Comparing our growth with trees can help uncover an analogy and important messages about the growth and maintenance of all organisms. Important insights on the ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study are discussed. Finally, we will provide recommendations, or brain hacks, on ways to produce growth and modify behaviors toward optimal health.
4. Health and Behavior PowerPoint Engage Conference Slide Deck
5. What is a Pandemic? (5th-grade presentation)
This is an interview of Dr. Cirino by Mrs. Danielle Forrest. Dr. Cirino provided this talk for children who may have questions about the current COVID-19 pandemic.
- What is a pandemic?
- How does a virus spillover from one animal to another?
- Describe the sequence of events in COVID-19?
- What are the steps to re-opening?


text:
Online dating was a hellscape, however the U.S. residence supervision and change subcommittee is fed up with exactly how shitty apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Grindr have-been for their particular users' safety and confidentiality. Past, it founded a new investigation into dating apps for doing an inadequate work of assessment for minors, and wrongly promoting or sharing personal data.
The subcommittee distributed four letters to fit cluster, Inc , The Meet team, Inc , brand-new Grinder LLC , and Bumble Trading and investing Inc . All contain the exact same vocabulary, and fundamentally outlines problems that underage users can sneak her method onto online dating applications simply by lying about their age. The emails in addition get issue using fact that evaluating guidelines for gender culprits aren't uniformly enforced, actually in the exact same app.
"Our concern regarding the underage usage of matchmaking applications was increased by reports that lots of well-known free online dating apps license subscribed intercourse culprits to utilize all of them, whilst settled variations of these exact same applications screen out licensed gender culprits," writes Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, president of subcommittee on economic and consumer plan. "Protection from sexual predators shouldn't be an extra restricted to paying customers."
70,000 Tinder Photos of females Just Got Dumped on a Cyber-Crime Forum
A lot more than 70,000 images of Tinder customers are being contributed by members of an on-line cyber-crime community forum,
Particularly, the letters reference your situation of Joseph Meili , whom pled bad to third-degree molestation after becoming charged with sodomizing, raping, and kidnapping an 11-year-old girl he discovered through an online dating software. In addition referenced a UK report that located several internet dating apps, including Tinder and Grinder, neglected to protect against youngster intimate exploitation as a result of weak era verifications. The document, that was the result of a public information request, furthermore discovered numerous problems of son or daughter brushing because of this. Another combined report by ProPublica, Buzzfeed and Columbia news media research unearthed that while fit party screens for sex offenders on the fit services, it didn't apply the exact same strategies to Tinder, OkCupid, or PlentyofFish.
Some of these websites state they posses guidelines that prohibit minors from using this service membership, the truth is lots of don't has stronger mechanisms in position to prevent minors from merely sleeping about their era. A lot of service depend on customers revealing pages they arrive across. Tinder features formerly advised Gizmodo so it makes use of a mix of hands-on and automated moderation and overview to stop minors from signing up for the working platform, saying they uses "millions of cash yearly" on the work.
In addition to inadequate screening actions, the subcommittee can using issue with research that customers "may not see adequate notice from the industrial usage of their unique painful and sensitive personal information" including sexual preferences, sex, business, medication need, and government. For-instance, Gizmodo recently uncovered Tinder's brand new worry key companies user data with ad-tech businesses.
As part of the https://www.besthookupwebsites.org/escort/allen study, the subcommittee was requiring the four agencies to grant a mountain of documents pertaining to the apps' monthly users, how much they pay for the service, era submission, confidentiality policies, procedures related to gender culprit evaluating, client complaints concerning minors regarding provider. It's additionally requesting precisely just what information is obtained, exactly who the data are distributed to, and whether information range is needed to join the provider. Together with what, the subcommittee was requiring organizations disclose whether private information between customers is evaluated, and all of communications with law enforcement officials organizations. All companies present posses until March 13, 2020, to follow.
Gizmodo attained off to the four firms engaging for review, we'll update this article when we receive an answer.
Change, 01/31/2018, 1:15pm: a complement people spokesperson emailed Gizmodo here statement.
"We don't desire minors and terrible actors on our very own apps, and then we make use of every tool feasible to make sure they're down. But, that is a broader online difficulties and everyone has to manage their unique parts, which explains why we implore third-party software shop like fruit and Google exactly who know precisely that is making use of these products to cease releasing them to minors and signed up intercourse offenders. Plus, the authorized sex offender database needs to be current with the intention that a perpetrator's digital footprint can be tracked and blocked by all of our industry as well as social networking agencies – specially the people that easily let underage consumers on their programs. We Are Going To still invest in development to keep our very own people secure, but we turn to all activities having a task playing keeping in mind our children secure, to complete their own component aswell."
A Grindr spokesperson in addition has sent Gizmodo the subsequent statement.
Any illegal usage of our very own software – like by those who find themselves underage – are profoundly unpleasant to you, also an obvious breach of one's terms of use . We always take the appropriate steps to address this essential problem, including by providing online safety and working collaboratively towards industry-wide expertise and transparency revealing. Additionally, Grindr recently founded an increased in-app revealing appliance. When reviewing states, all of us employs specific protocols offering when it comes down to banning of annoying records and, in which we determine youngster intimate exploitation activity, we use the nationwide middle for lacking and Exploited kiddies. Additionally, Grindr cooperates with police organizations meant for their investigations into cybercrimes. Our company is additionally continuously working to fix our very own electronic and real testing apparatus, including to stop and take away improper underage usage of our application.