Sample Essays

Sample international business report-How Vihawa Mineral Water Corporation enter the market of Malta

2011-06-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

1. MEMORANDUM

The purpose of this research was to find an optimal strategy for VinhHao Mineral Water Corporation to enter the market of Malta, which was considered to be very potential. The report first provided the overview of Malta and the overview of VinhHaocompany as well as the business environment analysis. After several analyses on the nation, it suggested 6 different strategies for VinhHao to enter the market. The most optimal strategy was chosen by the multi-criteria decision matrix with specific recommendation.
VinhHao Mineral Water Corporation had a long history since found in 1928 with a source of quality water to exploit. In 1995, VinhHao became a corporation that had very strong reputation among drinks industry and Vietnamese brand names. The company has exported its products to many countries. The brand ViHaWa, which was only for pure water, was a new one of VinhHao. It would offer high quality products produced by modern imported equipment.
There were several reasons for VinhHao to export to Malta. Although the GDP of Malta was rather small, the GDP per capita of $24,600 (2008 est.) was very considerable. The country had favorable geographic location so it has become an international trading hub for many countries. That was also the reason why Malta was very open to import and export activities that hundreds of export-oriented manufacturing firms were operated in Malta and lots of import agencies were highly skilled. As an EU member, Malta also had several EU policies to follow. However, in general, imports were mostly unrestricted, especially no restriction for mineral water sector. The relatively low tariffs and incentives for FDI investments were attractive to exporters from many countries. Regarding fresh water, Malta belonged to top 10 countries with water scarcity and had to import 80% of its water. Malta had very substantial demand that predicted to be increased over following years. Moreover, the high-educated and skilled labor force of Malta also encouraged firm to enter the nation for further expansion.
There were six strategies to suggest to VinhHao Company to enter Malta: Exporting, Greenfield, Turnkey, Franchising, Joint-venture and Acquisition.
- Exporting: VinhHao could export products directly to Malta. Applying exporting, VinhHao would be able to avoid high investment capital and risk to learn the market. There were also several specific advantages of Malta in import/export field. However, there was existence of tariffs &VATs. Limited control over some value-add activities or fluctuation and transportation cost were also the issues of exporting.
- Greenfield: VinhHao would invest directly to Malta to build subsidiary. The benefits would be high control, operating rules establishment or 100% profits. However, they didn’t offset the disadvantages of very high cost & risk and slow execution time.

- Turnkey: VinhHao would set up a water production system for Maltese client and train their labor. By this way, the company would bear less cost & risk and short time to implement. However, there would be no long-term interest, create a new competitor while losing competitive advantage.

- Franchising: VinhHao had no franchising experience before, so it would be a adventurous trial to the company while it didn’t have an international brand name. The biggest consideration would go on very low risk and tariff avoidance of the strategy.

- Joint-venture: the company could develop a joint company with a Maltese company. This strategy allowed the company to bear less risk & less cost in comparison with Greenfield or acquisition. It also gave an advantage on quick access to the market. Conversely, there would be high risk of losing technology know-how and finding a qualified partner. Not to mention the conflict of different cultures.

- Acquisition: VinhHao would acquire a company in Malta to develop the business. The company could inherit the entire process of the acquired company and receive high incentives from the government law. The skilled labor force would be a good contribution to this strategy advantage. Nevertheless, bearing very high cost & risk was not easy for the company. In addition, there were direct ownership restrictions for non-resident company and conflict between cultures.

Among those strategies, Exporting was chosen as the most optimal strategy due to the result from Decision matrix (which contained 5 criterias: low risk, low capital requirement, short time to implement, high control and low transportation cost). The advantages of exporting strategy in terms of low risk, low capital requirement, short execution time and somehow high control have offset the disadvantage of high transportation cost. However, it was recommended that VinhHao should use this strategy for around 1 or 2 years before switching to another proper strategy for long-term expansion.

2. COUNTRY OVERVIEW
2.1 Geography location

Malta, a member ofEuropean Union, is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, Southern Europe. There are five main islands in Malta: Malta, Gozo, Comino, Comminotto, and Filflawith. It is located 93km to the South of Sicily – Italy, 288km to the North East of Tunisia, 1,826km to the West of Gibraltar and 1,510km to the East of Alexandria – Egypt. Malta owns many bays with good harbors(Malta country specific information, 2008).

Source:Adapted from lib.utexas.edu, 2009
Geographic coordinates:35 50 N, 14 35 E
Area:316 sq km
Coastline:196.8 km (excludes 56.01 km for the island of Gozo)
Climate:Mediterranean; mild, rainy winters; hot, dry summers
Natural resources: Limestone, salt, arable land
Environment – current issues:Limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination.
2.2 Population
2.2.1 Malta Population

The majority of Malta population comes from Arabs, Italians and the British ethnic origin. However, the Roman Catholic person made up more than 60% participation and was among the highest rates in Europe.
In the early 20th century, Malta population increased, however, because of emigration, declined between 1957 and 1974. Since then, the population has risen gradually with the population growth rate 0.6% from 1998 and 2007, then, stood in 2007 with 408,900 citizens, includes about 3.5% made up by foreigners. According to the World Fact Book (CIA, 2009 est), current population has declined to 405,165 inhabitants. Also, under the Country Comparison Statistic (the US Bureau of the Census, 2009), currently in year 2009, Malta population is ranked 173th of the world with 0.4% of the annual average population growth rate.

Source: Adaptedfrom CIA World Fact Book, 2009 est.
Urbanization:urban population made up 94% of the total Malta population with 0.6 % annual rate of change. The industrial concentrated most in the city and the South of the island, whereas the tourism and agriculture concentrated on the North and Gozo Island.
Birth and death rate: There is 10.36births per thousand of people and ranked 198th compared to the world countries. On the other hand, the death rate is 8.38 and ranked 100th in the world.
Ethnic Group: Ancient of Maltese is Carthaginians and Phoenicians which has strong elements from the origin of Italia.
2.2.2 The Age Structure

Currently, there are 16.1% from 0-14years, 69.4% from 15-64years, and up to 14.5% with 65years plus (CIA, 2009 est).

Source:Adapted from CIA World Fact Book, 2009 est
Life expectancy at birth: is 79.44 years, includes 77.21 years for male and 81.8 years for female, ranked 29th compared to other countries.
 According to EIU (2008), with 1300 people per sq km, Malta is one of the most populated density countries; therefore, there could be many pressures on the consideration of land and water resources.

2.3 Government

Malta National Flag Malta Coat of Arms
Source: Adapted from World Face Book, 2009
The Republic of Malta (or Malta in short) was independent from the UK on 21st December 1964 and became a Republic ten years later. In the present, Malta is under the leadership of President George ABELA and Prime Minister Lawrence GONZI with a four government parties system: Alliance for Social Justice, AzzjoniNazzjonaili, Malta Labor Party and Nationalist Party. Its capital, Valletta, is in the central-eastern area of Malta and is 6 hours after Vietnam.

President George ABELA Prime Minister Lawrence GONZI
Source: Adapted from World Face Book, 2009

The judiciary of Malta is independent with a total of four courts: Constitutional Court, Civil Court, Commercial Court and Criminal Court. Each court has a jury of nine people with judges appointed by the President. According to the Corruption Perception Index (2009), Malta’s corruption is the 45th of the world and 17th of the EU, which is a promising indicators for the explicitness of the government.

2.4 Economy

Joined Europion Union (EU) in 2004, Malta has increased its GDP through years (as shown in the graph). Although the GDP of Malta ranked 149th worldwide as well as contributed very small percentage (0.1%) to the EU GDP (Eurostats, 2008), its GDP per capita was $24,600 (2008, est.) – placed 52nd in comparison with other countries (CIA World Fact, 2008). This figured pointed out certain potential of Malta in purchasing power.

Source: Adapted from Wikipedia.org, 2009

Source: Adapted from World Fact Book, 2009
Another economic indicator should be looked at is GDP growth rate. The economic downturn has weakened all economic activities, struggling the nation’s real growth rate down to 2.3% (2008 est). Moreover, the real growth rate of Malta was the lowest among new members of EU-27, while the highest Romania scored 9.9% in 2008.

Source: Adapted from Wikipedia.org, 2009
Among 2008 GDP, Services occupied biggest composition of 58.78%, followed by Industry (20.65%). Other compositions were Public Administration – Defence – Compulsory Social security (6.75%), Education (5.88%) and Health – Social work (6.39%). Agriculture only took over a very small percentage of 1.54%.

Source: Adapting from State.gov, 2009
The Malta’s economy is highly dependent on service, foreign trade and manufacturing (especially electronics and pharmaceuticals) since the beginning of 1990s due to its limited domestic market. Major favorable resources are limestone, geographic location and productive labor force. The nation only produces limited of its food needs (20%) as well as had scarcity of fresh water suppliers and energy resources.
Policy of gradual economic liberalization and the accession into EU has allowed greater role for market mechanisms, supported foreign export and increased the outward orientation of the economy. The nation has favored sustainable increasing economic growth until the global economic downturn posed a strongly effect on its economy. In 2005, Malta joined Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM-II), heading its way to enter Euro Zone and adopted the Euro as official currency in 1 January 2008.
Tourism played an essential role in the economy due to its stable increase since late 1970s. The tourism, which accounted for roughly 30% of GDP (2008), even boosted thanks to the introduction of low-cost flights and cruise lines since 2007. The favorable panorama of the nation has also given an economic opportunity in terms of film production in recent years.
In addition, the manufacturing for high-value adds products such as electronics and pharmaceutical products has also taken big account for Malta’s economy. Mainly of which were semi-conductors that accounted for around 75% of exports.
Lately the labor force with high education and English speaking has been productive with service and manufacturing, keeping the unemployment rate at fairly low 6% (2008 est), ranking 74 worldwide (CIA World Fact, 2008).

2.5 Other information
2.5.1 Communication

According to Trust Earned Travel, 2009, Malta communication includes:
Telephones - main lines in use: 202,300 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 346,800 (2006)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 18, shortwave 6 (1999)
Television broadcast stations: 5 (2006)
Internet hosts: 21,386 (2007)
Internet users: 127,200 (2005)
2.5.2 Transportation

According to Business Today (2009) Malta is similar to UK on left-driving. Due to quite small country’s area, Malta has no railroad and only one airport, Malta International Airport.
Road:
The total Maltese roadway is 2,227 km – 2,014 km paved and 213 km unpaved. The primary means of public transportation in the island are buses. It is cheap and high accessible to all places in the island. There are around 500 buses,most of them are privately owed. In a normal day, half of these will run in public transport network while the others serve tourism and school transportation.

Source: Adapted from Business today.com, 2006

Ports:
As an island country, ports play a crucial role in Malta’s economy. Malta’s ports include:

Source: Adapted from Business today.com, 2006
• Grand Harbour is located in Malta capital city, Valletta.
• MarsamxettHarbour is located in the Northern of Valletta.

Source: Adapted from Business today.com, 2006
• MarsaxlokkHarbour is in the south-northern of Malta.

2.5.3 Culture

Malta has a long history of foreign occupation; hence, their culture reflects various societies (Malta history and heritage, 2009)

Ancient Phoenicians: Malta had colonized by Phoenicians around 800 BC; hence there are traces in Maltese culture such as language and traditions. For instance, the Eye of Osiris is drawn in luzzu, traditional fishing boat from the Maltese Island. These eyes came from the modern survival of an ancient Phoenician custom present that present the god of protection against evil

The Eye of Osiris in Luzzu
Source: Adapted from maltaproducts.com, 2009
Romance: 98% of population in Malta is Catholic that has been brought by St. Paul. He was a Christian and was shipwrecked on Malta around A.D. 60. In addition, Malta had been under Roman Empire in 218 BC. Thus, the various traditions, proverbs and superstitions still exist in their culture of today.

Source: Adapted from maltaproducts.com, 2009

Arab invasion: Maltese and English are official languages in Malta. In particular, 100% of population in Malta speaks Maltese and only have 88% of speaking English. Maltese language has roots from Semitic under Arab rules in 9th and 10th centuries. The Arab invasion evidences are still present through the names of many Maltese towns and villages.
The Knights of St. John: in 1530, Malta was given to the Knights of the Sovereign Military by the Emperor of Spain. During the Knights ‘domination, Malta also referred to as the Golden Age with the flourishing of architectural and artistic embellishment; for instance Renaissance and Baroque in architecture. The foundation of University of Malta, which was established in Knights period, is one of the oldest universities in Europe

The city of Valletta, one of several built and fortified by the Knights of Malta
Source: Adapted from Malta history and heritage, 2009
The French: In 1798, Malta fell to Napoleon within 3 years. Malta culture was impacted significantly. For instance; French customs and expression in daily life language still exist; Constitution, a secondary school system, university system and a new Civil Code of law. In addition, the architecture was affected in particular Church style such as being robbed of gold, silver and precious art.

Source: Adapted from Arts and Architecture, 2008’

The British: British Empire controlled Malta from 1800 to 1964 and the culture, language and politics radical in Malta changes. That is the reason why English is common in island nowadays and is used in formal language. Furthermore, British rules still remain in material form such as mail collection boxes and phone boxes

Source: Adapted from Malta history and heritage, 2009

2.5.4 International Trade

Malta has been considered as a gateway between Europe and Africa for a long time, an advantageous position to facilitate international transaction (Ocraworldwide 2009). Besides, according to Encyclopedia of the Nations (2007), Malta’s economy depends intensively on international trade.
In 1998, the import value of Malta is around US$2.7 billion, 65% of which is from Europe countries. On the other hand, Maltese export value reaches to USD$1.8 billion in the same year, and 50% is delivered around Europe.
From 2004, with the support and benefits after joining European Union, Malta increases its transaction with other countries and with the purpose of improving the economy faster as well as providing enough goods for national consumption issues. As a consequence, in 2007, export goods value, including mainly machinery equipment, chemicals, and semi-manufactured goods and so on, increases dramatically to USD$3.238 billion. Besides, the import value also rises sharply to USD$4.541. The import goods are mainly food and beverage products and raw materials providing to improve its infrastructure. (MALTA/EU: Island seeks to pass off migrant 'burden', 2009)
Moreover,Oxford Economic Country Briefings (2009) stated that due to the needs of ameliorating the current infrastructure to adapt to the rapid growth of tourism industry, the government has offered concession tax to those investors or importers related to construction. Nevertheless, compared to 2006, the import and export rate both decreased slightly in 2007. One of the main reasons is the Maltese economic growth, which is “partly attributable to lower purchases of capital goods, reflected in the drop in investment and also owing to a sharp drawdown in inventories” (EIU ViewsWire 2007).
In sum, Malta is a potential location to export goods to, especially food and beverage as well as construction materials based on current demands. Moreover, tariff in Malta is quite ideal compared to others. However, carefully consideration and research before export is also necessary since there are many harsh existing competitors that can create great obstacles for newcomers, particularly some Europe countries such as France, England and so on.

3. ORGANIZATION PROFILE AND PRODUCT CHOSEN
3.1 Company
3.1.1 Company overview

VinhHao Mineral Water Corporation was found in 1928 under the name SocieùteùCivileD’Etudes Des Eaux Minerals De VinhHao. This establishment was used to exploit mineral water source since source’s quality was equal to France Vicky water. In 1995, VinhHao was restructured to become a corporation. Now it has a US automatic production line with capacity of 30 million liters per shift. (Company Profile, 2006)
3.1.2 Core business

VinhHao focuses on bottling mineral water near VinhHao mineral water source for domestic usage and export purpose.

3.1.3 Mission statement

“Aiming to produce healthy mineral water for customers with high quality automatic production line and mineral water source “

3.1.4 Achievements

 In AC Nielsen top 500 famous brand in Vietnam in 2006
 In top 100 Vietnamese strong brand judged by customers in 2006
 Granted as “Hang Viet Nam chat luongcao” from 1997 - 2007
 “Sao VangDat Viet” award in 2004 and 2006 judged by Young Vietnamese business association
 Vietnamese gold cup in food
 Vietnamese trusted and qualified award in 2006 granted by Vietnamese Ministry of Trade

3.1.5 Company structure
Hybrid structure: combined Functional and Geographic structure

3.1.6 Product overview

Overall, VinhHao is currently producing five different types of products, which mostly are mineral water and its related products like pure water and soft drink (Company Profile, 2006).

Mineral water with gas (medium mineral content)

Mineral water without gas (low mineral content)

Soft drink with mineral (high mineral content)

Pure water

Sprirulina seaweed

Skin nourishing pure water

One main difference that makes the products of VinhHao become unique in the market is that the water of the company has high mineral content which is certified as very good for the health of the consumers. There are many researches about the content and usage of VinhHao’s water had been carried out in the past by several scientists, their results were so good that up until now, VinhHao’s mineral water is still the only bottle water that is allowed to sell in Vietnam hospitals.
The mineral content in VinhHao products is included: calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, acid silic and bicarbonate. These minerals are said to be very good for consumer’s bones, teeth, muscle, and nervous system, provides energy, helps to stabilize the pH in the body and decrease the acid level in stomach. Therefore, the products of VinhHao are considered to stay in a different level than other pure water brands and as a consequence, the prices of them are usually much higher than the ordinary pure water.

3.2 The 4Ps
3.2.1 Product

a. Core benefit: pure water to fulfill basic physiological needs and to improve health.
b. Actual products:
- Brand name: a strong brand name that was already popular for over 70 years in Vietnam water & drink industry.
- Features: water is bottled by modern automation line imported from America. There are 3 kinds of bottled water to meet different needs of customers and for convenient use: 330ml, 550ml and 20l (picture).

Source: Adapted from photo. Easyvn.com
- Quality level: high quality that meets product qualification for safety and cleanliness as well as the guarantee from Pasteur medical institution. The company has won continuous prizes for Vietnamese High Quality Products.
- Packaging: for small products (330ml & 550ml) are packaged in box of 24 bottles for customers who purchase high quantity (see picture).

Source: Adapted from sieuthibep.com, 2009

c. Augmented product:

- Delivery: wide distribution system across regions of the country could provide delivery services to customers.
- After-sale service: the company has an official website, in which displays contacts such as phone, address and email of the company for customer service.

3.2.2 Price

VinhHao Company offers a wide variety of products to satisfy alternative needs of customers. Thus, the price is also different based on their size as well as the ingredients.
The product VinhHao Company chooses to export is Vihawa, a new pure water product with the cheapest price among VinhHao’s brands.
Converting into Euro currency, it might cost only about 1 Euro/bottle (20l), a quite affordable price for Maltese. However, due to the addition of logistic cost (transportation, import tariff, storage and so on), the final price of Vihawa sold at Malta will be higher. Specifically, 500ml bottle will cost 1 Euro per one and 20l bottle will be 2.5 Euro.

Product Price

1 Euro/bottle
(non-carbonated)

15 Euro/bottle
(Pure water)

Furthermore, since VinhHao is new in Malta market, we also need to apply some pricing strategies to get Maltese attention about our product:
• Time pricing: in the beginning, we will use sales off 20% campaign for Vihawa product (500ml and 20l) for the first 3 months in order to give Maltese a chance to try Vihawa. Moreover, in special occasion, we also provide promotion to Maltese customers. For example, in Valentine day, couples who buy two bottles of Vihawa can receive 10% discount as well as a rose.
• Discount and allowance pricing: customers who bought the whole Vihawa barrel (24 500ml bottles) will receive 10% discount compared to buy separate bottle. Besides, we also offer member program for who order Vihawa 20l bottle regularly (each 2 weeks). The distribution fee will be free and the price will be deducted to 2 Euro/bottle.

3.2.3 Place

Manufacturing location: 1A Highway, VĩnhHảo Commune- TuyPhong District - BìnhThuận Province
Distribution system:VinhHao Company sells products not only to domestic customers but also international customers from other countries such as US, Australian, Canada and Taiwan. Hence, the logistics department takes responsibility to distribution activities.
VinhHao Company was established in 1909 with high reputation and has a stable and widens distribution system in the domestic market. However, VinhHao has just broadened to the international market several years ago. Therefore, freight forwarding service and third party logistic are two effective methods to assist company in exporting products to other countries.
According to VinhHao products, water bottle is classified to beverage industry and the demand depends on the population. Therefore, VinhHao should focus on Malta Island because it has a capital and center cities with high population. There are main target markets:
Name Population Latitude/Longtidue
Birkirkara
21,676 35.897 / 14.461

Qormi
18,230 35.876 / 14.472

Mosta
17,789 35.909 / 14.426

Source: Adapted from geonames.org, 2008
As mentioned above, Malta has one air port and 3 main harbors. In consideration, the shipping mode is appropriate because it is cheaper than air mode and can carry a lot of containers. After researching, Malta Freeport as a free zone located in Marsaxlokk that is a major player on Mediterranean ocean. It is also a gate way to carry freight and cargo from European Union Trade, Middle Eastern and Asian. Hence, VinhHao can take advantages on not only strategic location but also free duty or reducing rates of tax and investment tax credits. Furthermore, Malta Freeport provides the warehousing activities with a high facility and diversifies services that include storage, packaging, labeling and so on. They have 6 general purpose warehouse and total is 2,400 square meter and each having 1,000 square meter of covered space. The entrances are 5 meter in width and 5.5 meter in height and got a BS EN ISO 9001:2000 certificated; thus, renting warehouse in Freeport is the right option for VinhHao (Malta Freeport: Warehousing, 2009)

Source: Adapted from maps.google.com, 2009
Malta is the small island over 300 km2 and the main mode of transport in Malta Island is road. After importing to Freeport, products will be transferred into trucks carrying straightly to distribute to all partners in 3 big cites. The total lead time is supposed to be 5 to 6 hours for each trip from port to partners

3.2.4 Promotion

a. VinhHao’s website

According to Busuttil, C (2004), Malta has ranked the high rate of people using the Internet at home (80% residents have a personal computer) among EU countries. Moreover, the VinhHao promotion objectives currently also aimed to advertising online. With the Online advertising, company believed that they can minimize the advertising costs compared to other media advertisement methods and another part of their budget they can use for helping the society. Therefore, using the Internet for advertising is prior choice for VinhHao to introduce their products into Malta, because of matching their principal objectives as well as satisfied Maltese’s.
Same as the company’s strategy, any promotions are implemented through Malta always provide the strong message- bringing the pure and healthy water for customers.
The main website has been established and used since 2006. Thus, it may benefits for the company to re-use its resource in the global for advertising. With the website, VinhHao can show out their bibliography, especially product news, promotions.

b. Link Building

According to Liquid Studios Ltd, one of the well-known E-online advertising companies in Malta, over 85% users of Internet use “Search Engines” to find the best products and services that fit for their demand. Thus, the company could build the back links to provide some interesting promotion information and images in other international and local Malta websites. It is enable customers to click on and link directly back VinhHao’s home page. Additionally, VinhHao’s “key word” research is put on the top of best page ranked websites- search engine like Google, Yahoo, and MSN which are a tool almost used by the Malta Internet users.

c. VinhHao Legendary- word of mouth

The brand name – VinhHao named under the well-known story about Huyen Tran’s princess. As a result, the nice story has created a nice image for VinhHao Company. As well, VinhHao’s image is honored to be as a symbol for Vietnam mineral water. Therefore, company could use this legendary to promote product. The benefit of it is not only introducing the VinhHao brand name to Maltese in particular, but also contributes to the Vietnam’s image and tourism.

d. Printed adverting

Because of cost saving, VinhHao selects slightly newspapers and magazines as a small part of their marketing campaign. This media type is the most closely and directly bring good impressions and images in customer’s minds. Additionally, according to Kilman, L (2008), number of people buy newspaper daily increased rapidly and + 20 % increasing in Malta in this year 2009. For that reason, VinhHao could post sometimes their message in local newspapers (eg: Sunday Times) to increase customer’s awareness.

e. Sales promotion
VinhHao could offer special promotion campaigns such as discounts prices for purchasing large amounts, buy 12 get 1 free, subscription-based products, or bring awards to home during special events (especially outside activities) in Malta. By doing this, it could stimulate product trial and purchase.

Source:Adapted from Events (2009)

f. Malta Charity Event Sponsors

Besides doing the business, Vinh Hao could participate in some charity events , eg, “Run for Charity” in Malta. Encourage employees register in these events or possible be a sponsor – providing water for volunteers to drink.

4. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

4.1 Business practice
4.1.1 Hofstede’s 4 dimensions

Source: Adapted from Hofstede, G, 2009
a. Power Distance Index (PDI)
PDI refers to the level of inequality that could be accepted in the society. Following by the chart description, Malta has a lower PDI score than Vietnam. It explained that Malta members viewed them as equal. Compared to the world, Malta scored at 56 (Culture Dimension, 2007) in somewhat in the middle on the culture scale. According to Malta Bureau of Democracy (2001), Malta residents are respected a human rights and they start to believe and accept on equal distribution equals, for example, there is not much barrier to report to the top of management or supervisors and employees are equal. Therefore, in order to do business well in Malta, building a flatter organization and focusing on teamwork is essential. Additionally, it’s necessary to involve many people in decision making process and make Malta employees feel their awareness and being respected.

Source: Adapted from Intercultural Sensitivity, 2007

b. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

UAI refers to the level of how society members feel when any uncertain situation occurs. Compared to Vietnam, Malta has a higher score greatly in the sector. It means that Malta residents are likely involved and governed by rules, they need a clear structures as well as tasks and expectations, differences are especially avoidance because Malta employees pay attention on planning carefully and relies on rules and laws. According to Intercultural Sensitivity (2007), Malta is one of the top of the countries is high in UAI, as a result, the article also suggested that employees will be motivated by safety, security and strong formal regulations in working at Malta.
c. Individualism

In comparison between Vietnam and Malta, the result shows that Maltese culture gets a higher rate on Individualism (59). It means Maltese people expected to look after themselves and their family .On the contrary, Vietnamese culture is considered to be collectivism (20). Vietnamese people are integrated into strong, cohesive in team. It often leads to clash culture when doing business in Malta. Thus, Vietnamese enterprise should take into account to how to adapt with Malta culture in order to expand business.
d. Masculinity

According to the chart above, Malta (46) reaches higher rate than Vietnam (40) but both countries are femininity. This demonstrates that the roles of males and females in workplace and family are equal. It proved by GDI (gender- related development index) and GEM rate (gender empowerment measure) that measure whether women take part in economic and political life (Malta, 2009). Malta ranks 66th out of 155 countries. Consequently, VinhHao should not pay attention on how to treat and provide the fair environment between male and female in Malta.

4.1.2 Dos & Don’t

According to Culture of Malta (2009) and Business practices and etiquette in Malta, there are some dos and don’ts that VinhHao should consider carefully
Dos Don’ts
• Be punctual
• Attend mass on Sunday
• Talking about politics
• Wear dress codes in offices
• Make appointment some days before meeting
• Shake hands when being introduced to someone, when greeting and when leaving
• Exchange business cards at the end or the beginning of a business meeting, and by requested if it is a social event
• Business visits are best conducted between May and Octobers • Wear scanty dresses in other places rather than the beach
• Wear immodest dresses inside a church
• Hold hand between males in public places
• Veil if you are a woman
• Invite someone to your home for tea or dinner if you do not have a very good reasons for that

4.2 Social Condition
4.2.1 Labor force

According to the United Nation Database (2005), Malta labour force is 42.7% of the total population, made up about 173,000 employed people (CIA 2008, est). Additionally, under the survey (Camillari, I 2008), 11.1% of those are primarily working as their part-time jobs.

Source: Adapted from Malta with lowest employment rate in EU, 2008
Malta had the lowest female employment rate with 31.2% female adults (age 15-64) participation. Compared to male employment (68.8%), Malta has scored the higher rate than EU 27 average. With the statistics collected, Malta is the greatest male and female difference in EU.
The pie chart showed that the percentage of people working in Agriculture sector is the lowest percentage; producing only 20% food needs, as a result of limited fresh water supplies (CIA, 2009, est).

Source:Adapted from CIA, 2009
On the other hand, although the EU has brought many benefits to the freedom and movement of employment, Malta has strictly rules to control because of the historically highest unemployment rate. Thankfully, it is now not much problems, therefore the unemployment rate currently only made up 5.9% of total population. (CIA, 2009, est.). With this rate, Malta registered the lowest unemployment rate in EU and ranked 74th of the world.

Source:Adapted from CIA, 2009

4.2.2 Staff by Industry

In recent years, in accordance with National Statistic Office in Malta (2009), Malta employment in the Electricity, Gas and Water Supply industry is taken 6% includes in 79.6% male and 20.4% female with 40.3 average age in the employment rate.

Source: Adapted from Statistic Office in Malta, 2009

4.2.3 Education
a. Literacy

92.8% of total population that people from age 10 to over can read and write. Malta school life expectancy (from primary to territory) is 15 years for both male and female (CIA, 2005 est). With 5.1 % of GDP that expensed for the education, Malta stands up to the 65th of the world.
According to the National Office Statistic in Malta (2009), The Malta labour workforce has a high skilled and educated. The high proportion varies by people who speaking English and Italian. Additionally, the high education labour rate could be a good result of the coordination between industry and university, which ensures to provide a high workforce’s conditions and skill requirements.
b. Staff by Qualification

The major of population are all graduated a secondary level of education. Addition, 8% in the total of them get Master degree or above.

Source: Adapted from National Statistic Office in Malta, 2009
c. Staff by Occupation

The chart below showed the various jobs are taken by Maltese employed workers with the major is focused on Services, Shop and Sales workers. With creating a great advantage for selling products, especially, water supplies.

Source: Adapted from National Statistic Office in Malta, 2009

4.3 Economic Conditions

Due to the limited domestic market, the Malta’s economy is highly dependent on international trade (EIU ViewWires 2009). And according to CIA World Fact (2008), fresh water and energy resources are considered as scarcity in Malta. As a result, these lacks of resources highly relate to the manufacturing of other products. Hence, the needs of importing water as well as energy resources are unavoidable.
There are many problems occurred with water consumption in Malta. According to Knox (2008), the water is highly polluted. Besides, the management of water of Maltese government is not quite strict leads to several issues such as overproduction from aquifers, registered boreholes reach to 5000 with several numbers of unknown boreholes, limited recycling water and so on. All issues contributed to the current scarcity of water.
With this situation, Malta doesn’t have enough water for agriculture production and has to import commodities from other countries. In order to manage the water rationally, these commodities are converted into virtual water, a concept to illustrate the amount of water consumed in the manufacturing process of a given goods (Blue Plan Notes 2008). For instance, the Figure below illustrates how the imported virtual water linked to grain and bean imports in different countries in 2008.

Furthermore, Cremona (2009) stated that water price has doubled in recent years. Since the tap water is not as safe as it is said, people tend to buy bottled water with €0.50 per litre, which is 400 times higher than price of tap water. It can be a potential advantage for VinhHao when entering Malta market.
Besides, every year, the import rate is always higher than export rate as showed in the below graph.

Specifically, main import products in 2008 are listed below. It is easy to recognize that food import occupies 12% of all, which is quite high. It also means that the virtual water imported is pretty much.

Another aspect needs to be considered is the water production in Malta. In general, there are many ways to produce water in Malta such as groundwater, rain water, and desalinated sea water and so on. However, according to National Statistics Office (2004), from 2001 to 2003, the trend of using of groundwater decreased while pumping sea water to desalinate was preferred. And until 2008, 50% of water supply in Malta was desalinated water (Sapiano 2008).

Especially, the production of drinking water also decreased a lot due to the water lacking condition. As a result, the import of drinking water is a quite potential industry in Malta.

4.4 Finance

According to National Statistic office of Malta (2009), Maltese government has been very opened to financial foreign support by offering tax support, export incentives, few restrictions on foreign ownership, etc. As a result, they become a hot spot for FDI even in the current economic crisis. Malta attracted € 207.2 million FDI in the first six-month in 2009.

Banking system is a strong field in Malta as a result to support this trend. By joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development agreement, Malta banking system has to follow EU regulations which enable a stable money market (EIU ViewsWire 2008). However, the main operations are on retail nature with two largest banks: Bank of Velletta and HSBC Bank Malta. Hence VinhHao must prepare fund before operating in Malta since Maltese banking scale is quite small. However, because of strong banking system, VinhHao can easily transfer fund from outside to Malta.
Malta has a small security market with only 18 stocks listed which is regulated under Financial Markets Act. Although it is a tiny market, Malta Stock Exchange Index was around 3,324 in December 2009 which was around 6 times higher than Vina Index at the same time (Malta Stock exchange 2009). Hence, it required more fund for companies if they want to enter Maltese market by acquisition or similar method.
Euro, Maltese currency, has appreciated from US dollar from 1.26 to 1.54 USD (2008) and USD also appreciates from VND. This trend ensures that investing in Malta will be safe in case of exchange rate fluctuation. In addition, inflation rate in Malta was quite stable and closed to EU average. However, in 2009, it increased to 4.3% - 2.3% higher than EU average. This resulted from increase in alcohol, tobacco, hotels and restaurants price. High inflation rate plus decrease in FDI show that financial condition in Malta is quite unstable and a careful financial plan need to prepare before entering market.

4.5 Regulations/ legal issues

According to the preliminary report of World Bank’s annual economic research this year, Malta is in the second most changed region (Eastern Europe & Central Asia) in term of regulations. These changes mostly aimed to make the business related rules more transparent and efficiently for both existing and newly open businesses. Moreover, other aspects like property rights and commercial dispute are also reconsidered so that they are fair to everyone and more effectively solved. So overall, it can be said that Malta is gradually becoming more open and welcome to do business.

Source: Adapted from Doing Business in Malta, 2009
For a foreign company like VinhHao to start selling its pure water to Malta, good news is that it can apply various different entry strategies without too many restrictions (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009). Firstly, it is very easy to export products to Malta since generally the country does not put any laws to restrict importing. They almost allow all kinds of legal products to enter the country and even do not place any limitation in any volume-based quotas at all. The only problem here is that being a food-kind product (pure water), VIHAWA of VinhHao will be more carefully examined before the company can gain the importing license than other regular products. For a health related product like VIHAWA, four departments that is Agriculture, Police, Trade and Health will together consider the quality of the water and the company; only when they are sure that the product of VinhHao is safe for their people that the company is allowed to sell its water there.
Secondly, besides exporting, VinhHao Company can also apply other strategies like joint-venture or acquisition easily with the easy law of the country (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009). As long as the act of these strategies do not create any monopoly position, do not prevent or remove any competition in the pure water market then there will be no problem for VinhHao at all.
Furthermore, it is easy and safe to access to the capital in Malta. A recent report from the World Economic Forum (cited in PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009) stated that the old banking system of Malta is the 10th soundest all over the world. Any company who can show a healthy equity and promising project financing to the bank can access to a wide range of financial services, like overdraft or term loans, in a very flexible and rapid manner. Moreover, being an official member of the EU, Malta applies a straightforward framework in recording loans and investments, therefore all parties who interested in doing business with the financial system in the country can be more secured as if doing with the EU standard.
Last regulatory concern for a company to do business in Malta but not least a problem is the tax system. As being described very thoroughly by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (2009), tax in Malta is simple and requires very little documentations. For a company of a non-EU member like Vietnam, VinhHao will be subjected to some import duties and VAT. Fortunately, it is very convenient for the company since it only needed to prepare a basic customs document that included detailed descriptions of the product provided and some other relevant information. This document is called “Single Administrative Document”. Even more convenient, there is no particular regulation that is related to bills or official agent, so that the company is very comfortable to choose its best strategy to work in the country.

4.6 Competitors
4.6.1 Direct competitors

VinhHao’s direct competitors are mineral water manufacturers and foreign mineral water brand name exporting to Malta. In addition, Malta Island population will be their target market.
Because Malta is lacking of fresh water resource; therefore, only 20% of water manufacturers in Malta and 80% is importing products from other countries such as Germane, China and so on. The water bottle is homogenous products; however, mineral water firms have conformity to EU standards in order to sell product to Malta. Hence, although there is a mushroom of foreign brands in Malta, the reason above contributes to decline the rivalry in mineral water industry; consequently, the rivalry in this industry is medium high and it is an oligopoly market. There are some direct competitors

Source: Adapted from List of brand in Malta, 2009
a. Manufacturers in Malta

Name Brand name Competitive advantages
General Soft Drinks Co. ltd
(General Soft Drinks: About us, 2009) Non-refillable PET bottles.
0.5Ltr package (12 bottles per pack).
2.0Ltr package (6 bottles per pack).
1 Ltr packages
• Local franchise of Coca-Cola
• Establish in 1952 with the long history
• Have a good relationship with the local community such as sponsor of the restoration of an ancient building in Malta
Company strategy:
• Directly manage with all customers such as home deliveries and distributing to retailers
• Deliver 24 hours and 7 days and complement 1600 cold drinks equipment on Maltese market
TessonsLimited
(TessonsLimited: Company profile, 2009) Packaging
6 X 2 Ltr.
6 X 1.5 Ltr.
12 X 0.5 Ltr.
• Established in 1993
• Operate in the bottling of mineral water (Bella mineral water), juices (Samba juices) and energy drinks (Spark Cola)
Company strategy:
• A first local company to adopt PET technology which can be recycled and friendly environment
• Distribution network has more than 1500 outlets in Maltese Island.
Eco Pure Premium Water Company Limited
(Company, 2009) Packaging
0.25 litre Glass - Still
0.50 litre PET - Still
1.5 litre PET - Still
2.0 litre PET - Still
2.5 litre PET - Still
Multi-packs:
0.5 litre PET bottle x 12-pack
1.5 litre PET bottle x 6-pack
2.0 litre PET bottle x 6-pack
2.5 litre PET bottle x 6-pack
18.9 litre containers and dispensers for home or office with various to choose from • Set up in 1995
• Is a subsidiary company of The Farsons Group Company
• Focus on a chemical and microbiological pure
• Concentrate on high quality of water to meet “Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption certificate”
• Manufacturing process achieves ISO9001:2000 Quality Management System and HACCP (the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) standards
Company strategy:
• Offers door-to-door delivery to homes and offices
• Provide many product lines to satisfy customer demand
Quintano Food
(Quintano Food: cooperate profile, 2009) Packaging
6 X 2 Ltr.
6 X 1.5 Ltr.
12 X 0.5 Ltr.
• Is subsidiary company of The Farsons Group Company
• Water has 0.002 % sodium that is ideal for a low sodium diet people.
Company strategy:
• Add lemon and peach flavor without sugars
• Target market: Maltese diet people and health conscious customers
• Marketing strategy: focuses on in store promotion, sponsorship and take part in Malta Food and Drink Fair

b. Mineral water exporter

According to List of Brand in Malta, 80% of Mineral water in Malta is imported. As the pie chart above, most importing water bottle products come from European countries especially from Italia, France and Greece. These countries also located in the Mediterranean Sea, Southern Europe and near to Malta and are member of European Union. Therefore, geographic location is the advantage to assist them in reduces the transportation fee in comparison to others. In exporting product to Malta, these countries have some benefits such as free import duty, reduce VAT tax and easily to transaction.

Source: Adapted from maps.google.com, 2009

4.6.2 Indirect competitors

Besides some direct competitors above, VinhHao encounters with some indirect competitors which are substitute products of water bottle in other beverages’ industry like alcoholic beverage, brewed beverage, carbonated beverage and fruit juice.
Alcoholic beverage: According to Life Style Survey in Malta (2007), 36% of Malta adult population consumes alcohol drinking. In Malta, average amount of bottles of beer weekly by type and sex is 5.4 and it is a highest consumption in alcohol beverage. This means beer is the favorite beverage in Malta. The local beer manufacturers of Malta have a strong competition with the high quality and competition not only in Malta but also exporting to various countries around the world. For example, Cisk Lager and Hopleaf Pale Ale are 2 popular with local brand name and have won many prestigious International Awards. Other alcoholic beverages are wine and Tots of spirits. Every week, 5 tots of spirits are consumed in Malta; meanwhile, the average amount of glasses of wine is only 4.2. Compared to beer, the market demand of Malta in 2008 was just only 100,000 tons and 70% amount of wine and spring were imported from other countries such as France, Italia, US and so on.
Brewed beverage: Tea and coffee are common drinks that were introduced into Malta under British occupations and gradually became part of local customs. Brog&Aquilina and CaffeCordina are notable leader of tea and coffee industry. Brog&Aquilina are importer and distributor with 65% of the market share in Malta. Meanwhile, CaffeCordina is one of Malta’s oldest coffee and first companies that have started a franchise Coffee Culture and sold 4,000 cups of coffee per day.
Carbonated beverage and fruit juice: According to the Drinks: Impact on health and on the environment (2009), the demand of fruit juices and soft drinks have increased sharply since 1980s. In addition, fruit juices have a fast growth because Maltese people consider fruit juices is a good source of certain vitamin and good for their health. In Malta, soft drink is the favor drink of young people especially children. Coca Cola and Farson Group manufacturers are leader of soft-drink market in Malta 2009.

4.7 SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• A strong brand name with high reputation in Vietnam.
• Own production line and have sources of water (VinhHao, 2009)  cost advantage.
• Have many experiences in exporting and trading with foreign countries (VinhHao, 2009).
• High quality products meet national standard (VinhHao, 2009).
• Offer various sizes of bottles for different demands. • Lack of experiences in doing business with Malta.
• Unknown by Maltese consumers  take time and effort to penetrate into the market.
• Losing market share in Vietnam to other foreign firms.
• Not belong to EU  losing some incentives.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
• A hub of international trade.
• Shortage of water supplies  increasing demand for pure water.
• Many law incentives to attract FDI investment. The World Investment Report (2008) listed Malta 3rd worldwide on index performance and considers the nation as a “Front-runner” in FDI inward attraction potential (PWC, 2009)  big advantage for foreign firms.
• Protection laws for trademark, patents, etc are available (PWC, 2009)  protect the brand name ViHaWa.
• Imports are mostly free in the nation (PWC, 2009).
• Professionalism in doing import/export.
• High-educated workers and relatively cheap labor  good for the company in case of factory investment. • Taxation, tariffs and other legal issues.
• Goods as foodstuff require special clearance procedure (PWC, 2009).
• Competition from other firms from EU nations may arise.
• Logistic costs  fluctuation could affect prices and customer service.

5. GLOBAL COMPEATING STRATEGY

5.1: MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MATRIX

After considering carefully among 6 strategies, we decided to pick 3 that we consider to be most suitable for current situation in Malta: Direct Exporting, Joint Venture and Acquisition.
Furthermore, we also come up with a Multi-criteria matrix comprising of 5 main criterias in order to evaluate and pick outthe final appropriate strategy to bringthe most benefitto VinhHaocompany:

CRITERIA WEIGHT REASONS
1 Low Risk 25% Risk of being damaged by unexpected factors is the fear of many firms, especially when they enter new market. Hence, VinhHao should try to reduce the risk as much as possible.
2 Low Capital Requirement 25% Calculate the amount of money carefully before setting up business in new market is quite important. VinhHao is not a big firm compared to other international company, thus, choosing strategy with low capital requirement but still bring good benefit is vital.
3 Short duration to implement 20% Shorten the time to enter and do business in new market might bring many advantages and save a certain amount of money for VinhHao.
4 High management control 20% The high control over the firm in new market plays crucial role to the success of the business.
5 Low cost of transportation 10% Adapting a strategy which can deliver product to the same destination with lower cost will save VinhHao a lot of money since transportation is indispensible part to VinhHao business.

Strategy Low Risk (.25) Low Capital requirement (.25) Short duration to implement (.2) High Management Control (.2) Low transportation cost (.1) Total
Exporting
9 (2.3) 8 (2) 8 (1.6) 8 (1.6) 4 (.4) 37 (7.9)
Joint Venture 7 (1.8) 6 (1.5) 6 (1.2) 6 (1.2) 7 (.7) 32 (6.4)
Acquisition 5 (1.3) 2 (.5) 2 (.4) 9 (1.8) 8 (.8) 26 (4.8)

Exporting:
Low risk:
The market of Malta is totally new to VinhHao, which means there could be many unexpected factors affect the company. When applying exporting strategy, VinhHao doesn’t have to worry about finding new resource providers for the production or the fee of building new factory. It will be very dangerous if after you spend a lot of money on the new factory in Malta, the business goes down. In that case, VinhHao would lose a lot. On the other hand, while the business is not running well, the company can withdraw out of the market more quickly compared to other 2 strategies. This is a big advantage of exporting that allows it points to be highest (9).
However, exporting strategy still has to deal with the most dangerous risk: losing goods in transportation process due to bad weather or pirates. Luckily, VinhHao always buys insurance for its goods, thus, when unexpected issues occur, VinhHao doesn’t have to suffer much.
Low capital requirement:
As mentioned above, since VinhHao doesn’t need to build new factory in Malta if applying Exporting strategy, the capital requirement is not as high as other 2 strategies, thus it’s graded 8. Both Acquisition & Joint venture require high capital investment to acquire physical business.
The highest cost VinhHao has to handle is transportation cost, including fee to deliver from Vietnam to Malta as well as to wholesalers and retailers in Malta. Besides, import tariff and warehouse cost should also be considered carefully in order to set appropriate price for VinhHao product.
Short time to implementation:
Because VinhHao doesn’t need to set up operation plant or distribution channel in Malta as well as acquiring physical business, the implementation of exporting strategy is considered to be shorter than others. The main sources consuming time for implementation are getting import certification, finding adequate shipping companies, agencies and clients in Malta to sell. Among these, import certificate as well as tariff may cost most time of implementing exporting. Hence, export is rated 8 for this criteria.
Acquisition & Joint-venture require a lot more time to do research and implement. It takes time to find a business to acquire or to cooperate with, especially in such unfamiliar market as Malta. Not to mention about many time-consuming procedures in the nation that the company has to get through.
High management control
Acquisition prevails 2 others in this criterion with 9 points due to its advantage while exporting with 8 points has limited control over some activities. Because everything is done in Vietnam, VinhHao can control the quality of water in production. In addition, control of transportation cost allows VinhHao to control selling price in Malta. In contrast, joint-venture must share power depending on percentage owning in company (6 points).
Low transportation cost:
Acquisition, thanks to its location, scored highest for the criteria (8) because water is produced in Malta so delivery cost is much lower compared to exporting. Exporting costs a lot more transportation fee due to the carrying of water from Vietnam to Malta. There are 9515km on airplane distance between Vietnam and Malta. This is even greater if using sea transportation which is the cheapest means of transportation for long distance that we intend to use. As a result, exporting only scored 4 for these criterias.
Source: Adapted from timeanddate.com 2009

5.2 RECOMMENDATION

Exporting strategy has scored highest among 3 strategies, and thus becomes the most optimal strategy to implement. Indeed, it has preceded others in most of important criterias such as low risk or low capital requirement. Look at the decision matrix, it’s obvious that the strengths of exporting strategy can compensate for its weakness, which is considered to be highest transportation cost. It is recommended that VinhHao should employ exporting strategy to enter the market, testing and experiencing the market before investing higher capital to Malta. In the first year, VinhHao should employ the expertise of import agency in Malta because they are familiar with the market to help us overcome the shortcoming of a new entrance, which is lack of understanding about the market. After that, it’s expected that VinhHao build an official office in Malta to have higher control over the exporting, build a distribution network and to employ agent as consultant.
However, exporting strategy is not the most optimal strategy to use for long-term period since firms usually switch to another strategy to fit with the new situation. After building a good base and gradually building up reputation over Maltese consumers, the criterias in the decision matrix will be changed significantly due to the new situation, which is not for new entrance anymore. Probably low risk, low capital requirement or short execution time is not as much important as entering period. This is the time VinhHao should invest more capital to build factory for production and to have more control over the implementation. That’s why Acquisition or Joint-venture could be a proper choice to consider.
TARIC Code & Duty Rates for Mineral water(Source:http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/tarduty?Taric=2201101100&SimDate=20091231&Action=1&ProdLine=80&Country=MT/0046&Type=0&Action=1&YesNo=1&Indent=-1&Flag=1&Test=tarduty&Periodic=0&Download=0&Lang=EN&Description=yes)
Simulation date : 31/12/2009
TARIC code 2201101100
Country of origin/destination Malta - MT (046)
2201 Waters, including natural or artificial mineral waters and aerated waters, not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter nor flavoured; ice and snow
- 2201 10 Mineral waters and aerated waters
- - 2201 10 11 Natural mineral waters
- - - 2201 10 11 Not carbonated
- - - 2201 10 19 Other
No restrictions

5.3 SUPPORTED ARTICLES

Extract 1: Barlow, M & Clarke, T, 2002, ‘Who Owns Water?’ , The Nation, viewed 31 December 2009, http://www.thenation.com/docPrint.mhtml?i=20020902&s=barlow

Extract 2: Anderson, T & Landry, C, 2000, ‘Exporting water to the world’, ucowr, viewed 31 December 2009, < http://www.ucowr.siu.edu/updates/pdf/V118_A8.pdf>

Extract 3: Branch, A, 2000, ‘Export Practice and Management’,Thomson, 2end, Lon Don, UK, pg 343-344

6. FOREIGN MARKET ENTRIES

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A Short Opening About Indoor Air Pollution

2011-06-01T08:14:00.001-07:00

The numerous techniques for carpet cleaning putting together constructions possesses gone through energetic variance using the goal of decreasing capability rate not to mention utilization. Impact this approach planned, manuacturers invented construction behaviour that will be firmly covered position away trained atmosphere because of escaping. Nonetheless, this approach come to be able to deficiency of fresh air motion included in the construction, when the brainwashed oxygen is always within and also there isn't a climate launched. The deficiency about air flow transport might make a good bad inside natural environment. Good explore made by way of the Enviromentally friendly Safeguard Company or perhaps EPA, shows that the degree of toxicity connected with within oxygen could very well be two for you to 5 occasions in addition to 100 intervals alot more better as opposed to which in out of doors pollutant tiers. Indoors Discuss Toxicity and additionally Reducing the probability of it is occurenceCleaning items, clothes products and services, curly hair sprays, aroma, air flow fresheners, wax lights, along with pesticides, and stuff like that, are usually compounds we earn in this particular houses that we all deliver ourself. Rugs, household furniture, along with free of moisture cleaning halloween costumes, are usually points that most of us unintentionally bring within our homes that will provides synthetics which will will certainly have a lethal atmosphere surrounding. Fitted safe-keeping can be several way to element air pollution. At any time when the doorway amongst the residence and therefore the shed is actually exposed, harsh chemicals through the vans, manure, pesticides together with other dangerous products who are held with an linked storage type in the household. In addition, unfixed openings over the wall structure may possibly also end up an effective way to allow substances from your storage provide your house. A different the main one origin of inside polluting of is usually human being activities. Steps for example nicotine, preparing food, taking a shower, going for a walk for the floor covering and this simple inhaling may most trigger in house polluting of. Livestock are no omission. The right way to increase interior airThrough the use from the entire home air flow method, indoors permit factors might be increased. Many different equipment should be positioned in considered including home dimensions, amount of folk residing on throughout, those things finished throughout, any lifestyle, together with precise really needs in the residents, prior to when starting a consistent discuss air flow process. ASHRAE Normal sixty two. only two 2010, is mostly a good origin for your minimum number variety of uninterrupted whole home setting up which is important good volume entrance and also the numerous occupants in the room. Making sure for the additional demands for use on your IAQ program might be beneficial and will be achieved before employing from the believed plan. Inserting some sort of mechanised air flow program pertaining to locations that have already big figures should air pollution is a superb way of deliver outstanding outside quality of air. Making city permit about critical places including bath rooms, the kitchen, along with garages, is critical that can put shut off inside of polluting of. The number of air flow important for most of these places may differ using the dimension for the place, the sort and also measurement associated with residence equipment/furniture during the space along with how room is treated. As an illustration, any potty which has a higher amount bath or simply a whirlpool bath tub will have much more setting up rather than a natural wc. Furthermore some sort of kitchen area which has a huge expert fashion cooking food covering or simply a your kitchen's this really is put into use with regard to indoors barbecuing or possibly various not for standard making will have further fresh air.

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Tips So that you can Sustaining The Air Supply Of Your Building

2011-06-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Developing type along with engineering associated with real estate to get negative effects period. Most of these undesirable consequences with atmosphere effect : can be paid for illnesses, asthma, bronchitis, cancers, disorders, caused by may well along with influenza.

Many people even now put up with wellness passed away attributable to her condition, passed on from the surroundings these types of the equivalent impact. A substantial component to all these fatalities tend to be out of Under developed international locations, there are plenty of men and women currently in slums plus hectic atmosphere.

Thus, the root conveniences style as well as engineering involving complexes to make certain human being volume construction plus the habitat is normally good to make sure you great. It will be important it's incredible motives, this post portrays: Quality of air Work: Repair Manually operated.

Quality of air: : On the whole, uncontaminated outside, in particular nitrogen, breathable oxygen, waters watery vapor along with gas because of a bit. Even so, caused by man exercises and therefore the effect associated with industrialization, outside carbon dioxide, and so any time man objectionable atmosphere, quality of air could cut down a sufferer's inhale, and then the actual is definitely damaging to. Talk and additionally smog, quality of air, discuss will likely be broken down within 2; [] garden air flow of just one plus [2] interior atmosphere.

Out-of-doors discuss: polluting of outside the business approach, generate about petrol combustion, fossil energy resource heating and cooling, combustion operations, move, mineral water, getting rid of timber along with debris air pollution. Was in the actual, finally attributable to smog, fractional co2, as well as monoxide, sulfur dioxide, methane, lp, butane, acetylene in addition to hydrogen carbon dioxide, as well as moving forward with these kind of exercises. However these are most a noxious contaminants. Formerly on the surroundings as well as pollutants within one's body little by little criminal offenses towards humankind, if the approach had been used for the breathing, whatever quality of air features published.

Household discuss: -- A range of interior actions in polluting of over the relieve involving air pollution. Most of these functions incorporate Baking, cigarettes, sneezing, baths, laundering garmets, human body fragrance, sterilizing and additionally clean up spaces. Consider exactly how actions about the secondly time period throughout ought to help with household associated with the.

-- Preparing: indoors actions because baking a large amount of smoking is made up of quite a few smog produced. Smoke a cigarette in to the future away on the gentle including phosphorus can be negative on the really your bones can be believed, in case respiration proceeds for some time of your respective. In the event the the cost of gas oven flare, that is released on the indoors quality of air along with minimize dangerous associated with the with good sized quantities. Melted, cooked, boiled meals sorts of various editions involving tobacco as well as various forms connected with diet allergens inside water vapor crafted considerably. Thus, seeing that barbecuing lowers indoors actions, outside quality of air.
-- fumes smoke -- using tobacco smoke cigarettes, quite a few not organic aspects
It is quite unsafe to overall health. The moment men and women from the home with regard to cigarettes smoke a cigarette, outside associated with the, fresh air carbon dioxide unveiled extra associated with Cigarette smoking. This process ought to cut down interior quality of air. If men and women inhale the actual environment far detrimentally impact the fitness of it is manner to possess many of these low quality.

-- sneezing: -- Sanctioned reflex this from time to time somebody is actually displayed. The following develops whenever quite a few atmosphere impurities unveiled in the air flow, really minimizing a interior quality of air.

Personal debt bathrooms, laundering: the moment men and women have a bath as well as clean by using trouble, water bathrooms along with washers drinking water generate schedule always and forever applying for associated with the as a way to eliminate houseplants quality of air comes with a lot to incorporate.

Personal debt reek: figure odour plus cigarettes smoke cigarettes from the surroundings toxins developed unsatisfied man or women. Components so that you can determine as well as assess man scent chemical substances usually are quite a few hard work need have shown failed for the usual.

houses just for cleanup: : a pair of indoors actions created sizeable advantages for you to interior associated with the.
The majority of indoors quality of air actions which help with a fall involving speak, could believe that it is important to preserve interior quality of air.

Sticking to very good indoors quality of air:

Preserving indoors quality of air on the subsequent places:

-- just by preventing a manufacturing associated with impurities, almost any continuing to be wide open departure.
: throughout the glass windows plus air pollution associated with unique backyard air flow air flow lean.
-- A / c procedure using equipment as well as dirtied air flow place.
-- Accomodation, workplace, a bedroom along with areas for the creating must be grown.
-- Non-cooking considerable levels with large nasal area conceal.

Vital, individuals should evaluate quality of air building really should be made possible whenever they want, in addition to contamination command, as well as annoying in addition to detrimental. Because from this, real human task will likely be lower, quality of air may result in a new downfall within production.
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7 Answers to Inside Smog : Adoring Your quality of life Along with your Household

2011-06-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Your home stays being usually the one spot that ought to be the biggest market of household, regarding really like and also regarding well being. This kind of, nonetheless, can not be totally achieved when you have the situation regarding inside smog. Possessing weak inside air quality often leads your household susceptible to conditions. This may contain asthma, lung issues, allergy symptoms and also cancer malignancy. Today, in order to increase the grade of oxygen in the home, next listed here is a basic information that can be used. Below are a few answers to inside smog: 1. Know very well what is at the oxygen. Prior to deciding to in fact use the particular answers to inside smog, you ought to initial know very well what occurs inside the oxygen an individual inhale and exhale. Not necessarily almost everything is seen and that means you absolutely must acquire added endeavours inside examining the particular components you employ in your own home. You should check the particular substance purifiers you employ in your own home that incorporate damaging dangerous materials. a couple of. Allow the venting inside. You should help save around the temperature however, not possessing adequate area venting can cause inside smog. Just about the most simple answers to inside smog is always to available windows and doors every so often to be able to permit oxygen movement inside and also employed oxygen to have out there. When you have handful of house windows then you can certainly take into account making use of some other method of venting just like tire out followers specifically inside bath rooms, attics, cellars and also garages. 3. Spot stay attractive inside crops in several bedrooms of your home. Together with stay crops, you may not simply acquire normal adornment nevertheless, you furthermore increase the air quality inside residence. Utilize crops which can be excellent inside eliminating aerial impurities. Samples of excellent inside crops are usually Oriental evergreen, peacefulness lily, fantastic photographs and also potted moms. some. Verify the crops regarding mould. When you have inside (and even out of doors) crops, you then must on a regular basis verify these regarding mould progress. The answers to inside smog could be ineffective when mould is out there inside residence since this may leave filth for mid-air an individual inhale and exhale. In the event you notice mould around the earth of one's potted crops next make sure you repot these right away. Mould may be due to above tearing the crops. 5. Modify oxygen filtration systems and also utilize dehumidifiers. Since answers to inside smog, you ought to on a regular basis modify the oxygen filtration systems since wet locations can easily entice mould as well as other microbes that will stay aerially. You can even utilize dehumidifiers in several bedrooms of your home to boost air quality. 6. Lick the animals. Grooming the animals will help stop sucking in head of hair and also soil allergens. Make sure you shower and also clear the animals particularly when they will keep inside individual dwelling location. Furthermore, it really is really crucial that you have enough venting if the animals stay inside residence. 7. Give up smoking in the house. Using tobacco can easily give rise to a top amount of inside smog. The answers to inside smog may be entirely worthless unless you give up smoking in the house. When using tobacco can not be averted, make certain that it really is completed exterior and also far from your household.

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International business strategy report-How Angimex enter the market of Republic of Liberia

2011-04-17T02:50:00.000-07:00

Contents
1 MEMORANDUM 5
2 COUNTRY OVERVIEW 7
2.1 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION 7
2.2 POPULATION 8
2.3 GOVERNMENT 9
2.4 ECONOMIC 10
2.5 OTHER INFORMATION 12
3 ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE & PRODUCT CHOSEN 14
3.1 COMPANY 14
3.2 THE 4Ps 17
4 BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 19
4.1 BUSINESS PRACTICES 19
4.1.1 HOFSTEDE’S 4 DIMENSIONS 19
4.1.2 DOS & DON’TS 21
4.2 SOCIAL CONDITIONS 22
4.3 ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS 23
4.4 FINANCE 25
4.5 REGULATIONS/ LEGAL ISSUES 27
4.6 COMPETITORS 28
4.7 SWOT ANALYSIS 30
6 GLOBAL COMPETING STRATEGY 74
6.1 DECISION MATRIX 74
6.2 SUPPORTING ARTICALS 76
6.3 ACTION PLAN 81
7.5 Vuong Ngoc Trinh _ S3183238 94
8 REFERENCES 97

MEMORANDUM
This report presents the strategy that An Giang Company will use to enter Liberia market. In order to operate more effectively, we have done some research and analysis about Liberia country, regulation, economic, or culture. We also come up with some strategy, compare them and reach the final decision by using Decision matrix.
The Republic of Liberia
Located in Western Africa, Liberia is a small country. Its total area is 111,369 sp. Km, rank 110 on the world and 3 times smaller than Vietnam. As the result of the war, it has a big influence from many Western countries such as the USA or French, however, it also quite close to other country since there are many things we should notice when travel to Liberia such as drink, dress, or photograph.
Capital Monrovia
Land area 111,369 sp km
Population 3,441,790
Official Language English
Government type Republic
Region 40% _ Christian
20% _ Muslim
40% _ Indigenous

An Giang Company
An Giang Import – Export Company (ANGIMEX) has been established in 1976. With more than 30 years operate in agriculture industry, especially rice, ANGIMEX is one of the biggest rice export in Mekong Delta. ANGIMEX not only successful in procure and process domestic and export directly rice, it also join in other industry such as consumer goods, electronics, appliances and manchineer, foodstuff, technology and training education. In the year 2004 – 2007, the company won the reward of Prestigious Export Business, which has increase the reputation of ANGIMEX in both domestic and foreign Market. In order to handle the production and reach the standard of ISO 9001:2000, ANGIMEX has invested a lot in its factory, warehouse, and milling machinery system.
Enter Market Strategies
There are 5 differences strategies that ANGIMEX can apply when they enter Liberia market; they are Exporting, Acquisition, Joint-venter, Licensing and Greenfield. Each strategy does have its all advantages and disadvantages that ANGIMEX will faced or benefit all. In other to choose one best strategy among 5, we have use some decision factors to compare between them.
Factors Percentages
Capital requirement 30%
Risks 20%
Time to set up the business 20%
Product’s Quality 15%
Control the output 15%
Total 100%
Export strategy is our final decision. For a new market, exporting is always the best strategy since we do not know much about the market. If we fail in operate, we can get out of the business easier with less damage in term of finance. When we decide using export to sell our rice to Liberia, we also do some research and evaluate the current situation of Liberia through articles; therefore we can eliminate the loss and reduce risk.

1 COUNTRY OVERVIEW
1.1 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Liberia located in Western Africa, its bordering with North Atlantic Ocean in the Southwest, Guinea from the North and Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone in the East. It totally area is 111,369 sp.km, almost 3 times smaller than Vietnam. The capital of Liberia is Monrovia, a city that quite close to the sea, a main port of Liberia since The United Stated had expanded it in the World War II. Economic of Monrovia depend also in export and import transaction. Vietnam firms, such as An Giang Co., who wants to export their product to Liberia, should take a consideration on this best position.
With the tropical climate, hot, humid, and dry in the winter, Liberia does not have the best condition to growth many foods such as rice or corn. According to Lao Dong.com.vn, in beginning of year 2009, some Vietnamese farmer has brought the rice seed from Vietnam and growth in Liberia, the result is worse than we grow in Vietnam, but better than the local seed that grow in Liberia. It has its own meaning, but it also mean that Liberian is accepted Vietnamese rice and taste, which can opened a potential market for Vietnamese farmers.

1.2 POPULATION
Currently, the number of Liberian people is approximate 3,441,790 including the rate of sex 0.99 male /female (CIA World Factbook 2009) and placed at a position 133 in the worlds. However, the population growth rate is 2.665% which is considered at high growth comparing to the world. Besides that the figure below forecasts that Liberia has a young generation. Most Liberian people are from 15 to 65 years old which occupied more than 97% of population.

With young population, Liberian is faced with a very huge problem AIDS. During last year, the death rate is 21.45 deaths/ 1,000 populations. This is a disadvantage for Liberia to develop their country because health care is the best expectation of people. Lacking of health care will lead to be inefficiently working.

1.3 GOVERNMENT
Since Liberia became independent from American Colonization on July 26, 1847, Liberia’s government controlled in republican form with three main branches. The Executive, headed by the President of the country (elected by majority of vote for 6years-term, can be re-elected but more than two terms).Secondly is the Legislature who makes laws, consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Lastly, the Judiciary is a combination of the Supreme Court and four Associate Justices (appointed by President of the country).
On 8 November 2005, Ellen Johnson was elected to become the Liberia’s President. She will also be the head of government and chief of state. The elections will be due in the next 2011. Beside 30 political parties, Liberia also has a mutual operation system of statutory law (Anglo-American common law) and customary law of tribal practices. They are considered as main subjects to establish the Constitution on January 6, 1986. However, there still have some conflicts between these laws so that Liberia now seeks to the improvement of harmonization.

1.4 ECONOMIC
According to CIA’s report, Republic of Liberia is in the top ten poorest countries in the world which GDP per capita was $494 in 2008. With the civil war (1990-1997), Liberia’s economy and infrastructure were destroyed and have not rebuilt yet. As the result, many foreign companies and businesses left Liberia after the war. However, Arica Economic Outlook (2009) stated that the economic showed the sigh of recovering after the civil war which real GDP increased from 2004. The growth is directly reflected to the forestry operation, rising gold and diamond exports, improvement of infrastructures and security and donor fund expenditures. The report also stated that GDP will increase about 10.8% in 2009 and 11.2 % in 2010.

The main economic sector is agriculture which held 67.7% GDP in 2008 (OECO 2009). Their main products are rice, cocoa, coffee and palm oil. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for the majority of the population. However, due to low productivity and technology, Liberia still needs to import rice from other countries. The major income came from export iron ore, timber and rubber industry but there is decreasing revenue from iron ore. Nowadays, gold and diamonds exports are new resources of revenue for Liberia as well as domestic manufactures such as beer, glass, cement and plywood.

Although there are some positive economic developments, Liberian finance and technologies still depends on UN agencies, international non-government donors and foreign investors such as infrastructure and communication. They also face with many challenges such as a huge debt, high employment and high level of poverty.
According to CIA and OECO reports, Liberia has
 GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.212 billion (2008 est.)
 GDP- per capital (PPP): $494 (2008 est.)
 Labor force- by occupation: Agriculture: 70%
 Industry: 8%
 Services: 22% (2000 est.)
 Unemployment: 85% (2003 est.)
 Inflation: 17.5

1.5 OTHER INFORMATION
 Society and Culture
The Liberia’s culture is the combination between the traditional culture and the Western lifestyles (‘Liberia Culture’ 2009). In urban areas, most values and customs are influenced by the Western styles. Inversely, traditional culture is favored in rural areas. Football is also the most popular sport in this country (‘Liberia Culture’ 2009).
According to the article ‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009, Liberia is the first independent Black African nation. In the society, English is the official language, which is the advantage for foreign investment and Liberia also. However, there are about 16 other indigenous languagues which are rarely used (‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009). About the religion, there is 40% of whom are Christian, 20% Muslim, and 40% with other beliefs.
The main issue in Liberia is the shortage of food supply, especially rice. Rice is the essential foodstuff of Liberians. According to Skoch 2008, 90% rice of Liberia is imported from the U.S. and Asia. When the rice’s price increases more than double, Liberians have to change their life long habit; they switch to eat pasta which is cheaper (Skoch 2008).

 Foreign Relations
Liberia has traditional relations with Western countries and others such as: Libya, Cuba and China. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Development Bank (ADB), the Mano River Union (MRU), and the Non-Aligned Movement (‘Background Note: Liberia’ 2009). During the Charles Taylor’s administration, the relations between Liberia and other West African countries were strained and those relations were improved better by the administration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (‘Background Note: Liberia’ 2009).
Liberia has maitained good relations with the West Africa and the world, especially the United States because it is the strongest supporter for Liberia (‘Background Note: Liberia’ 2009). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which is organized by theU.S.’s Government to assist Liberia in many fields such as: HIV prevention, health care, educational programs, business development, etc. (‘Background Note: Liberia’ 2009).

 Business Environment
All of foreign businesses are welcomed to Liberia. They can be operated directly by the authorization of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or indirectly through the local agents (‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009). Foreigners who live in Liberia can also establish their own businesses with the allowance of Business Corporate Act (BCA) and Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry to get the business licenses (‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009). According to the article ‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009, many corporations are registered as maritime and corporate haven in Liberia because it is one of a developed martitime country in Africa. Moreover, Liberia has a very open business climate to attract foreign investment. The Government offers some benefits for foreign businesses such as: the exemption of income tax, custom duties, stamp fees, etc. Also, the country’s infrastructure, communication, etc. are improved to facilitate the businesses’ operations (‘Liberia: Country and Foreign Investment Regime’ 2009).

2 ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE & PRODUCT CHOSEN
2.1 COMPANY
Company Name An Giang Import – Export Company
Abbreviation ANGIMEX
Head office 01 Ngo Gia Tu Street, My Long Ward, Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province
Phone 84.76.3841548
84.76.3841548 84.76.3843239
E-mail rice@ANGIMEX.com.vn

Website www.ANGIMEX.com.vn

Company Logo

The Mekong Delta is the biggest granary of Vietnam because the river silt has raised the level of the field. It supplies rice for the whole country and exporting. ANGIMEX is one of the biggest companies in the Mekong Delta. It was established in 23 July 1976 with the great contributions of Mr. Ha Quang Chan who promoted to set up the company and Mr. Pham Phung Tu who was the first director (‘ANGIMEX Figures’ 2008,). The company was first located in Chau Doc, and then changed to Long Xuyen City (’32 years old ANGIMEX’ 2008). After changing the company’s name many times, the company got the official name An Giang Import – Export Company in 1992 and licensed to direct import and export by the Vietnamese Ministry of Commerce in 1998 (’32 years old ANGIMEX’ 2008). Moreover, ANGIMEX has officially transformed into the stock company since 2008 in order to raise more funds in order to expand their organization (‘32 years old ANGIMEX’ 2008). Until now, ANGIMEX has received many awards such as: First class honored labor medal, Prestigious Export Business of years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, etc. (‘General Info’ 2008).
ANGIMEX’s functions include processes, produces rice, paddy to supply domestic trading and export (‘General Info’ 2008). Besides, the company has other operations: consumer goods, electronic appliances and machinery, foodstuff, technology, training, education, etc. (‘General Info’ 2008). The organization chart below will show more clearly about the company’s functions (‘General Info’ 2008).

2.2 THE 4Ps
1. Product
As mentioned earlier, ANGIMEX is one of the biggest company in Vietnam which produce, import and export rice. The company has received many awards for its achievements and product’s quality. ANGIMEX produce rice with modern rice polishing and milling machinery systems and it can export around 300,000 – 350,000 metric tons of rice each year (‘Rice’ 2008). Furthermore, the product’s quality is managed by the standards of ISO 9001:2000. The table below will show more about various products’ types of ANGIMEX for different tastes of customers (‘Rice’ 2008).

2. Price
According to Van (2008), the price of rice is calculated based on the prices of fertilizer, seed rice, labours, etc. Moreover, the rice’s price increases or decreases will be affected by the market’s demand or supply. On average, the rice’s price is between 9,750 – 10,750VND/kg and during the rice shortage; it should not be higher than 11,000VND/kg for the normal rice and 14,000VND/kg for the special rice. For exporting, this price is very competitive because if comparing with other countries, Vietnam has low price for rice exporting. Also, Vietnam is one of the countries which have the biggest amount of rice exporting all over the world because cheap labors and plenty of natural resources.
3. Promotion
Rice is one of the most important foodstuffs of Vietnamese and Liberian because it is the main food for daily uses. Rice is the necessities, so there are no marketing strategies or promotion campaigns for this type of product. The main criteria which customers decide to buy a type of rice are price and quality. Later, they might consider about country of origin, the company’s reputation, etc. Price and quality of products are always considered by ANGIMEX. The company always provides product with high quality which is managed by the standard ISO 9001:2000 and competitive price. Nevertheless, the company still offers some promotions to get customers’ attentions. For example, customers will get premium pottery bowls when buying Jasmine rice of ANGIMEX (‘Activities’ 2008). Besides that other community activities such as helping poor people and supporting poor students also increase the company’s reputation.
4. Place
ANGIMEX currently supply rice for people within Vietnam and exports to other market such as: Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Cambodia, etc. (‘Rice’ 2008). The company does not directly export product to those countries. The distribution channel is usually through the intermediations. To illustrate, Liberia is a high potential market for ANGIMEX because its high demand of this product. According to Skoch (2008), 90% rice of Liberia needs to be imported for domestic uses. In order to export rice to Liberia, ANGIMEX will consider Bridge Way Corporation as an intermediary. Bridge Way is an international import and export company in Liberia.

3 BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
3.1 BUSINESS PRACTICES
3.1.1 HOFSTEDE’S 4 DIMENSIONS
Since there is no study about Liberia Hoftede’s 4 Dimensions, we use the general study of Western Africa to evaluate the culture of Liberia, which can help us to operate our business more effectively. Comparing these dimensions between Vietnam and some countries in Western Africa such as Liberia, there are some big differences and some similarities.

Power Distance Index (PDI)
This dimension is refer to the gap between people and people in the society, whether rich and poor, power and less-power, boss and worker. The figure above giving that, Western African has 77 PDI, which is quite high. The role of manager, boss in an organization is very important, the followers have to respect the manager’s decision, listen and work under these directions.
Individualism (IDV)
Both Western African and Vietnamese people prefer work in team, stay close, contribute to the society and focus on group value. They would think of doing thing that giving the benefit to more people rather than themselves. In addition, with the same background of being war in a long time, Vietnam and Liberia are similar in this perspective, we are educated to contribute to the country and respect others’ work.
Masculinity (MAS)
In Masculinity dimension that Vietnam and Western African countries are quite similar in term of index.
Vietnam: 40
Western African: 46
The gap between genders in a society is medium, meaning that the role of man and woman are quite the same in term of characteristic: assertiveness, competition, relationship and environment. In these countries, man and woman can switch their role to contribute the best to the family and society.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)
Western African countries have 54 in UAI, which is the medium imdex compares to the world countries and high index compares to Vietnam. It can be seen as a disadvantage point for Vietnamese firms, who want to operate in these countries, may face with a lot of rule and complex organization’s structure. They will not accept many risks and protect themselves with rule and law.
Long Term Orientation (LTO)
This dimension is closely related to the truth between people and people, which is very important in the business environment as well as human being in the society. There is a big gap between Vietnam (80) and other countries in West Africa (16). With short-term orientation, Western African (Liberia, Nigeria) will work quickly to get the job done and move to other ones. Seeing the quick reture and short payback period in their investment is what they expect. In the agriculture business, for an example, growing rice needs round 1 month or more, this can be count as short time producing. If we one to cooperate with other firm in Liberia, it can be seen an advantage, which we can persuade them agree on.

3.1.2 DOS & DON’TS
Suffer from war, internal conflicts and influent from Western culture, Liberian does have many think that visitors should notice so that visitors will not get trouble to themselves or ruining out the business relationship with local people. According to Gladson, there are many difference in term of eat, drink, dress or payment methods in Liberia. It also has a high volume of crimes; therefore, we must be careful when going out.
Dos Don’ts
 Smoking in public
 Chewing gum in public
 Giving money in beggars/panhandlers
 Shaking hand when leaving a small group
 Eat everything in your plates
 Carry cash
 Check with the hotel to verify the identity of employees who come to your room
 Accepted travel’s check
 Best time to present gifts: at the end of a visit
 Best time for conversations: before and during the meals.
 Drinking alcohol
 Drinking directly out of a bottle/ can
 Chewing gun in governments office
 Combing hair
 Wearing black glasses
 Kissing in public
 Taking photographs of people (without permission)/ airport/ public buildings
 Eating by left hand or both hand
 People discuss about their wealth
 Wearing of look-alike military
 Be tempted by people selling land in Liberia unless you are of African descent
 Moving around night -> criminal
 Carry valuables in public
 accepted ATM or Credit card
 accepted drink or food from stranger
 assume police will be able to protect you

3.2 SOCIAL CONDITIONS
An Giang Company has a potential opportunity to enter the Liberian market because of three following reasons.
The first reason is that rice is one of the two main recourse foods for Liberian life beside pasta. If the price of rice is increase so much, they will shift to consume pasta (Skoch 2008). An Giang Company has a variety of price of rice depending on the quality, which can help them to increase its competitive advantages and reach more class of customer.
Not only occurred in Liberia, but also in many Africa nations, most people are faced with poverty (Ted 2008). They only need some basic food for their life and rice is an essential one. Also, according to this article, Liberian is lacking of food supply because a lots of farms were destroyed during the war. People do not have enough farms to raise foods, which can be seen as a major cause of poverty.
“Liberia is the third world’s poorest country in capital income” (Debt relief first of many recovery challenges 2008). Low income is one of the most important issues. People, who get high income, they can purchase whatever they want. In contrast, the poor people only purchase some most basic things for their life such as rice, or water. They do not have enough money to serve expensive nutrition foods for their need. As the result, An Giang Company might take this advantage to export low rice.

3.3 ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS
Although agriculture is main economic sector in Liberia but the domestic product only meets one quarter to third of the population requirement for rice. The country need import 60% of rice consumed and in Greater Monrovia nearly 99%. With huge demand of importing rice from, An Giang Company can consider it as an opportunity to export rice to it. However, there are some factors that An Giang Company should take into account.
• The inflation rate of Liberia increased from 11.4% in 2007 to 17.49 in 2008. The data below shows that the consumer price inflation is high due to high cost of import. The inflation is forecasted decrease in 2010 but the prices of products may be falling but the general price level is still rising, albeit at a lower rate. With high price of rice, the power of consumption will be decreased and consumers may find other substituted products. An Giang Company can consider types of rice to export to Liberia that meet their finance.

• In Liberia, they use both Liberia Dollar (LRD) and US Dollar (USD). The LRD is used for small purchases, especially in rural areas, for government to pay civil servants’ salaries while USD is held for exchange in trade and financial transaction. In 2008, dues to global crisis, the exchange rate of Liberia depreciated to an average of 1USD =63.5 LRD and 72.55 LRD (update 31 August, 2009). The exchange rate may be more depreciated because the USD depreciated against Euro and other currencies. ANGIMEX should evaluate and analyze a pricing method that is suitable with the situation.
• The income of Liberian is still low and not everyone can afford to buy the rice so the company will focus on urban areas such as Greater Monrovia, Ganta and other 3 urban centers. According to Liberian report (2008), the urban cities are heavy reliance on importing food for population’s consumption while the rural households have less demand from importing because they depend on their own production such as cassava, vegetables or fishes. There is also high demand on raining season and wholesalers couldn’t satisfy the requirement so it leads to higher prices on the rice market.

3.4 FINANCE
Liberian finance has been developed better due to support from donor agencies and foreign investors. The government has made strong effort in improving tax and customs administration, preparing budget and implement a cash-based balanced budget. Also domestic revenues have increased from 1999/2000 which due to commitment to transparency and accountability, and the development of policy measures. On the expenditures side, the government tried to ensure the spending will be suitable with the funds available and they successful kept expenditure in line with the revenues. However, in 2007/08, the overall fiscal surplus is declined to 1.1% of GDP because of global crisis and spending in development infrastructure and the rate will be continued increase in following years.

The data below shows Liberian deficit declined from 51.6% in 2006 to 28.8% in 2008 and it expected to continue decrease in 2009. With expectation from the timber and mining industries, current account balance will be surplus in 2010. As the result, Liberia can able to clear debts which owed by major multilateral institutions. Moreover, the country had received reduction debts from US, Germany, Denmark and China. As a consequence of the relief, total external debt fell from USD 4.7 billion (643.2 % of GDP) in 2007 to USD 3.3 billion (508.7 % of GDP) by December 2008 (OECO 2009).

From these analyses, we can see that the finance situation of Liberia is development with positive views.

3.5 REGULATIONS/ LEGAL ISSUES
When enter Liberian market, ANGIMEX should concern about the regulation, policies or registration process for business. According to Work Bank (2008), Liberia is ranked 157 out of 183 countries in the Ease of Doing Business. The Heritage Foundation’s report (2009) ranked Liberia’s level of economic freedom in some sectors which will be listed below:
• Business Freedom: starting business in Liberia is faster than world average (27 days < 38 days) through simpler registration processes and business licensing. However, the cost for starting business is high and sometimes the regulations inconsistent. • Trade Freedom: Liberian tariff rate weighted average about 15.6% in 2007. There are some import bans and restrictions from the country.• Fiscal Freedom: Tax rates of Liberia are high. For example. The tax rates for top income and top corporate are 35%. The taxes that includes property, goods and service, plan to increase in next few years and also change to a value- added tax (VAT).• Investment Freedom: Liberia is in reconstruction part so the country has to review any investments. The government permits foreign investor but they also reserve a number sectors for Liberian. Moreover, ownership of land is limit to Liberian citizens. 3.6 COMPETITORSLiberia is a poor country with more than three million people who has huge demands for rice as their staple food. Thus, Liberia is a very attractive market for countries that are expertise in exporting rice products like Vietnam, one of the biggest rice exporters in the world. When Vietnam rice exporters like ANGIMEX wish to penetrate their product in Liberia, it has to consider two aspects of competitor: foreigner exporters and Vietnamese exporters. Beside two common competitors like Thailand and India (two leaders of rice exporter in the world), ANGIMEX also has to concern about China and Pakistan rice export companies because they have highest market share in Liberia. Recently, the Vietnam’s rice price increase rapidly compared to other strong competitors like Thailand (“Rice: A review of the news in 2001”, 2002). Being one of the leaders of rice exporter in Vietnam, ANGIMEX provide high quality product goes along with reasonable price. They consider Thailand and India, who have the same competitive strategies as our direct competitors. Whereas, China and Pakistan stick with the “low cost leadership” strategies provide cheaper products, they are indirect competitors of ANGIMEX. ANGIMEX also have to concern about some famous Vietnamese exporters such as Tigifood and Gentraco companies. These are some information for each competitor’s aspect of ANGIMEX (“Leading rice exporter countries” 2008). Country Companies represented Productivity volume of country % of global rice exportsThailand Six Star Rice Co. 10 million tons/ year 34.5%India Aishwarya Co 4.8 million tons/year 16.5%Vietnam Gentraco Co. 4.1 million tons/year 14.1%Pakistan Jaffer Sons Import & Export Co. 1.8 million tons/year 6.3%China Yotoo Import & Export Co. 901,550 tons/year 3.1%CountryCompany Website Logo ProductThailand Six Star Rice Co http://www.sixstarsrice.co.th/ India Aishwarya Co http://www.aishwaryaoverseas.com. Vietnam Gentraco Co http://www.gentraco.com.vn/index.php Pakistan Jaffer Sons Import & Export Co http://amjmorani.trustpass.alibaba.com/ China Yotoo Import & Export Co.,ltd http://yotoo.en.alibaba.com/ 3.7 SWOT ANALYSIS 4 GLOBAL COMPETING STRATEGY4.1 DECISION MATRIXBased on the analysis of each strategy (refer to next section), there are three possible strategies: Exporting, Licensing and Greenfield. Although each strategy all has advantages and disadvantages, Acquisition and Joint Venture are not considered because they all have the big concern with the capital. ANGIMEX has limited capital, so these strategies are not suitable because they need a huge investment in Liberia. For example, for Acquisition strategy, ANGIMEX need to invest a huge capital to buy a business in Liberia to continue running. For Joint Venture, the company also needs a lot of money to buy shares and join with another Liberian business. Greenfield strategy is also need huge investment. However, establishing a new company requires less time and simple procedure than buying or joining a Liberian business. For Exporting and Licensing, they just need limit investment to expand a business to foreign countries. Briefly, Exporting, Licensing and Greenfield are three possible strategies. The most appropriate strategy will be considered based on the decision matrix below. Decision Matrix with the scale from 1 to 10 (1 is bad and 10 is good)In this matrix, there are some criteria which are used to evaluate the efficiency of each strategy. The most important criterion which is considered is capital requirement because it is the big deal of ANGIMEX. The next ones are time and risks when setting up a business. The last ones are the product quality and ability to control the outputs. For the capital requirement, Greenfield strategy needs a lot of money to buy land, hire expert, labours, etc. in Liberia to operate the business. It is not good, so the score is lowest. Licensing and Export have higher scores because these strategies can help to limit the company’s investment to a foreign country. Greenfield needs huge investment, but this strategy can help to control the product’s quality. Because rice is planted, harvested, packaged, etc. in Liberia, it can get highest product’s quality if comparing with other two strategies. For Exporting and Licensing strategies, the quality control is decreased because products could be damaged when go shipping or cheating of licensees. When considering about the time to set up the business, Greenfield strategy gets lowest score because it takes a lot of time to establish the farm in a foreign country. Export and Licensing are faster because it just takes time to get the licences to export products. For risks, Greenfield gets lowest score because it has highest risks among three strategies. Because this strategy needs huge investments, ANGIMEX will lose a lot of money if they fail to run their business. The other strategies just need limit investment, so the risk for losing money is lower. The last one is the ability to control the outputs. Greenfield strategy has highest score because rice is produced in Liberia, so the outputs’ quantities are controlled better than other strategies. Export and Licensing strategies could get the delay from shipping, so the outputs control is not tight. Briefly, based on the calculation, Exporting strategy gets highest total score. This means it has more advantages when applying this strategy to a foreign market.The articles below will support for the reasons why Exporting is chosen to expand ANGIMEX’s business in Liberia. 4.2 SUPPORTING ARTICALSArticle 1: The impact of high prices on food security in Liberia‘The impact of high prices on food security in Liberia’ 2008 http://ochaonline.un.org/OchaLinkClick.aspx?link=ocha&docId=1095478 Analysis 1The graph above clearly shows how rice is imported in Liberia. The importers will import rice from foreign countries. It is distributed to wholesalers and wholesalers give to retailers. Retailers will sell to customers or could be go to micro retailers and then customers. Sometime, rice is sold directly from wholesalers to customers. This will give general information for ANGIMEX about the process how rice is delivered to the customers. Rice is delivered through many intermediaries to customers; it will increase the price of rice in Liberia. Article 2: Safety Net for Industries‘Global export price push’ 2009, Vietnam Investment Review, 31 August – 6 September Analysis 2The article above states that the ministries Industry and Trade and Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is analysing the needs of enterprises in each sector. During the global financial crisis, Vietnam’s exports have decreased. However, many experts predict that Vietnam’s economy will recovered soon in this year. Hence, Vietnam Government is trying to promote trade to increase exports. The Government has signed many contracts for local companies to export their products with high turnover rates. Moreover, the Government provides financial supports for enterprises and farmers to produce with hygiene processes. Agriculture also gets supports from MARD overcome technical barriers and ensures products get international standards. This is the great support which helps local products to export and compete with foreign competitors. Rice is also the product which will take this advantage to increase the export volumes. Article 3: Global Export Price PushThanh Dat 2009, ‘Safety Net for Industries’, Vietnam Investment Review, 3 – 9 August Analysis 3The article states that exports will bring big profits to exporters and rice farmers. The prices of some commodities are reduced because of speculators decrease buying to control the prices. The reduction in prices will have bad impacts on the local companies and farmers; especially for rice because Vietnam is the second biggest country which exports rice. Therefore, the Government should have flexible strategies to control the rice’s price. Vietnam is one of the world’s leading exporters for rice. Hence, Vietnam should “participate in deciding the prices instead of following the world prices” (Lien Huong 2009). It will protect the local companies and farmers from prices’ reduction.4.3 ACTION PLANTask Requirement TimeFinding the creditable partnership At least 2 partners 1 monthArrange the shipping methods and way By road, rail, shipCompare the price 2 monthsDo or buy market research Using reliable sources (AC Nielsen) 3 monthsEstablish an oversea representative office 3 monthsPrepare all the documentation, paper work Check the regulation and law 1 monthPrepare the price strategy Must be competitive 2 monthTask Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb MarFinding the creditable partnership Arrange the shipping methods and way Do or buy market research Establish an oversea representative office Prepare all the documentation, paper work Prepare the price strategy 5 REFERENCES• ‘Activities’ 2008, ANGIMEX Website, viewed 22 August 2009, .
• ‘ANGIMEX Figures’ 2008, ANGIMEX Website, viewed 22 August 2009, .
• ‘Buying an existing business’ 2009, Business Link, http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1074410852
• ‘General Info’ 2008, ANGIMEX Website, viewed 22 August 2009, .
• ‘Rice’ 2008, ANGIMEX Website, viewed 22 August 2009,.
• ‘U.S – Liberia contract mean to ease Acquisition Process’ 2007, US Fed News Service, including US State News, Proquest Database, viewed 15 September 2009 < http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/pqdweb?did=1259855541&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=16532&RQT=309&VName=PQD• ’32 years old ANGIMEX’ 2008, ANGIMEX Website, viewed 22 August 2009, http://ANGIMEX.com.vn/en/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=11• “Leading rice exporter countries” 2008, Cassava-google news, viewed 3 September 2009,
• “Rice: A review of the news in 2001” (2002), Food markt, viewed 2 September 2009,
• Africa Economic Outlook, 2009, ‘Liberia’,
• Anne .H 2002, ‘Acquisitions versus Greenfield Investments: International Strategy and Management of Entry Modes’, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 211-227, viewed 02 September 2009.
• Center Intelligence Agency, 2009, ‘The world FactBook- Liberia’, Center Intelligence Agency, viewed 16 August 2009,
• Debt relief first of many recovery challenges 2008, Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service1, ABI/INFORM Global, viewed 20 August 2009, .
• Gladson, I.Nwanna, 1998, Dos and Don’ts around the world: A Country Guide to Culture and Social Taboos and Etiquette, Canada, pp 187 -195.
• Index Mundi, Death date of Liberia, viewed 10 September 2009, .
• Jack .E 2006, ‘Liberia wins palm-oil investment’, Financial Time, Proquest databasem, viewed, 10 September 2009 < http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/pqdweb?did=1146581091&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=16532&RQT=309&VName=PQD• Lao Dong News, 2009, Giong Lua Viet Nam tren dat Tay Phi, viewed 22 August 2009, .
• Skoch I. 2008, ‘Surging food prices force Liberians to eat spaghetti’, Gadling – AOL Travel, viewed 12 August 2009, .
• Ted H. 2008, The Struggle Continues – 2008, SMAfather, viewed 22 August 2009
• The Heritage Foundation, 2009, ‘Ten Economic Freedom of Liberia’, viewed 28 August 2009, http://www.heritage.org/index/Country/Liberia
• The World Bank, 2008, ‘Doing Business 2009-Country Profile for Liberia’, The World Bank, p.2, USA.
• Van S. 2008, ‘Gia lua bao nhieu la hop ly?’, SGTT Magazine, viewed 22 August 2009, http://www.sgtt.com.vn/detail23.aspx?newsid=33791&fld=HTMG/2008/0504/33791
• West Africa, West African Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Explained, viewed Aug 29th 2009, .
• World Bank, 2009,’Doing business 2009- Country Profile Liberia’, World Bank, viewed 2 September 2009, < http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=111>.

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Sample international business report-How Vihawa Mineral Water Corporation enter the market of Malta

2011-04-17T02:46:00.003-07:00

7 Research Tips to help you improve your research quality

2011-04-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Once in a while you get hit with it: the 15- to 25-page research paper, also called the term paper or semester project. This is your chance to join the community of the 20 percent or so of college professors who are actually doing research. How do they do it? And how can you? Have a look at our seven best tips for doing research like a professor:

1. Start from where you are. The professor has a research program; you have the course. Carefully consider all the assigned paper topics, trying to pick one that seems interesting to you and about which you think you'll have something to say. If the professor is requiring you to propose a topic of your own, scour all the course materials (e.g., lecture notes, readings, syllabus, handouts, discussion sections, and course bibliography) for possible topics. Then meet with the prof to see if your proposed topic is one you could actually do, given what you know and what there is to know. A bad topic will net not only weeks of frustration but a bad paper in the end.

2. Think E. Many up-to-date research materials are now available electronically. The best place to start is not with Google, Bing, or Wikipedia but with E-reserves that the professor has listed. These are found at your school library's Web page (or, sometimes, the course Web page) and have been carefully selected for relevance, level of depth, and general appropriateness for your particular course. Next stop: the electronic resources (or E-resources) at the library Web page. Usually, they are divided into more general, though still scholarly, sources (such as InfoTrac, OneFile, LexisNexis Academic, and ProQuest) and more scholarly or "academic" sources (for example, EBSCOHost, Expanded Academic ASAP, JSTOR, Periodical Contents Index, and Web of Science/Web of Knowledge). Another useful resource is the subject guide. The databases here are divided up by area—all the way from aerospace engineering up to women's studies. These can be incredibly helpful if you're just beginning to think about a topic. Columbia University's library site is an especially clear example of this.

Extra Pointer. When using E-resources, be sure to distinguish electronic databases, which are lists or directories of different journals, from E-journals, which are the actual journals or periodicals themselves (in electronic rather than print form).

5-Star Tip. Always be on the lookout for "top 10" lists of databases at your library's Web page. These have been selected by librarians based on general usefulness or on frequency of use by patrons.

3. Discover WorldCat. One of the best resources is www.worldcat.org, a free and public catalog of more than a billion (with a "b"!) items available from more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. Best of all, you don't have to leave your dorm to use it: It's available in all modalities including online and mobile (with downloadable apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and most Web-enabled phones).

4. Learn the shortcuts. You'll have a much easier time conducting your search if you master advanced techniques. Use wild-card characters—typically a question mark (?), pound sign (#), or asterisk (*)—when you know only the first few letters of a word or when you want to find all the words that start with a certain string of letters. Use the Boolean and operator (typically AND or +) to limit the results of a search, and the or operator (OR or -) to expand the topic. And take out any apostrophes (in words such as O'Reilly) and replace foreign language characters (ç, ü) with their English equivalents (c, u).

5. Use the resources that live and breathe. If 21st-century research is already giving you a headache, make your way to the reference desk at the bricks-and-mortar library. The librarians there will be happy to help you with your electronic searches and might even walk you over to some of the (gasp!) print books. Bigger universities even have reference librarians trained in specific study areas (humanities, social sciences, business, and natural sciences, for example). Use them.

6. Learn about ILL. If, for whatever reason, your library doesn't have a particular print book and an E-book or article isn't available in some database, go to the interlibrary loan department of your library. The ILL crew will get you the physical book or a copy of the article from another library, usually free and in plenty of time for you to do your research paper (sometimes even on the same day).

7. Look for "gateway" sources. When beginning to do your research, it's often best to start with broadly conceived sources that survey the problem, area, or subject you're researching and point the way to further, more specific studies. They might have names like Cambridge Companion to X, Stanford Encyclopedia of Y, Grove Dictionary of Z, or Oxford Illustrated History of A (ask your prof or TA for names in your field). And whenever reading any source, look in the footnotes and bibliography for direction to further sources you might read.

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Top Tips for Research Skills

2011-04-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

You’re going to need good research skills to deal with all sorts of questions and assignments. These tips are designed to help you develop the research skills you already have and to share some good ideas you might not yet have come across.

All observations have been collected from real people who have experience of research themselves and know the best ways of going about it. The tips come from the same people and should make your research easier and better. And who knows - before long, someone might be asking you for tips too!

There are three screens in this section:

* using books and journals
* using the Internet
* sorting your information

Observation:
Librarians say that most students start their research by using the Internet.
Tip:
This is understandable — it gives you the feeling that you’re in control, for a bit, anyway. The tip here is to realise that basic information can often be quicker and easier to find in a book and encyclopaedia.

Observation:
Librarians say that students often ask for information, and then say they’re not sure what they want.
Tip:
Be really sure that you understand the question you’re answering. If you find it difficult to explain it to someone else, then go back to your tutor and check your understanding. You have a better chance of good grades if you feel confident that you understand what’s expected of you.

Observation:
Librarians say that if the title of the book doesn’t appear to relate exactly to a student’s research question, then the book isn’t thought relevant.
Tip:
If you’re feeling stressed, this is understandable - you want good sources, quickly. The tip here is to look through the index — a small amount of information can be as useful as a large amount.

Observation:
Librarians say that when tutors recommended a particular journal or other source, then students use it.
Tip:
Check whether your tutor is able to recommend particular journals. Check whether there is a reading list for the subject you’re dealing with.

Observation:
Librarians say that when students are unsure how the library cataloguing system works, they are less likely to use books as a source.
Tip:
Even if you’ve been shown how to use the catalogue, it’s easy to forget. Do ask for advice and help — it feels good when you know how.

Observation:
Librarians say that students don’t always note down the details of the books or journals that they’ve used. They also report that many students don’t know why they need a bibliography.
Tip:
Have you ever experienced the hassle of not having the information to complete your bibliography? Develop a routine of writing down the author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication and page numbers for articles from magazines, newspapers, encyclopaedias or in anthologies. That way you’ll build a thorough bibliography as you go along.

Observation:
IT workshop tutors say that some students sometimes think they are using the Internet for an hour for assignment research, when what actually happens is this:

* 10 minutes spent on research - with lots printed out!
* 20 minutes on checking and sending e-mails
* 20 minutes on general sites — shopping/music/cars/soaps/phones/films
* 10 minutes on research — with more printing

Tip:
This is probably part of your working or learning style, but it is not effective as a research strategy. You need a sense of purpose, so how about analysing your research topic, then making a list of 4 or 5 questions you want answers to? Keep your searching focused and ask for help if you get stuck.

Observation:
IT workshop tutors say that some students believe everything they read on screen.
Tip:
The web address (URL) gives clues about the information. A quality information checklist and quick quiz is at http://www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm. Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Observation:
IT workshop tutors say that some students give up easily, claiming ’there wasn’t
anything there’.
Tip:
There nearly always is something to be found, but you need smart searching tactics to find it. Your aim must be to get the most relevant pages to the top of the results list. Ask others what works for them, and look on the Internet for a guide to using search engines. Think about the scale of the task — one search engine currently has 3 083 324 642 web pages to be searched.
Observation:
IT workshop tutors say that some students use the Internet to look for images.
Tip:
Most search engines allow you the option of searching for an image only. Take a moment to check the toolbar; you’re sure to find features you haven’t found before - images can be useful for key skills presentations.

Observation:
IT workshop tutors say that some students feel overwhelmed by the amount of information.
Tip:
Information overload is a problem. Write out a list of questions you want to find answers to, and reject information that doesn’t help answer them. If you’re new to research, select the best two or three sources and forget the rest. You can always come back for more.

Observation:
Workshop tutors say that some students feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they have photocopied or printed off. Here are some tips for making the most of it:
Photo of a pile of papers
Photo of someone sorting through their research

Tips. . .

* Go back to your research question and ask yourself what it means
* Make sure you know how much you’re expected to write
* Underline the key words
* Write down what information you need
* Plan your essay or report — the structures are different for each, so take advice if you’re unsure
* Work out how many words you can write on each point
* Relax for active reading!
* As you read, look for answers to your questions
* Tell yourself the main points or ideas of what you’ve just read
* Link ideas using a mind map
* Use your word limit to guide your reading
* Reject information that is far too detailed for your purpose
* Gain confidence
* Start realising that some bits don’t fit in — you can discard them
* Take notes in whatever way works for you
* Start writing to your plan — start with whatever seems easiest and keep going without worrying about style. It’s a good idea to start by stating things clearly and simply in short sentences
* Work on your first draft — each time you work on your draft it will get better
* Remember to write out your bibliography
* Enjoy improving your work!
* Ask someone to read what you’ve written and give you feedback

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9 tips to write an effective reflective essay

2011-04-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

A reflective essay is an exploration of a topic using personal thought and experience. By using the topic at hand as a springboard, a writer can reflect on world events, personal history, emotional experience or objective fact. The goal of the reflective essay is ultimately to weave together reflections in a way that conveys a new thought to the reader. Ironically, this seemingly flowing essay requires a large amount of planning and structure during preparation.

Difficulty:
Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1.
* 1

Create your opening paragraph. Just like other forms of essays, your opening paragraph must be strong. Paint a picture to create a "hook" so that the reader becomes engaged. You can tell a brief story or weave together various facts with the same theme. End with your thesis sentence, a cohesive springboard for the reflections to come, rather than a single point that you will prove throughout the essay.
* 2

Make a "mind map" on a separate sheet of paper. Draw a circle with your topic written in the center and draw lines around it, extending out. At each point, create categories such as "experiences," "facts" and "world events." Draw circles around those categories, each with lines extending to further, more specific ideas. Brainstorm which personal experiences you can disclose in your essay, as well as facts or events you might include. From each specific idea, map out your thoughts and reactions.
* 3

Prepare and double-check any nonpersonal facts you will be using. The credibility of your essay will depend not only on the voice you develop as an author but also on the veracity of your facts or the historic events you recount.
* 4

Create an outline from your mind map. Select your strongest experiences and points and group them into paragraphs. Order the paragraphs in a logical way, focusing on the reflections the reader should absorb to follow the evolution of your thought. For instance, if you are writing about grief, you would want a paragraph dealing with reactions to death to precede one that centers on coping mechanisms.
* 5

Include specific personal experiences. Any experiences you recount should be brief, but make sure they are unique and concrete. Focus your memories to a short incident or experience, rather than leaning on vagary. For instance, in an essay about personal conflict, talk about a specific heated exchange with your father, rather than the fact you simply "fight a lot."
* 6

Write your essay using your outline as a guide. As you write, focus on vivid, honest language. Weave your points and experiences together in cohesive paragraphs. Keep one point or experience and its reflections to a single paragraph.
* 7

Set aside your work and review it after a break. Smooth out your transitions between paragraphs. One of the hardest parts of a reflective essay is to keep the reader tracking with your mental or emotional journey. Ask yourself how the reader would feel with all of this new information, and try to accommodate the uninitiated. Add explanation where necessary. Eliminate redundant sentences or paragraphs.
* 8

Broaden your point into a universal truth. After you have written your essay, write your conclusion. In the first sentence of your last paragraph, sum up what you have written so far. Your final goal in the rest of your closing paragraph is to push your essay one step further, toward a universal truth that applies to the topic at hand. Ask yourself some of these questions as you conclude your essay: What did you learn through these realizations and experiences? What action should an individual facing these issues take next? How can you reconcile your experience with the rest of the world?
* 9

Edit your work. When you think your essay is short enough, edit some more. First drafts of reflective essays are prone to rambling. Ensure your transitions are easy to follow and smooth, and that your points are salient. Seek to eliminate any excess phrasing. Ask friends to review your essay and to point out any awkward or confusing passages so you can fix them

Read more: How to Write an Effective Reflective Essay | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4531607_write-effective-reflective-essay.html#ixzz1JbJjmgML

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The importance of reflective writing

2011-04-15T07:04:00.001-07:00

Reflective writing is becoming more and more common in universities because it is seen as such a useful learning process. It is particularly popular in courses where students gain some practical experience (eg teaching, care work) and are then asked to reflect on their experience. The greatest danger is that students write a description of what happened. Simply writing about what happened to you is not reflection, it is a narrative account and you will not get good marks. The important thing about reflective writing is to think about what you have learned from the experience you had. The reason your university gives you practical work is to build up your experience, but an experience which is not reflected upon is not a useful one. You wouldn’t want to make the same mistakes again, would you? So you need to choose the most important aspects of your experience to talk about because otherwise your writing will degenerate into a descriptive account of what happened. Of course the most important things in your experience are often the worst things! It is important to show your feelings and concerns in reflective writing – but again be careful of simply describing how you felt at the time because description is not reflection. You should also be careful about writing a reflection too soon after an experience has happened. Imagine you do something (eg give a presentation) and immediately you are asked to write about it. If it went badly you are likely to have a very negative reflection and if it went well you would be so relieved that your reflection would say how great your presentation was. It is a good idea to make some notes immediately after your experience without writing the final reflection. After a few days of mulling things over (yes, that means thinking about it for a few days) look back at your notes and think of your experience again. Think about what you wrote – think about what you thought when you wrote the notes. Do you still feel the same? Now you might think your presentation wasn’t quite so bad. If you can show that you have reflected upon your thoughts and feelings then you are getting there. Very importantly, what will you differently next time to do it better? What have you learned?

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What is Reflective Writing~Free Sample Essays

2011-04-15T07:02:00.001-07:00

Reflective writing is writing which involves '… consideration of the larger context, the meaning, and the implications of an experience or action' (Branch & Paranjape, 2002, p. 1185). In medical and health science courses you are required to produce reflective writing in order to learn from educational and practical experiences, and to develop the habit of critical reflection as a future health professional.

Reflective writing may be based on:

* description and analysis of a learning experience within the course:

o a community placement

o a clinical placement

o a rural placement

* description and analysis of a past experience

* review of your learning or course to that point

* description and analysis of a critical incident.

Original source: Grab Your Example Essays Now

Critical Reading Towards Critical Writing

2011-04-15T06:59:00.001-07:00

Critical writing depends on critical reading. Most of the papers you write will involve reflection on written texts - the thinking and research that has already been done on your subject. In order to write your own analysis of this subject, you will need to do careful critical reading of sources and to use them critically to make your own argument. The judgments and interpretations you make of the texts you read are the first steps towards formulating your own approach.
Critical Reading: What is It?

To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is argued. This is a highly reflective skill requiring you to "stand back" and gain some distance from the text you are reading. (You might have to read a text through once to get a basic grasp of content before you launch into an intensive critical reading.) THE KEY IS THIS:

* don't read looking only or primarily for information
* do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter

When you are reading, highlighting, or taking notes, avoid extracting and compiling lists of evidence, lists of facts and examples. Avoid approaching a text by asking "What information can I get out of it?" Rather ask "How does this text work? How is it argued? How is the evidence (the facts, examples, etc.) used and interpreted? How does the text reach its conclusions?
How Do I Read Looking for Ways of Thinking?

1. First determine the central claims or purpose of the text (its thesis). A critical reading attempts to assess how these central claims are developed or argued.
2. Begin to make some judgements about context . What audience is the text written for? Who is it in dialogue with? (This will probably be other scholars or authors with differing viewpoints.) In what historical context is it written? All these matters of context can contribute to your assessment of what is going on in a text.
3. Distinguish the kinds of reasoning the text employs. What concepts are defined and used? Does the text appeal to a theory or theories? Is any specific methodology laid out? If there is an appeal to a particular concept, theory, or method, how is that concept, theory, or method then used to organize and interpret the data? You might also examine how the text is organized: how has the author analyzed (broken down) the material? Be aware that different disciplines (i.e. history, sociology, philosophy, biology) will have different ways of arguing.
4. Examine the evidence (the supporting facts, examples, etc) the text employs. Supporting evidence is indispensable to an argument. Having worked through Steps 1-3, you are now in a position to grasp how the evidence is used to develop the argument and its controlling claims and concepts. Steps 1-3 allow you to see evidence in its context. Consider the kinds of evidence that are used. What counts as evidence in this argument? Is the evidence statistical? literary? historical? etc. From what sources is the evidence taken? Are these sources primary or secondary?
5. Critical reading may involve evaluation. Your reading of a text is already critical if it accounts for and makes a series of judgments about how a text is argued. However, some essays may also require you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an argument. If the argument is strong, why? Could it be better or differently supported? Are there gaps, leaps, or inconsistencies in the argument? Is the method of analysis problematic? Could the evidence be interpreted differently? Are the conclusions warranted by the evidence presented? What are the unargued assumptions? Are they problematic? What might an opposing argument be?

Some Practical Tips

1. Critical reading occurs after some preliminary processes of reading. Begin by skimming research materials, especially introductions and conclusions, in order to strategically choose where to focus your critical efforts.
2. When highlighting a text or taking notes from it, teach yourself to highlight argument: those places in a text where an author explains her analytical moves, the concepts she uses, how she uses them, how she arrives at conclusions. Don't let yourself foreground and isolate facts and examples, no matter how interesting they may be. First, look for the large patterns that give purpose, order, and meaning to those examples. The opening sentences of paragraphs can be important to this task.
3. When you begin to think about how you might use a portion of a text in the argument you are forging in your own paper, try to remain aware of how this portion fits into the whole argument from which it is taken. Paying attention to context is a fundamental critical move.
4. When you quote directly from a source, use the quotation critically. This means that you should not substitute the quotation for your own articulation of a point. Rather, introduce the quotation by laying out the judgments you are making about it, and the reasons why you are using it. Often a quotation is followed by some further analysis.
5. Critical reading skills are also critical listening skills. In your lectures, listen not only for information but also for ways of thinking. Your instructor will often explicate and model ways of thinking appropriate to a discipline.

Original source: Grab Your Example Essays Now

What is critical writing and descriptive writing

2011-04-15T06:58:00.001-07:00

What is critical writing
— filed under: Communicating your research, Resources, Writing

Study guide

It is common for feedback on student writing to focus on the need to engage more critically with the source material. Typical comments from tutors are: ‘too descriptive’, or ‘not enough critical analysis’. This Study Guide gives ideas for how to improve the level of critical analysis you demonstrate in your writing. Other Study Guides you may find useful are: What is Critical Reading? Using Paragraphs and The Art of Editing.
What is critical writing?

The most characteristic features of critical writing are:

* a clear and confident refusal to accept the conclusions of other writers without evaluating the arguments and evidence that they provide;
* a balanced presentation of reasons why the conclusions of other writers may be accepted or may need to be treated with caution;
* a clear presentation of your own evidence and argument, leading to your conclusion; and
* a recognition of the limitations in your own evidence, argument, and conclusion.

What is descriptive writing?

The most characteristic features of descriptive writing are that it will describe something, but will not go beyond an account of what appears to be there. A certain amount of descriptive writing is needed to establish for example:

* the setting of the research;
* a general description of a piece of literature, or art;
* the list of measurements taken;
* the timing of the research;
* an account of the biographical details of a key figure in the discipline; or
* a brief summary of the history leading up to an event or decision.

The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing

With descriptive writing you are not developing argument; you are merely setting the background within which an argument can be developed. You are representing the situation as it stands, without presenting any analysis or discussion.

Descriptive writing is relatively simple. There is also the trap that it can be easy to use many, many words from your word limit, simply providing description.

In providing only description, you are presenting but not transforming information; you are reporting ideas but not taking them forward in any way. An assignment using only descriptive writing would therefore gain few marks.

With critical writing you are participating in the academic debate. This is more challenging and risky. You need to weigh up the evidence and arguments of others, and to contribute your own. You will need to:

* consider the quality of the evidence and argument you have read;
* identify key positive and negative aspects you can comment upon;
* assess their relevance and usefulness to the debate that you are engaging in for your assignment; and
* identify how best they can be woven into the argument that you are developing.

A much higher level of skill is clearly needed for critical writing than for descriptive writing, and this is reflected in the higher marks it is given.
Finding your academic voice

When you engage in critical writing you are developing your own academic voice within your subject. Wellington et al. (2005 p.84) offer some suggestions for distinguishing between the academic and the non-academic voice. They suggest that the academic voice will involve:

* “healthy scepticism … but not cynicism;
* confidence … but not ‘cockiness’ or arrogance;
* judgement which is critical … but not dismissive;
* opinions … without being opinionated;
* careful evaluation of published work … not serial shooting at random targets;
* being ‘fair’: assessing fairly the strengths and weaknesses of other people’s ideas and writing … without prejudice; and
* making judgements on the basis of considerable thought and all the available evidence … as opposed to assertions without reason.”

Wellington J., Bathmaker A., Hunt C., McCulloch G. and Sikes P. (2005). Succeeding with your doctorate. London: Sage.

Try to get into the habit of writing critically, by making sure that you read critically, and that you include critique in your writing.
Stringing together of quotes

It can be tempting to string together quotes to support an argument, feeling that the more quotes you include, the stronger your argument. It is important, however, to remember that you also need to interpret the quotes to the reader, and to explain their relevance, discuss their validity, and show how they relate to other evidence.
Strategic use of paragraphs

There are several ways in which you can use the paragraph to enhance your critical writing.

You can use paragraphs to make a clear and visual separation between descriptive writing and critical analysis, by switching to a new paragraph when you move from description to critical writing, and vice versa. This can help in:

* emphasising to the reader that you are including both description and critical analysis, by providing a visual representation of their separation; and
* pushing you to produce the necessary critical writing, especially if you find that your description paragraphs are always longer, or more frequent, than your critical analysis paragraphs.

A paragraph break can provide a brief pause for your readers within a longer argument; giving them the opportunity to make sure they are keeping up with your reasoning. Paragraphs that are overly long can require readers to hold too much in their mind at once, resulting in their having to re-read the material until they can identify the point you are making.

You can also use paragraphs to push yourself to include critical writing alongside descriptive writing or referencing, by considering each paragraph almost as an essay in miniature. Within each paragraph you would:

* introduce the point you want to make;
* make the point, with supporting evidence;
* reflect critically on the point.

If it’s worth including, it’s worth telling us why

A certain amount of descriptive writing is essential, particularly in the earlier parts of the essay or assignment or dissertation. Beyond that, however, there is a danger that too much descriptive writing will use up valuable words from your word limit, and reduce the space you have for the critical writing that will get you higher marks.

A useful habit to get into is to make sure that, if you describe some evidence relevant to your argument, you need then to explain to the reader why it is relevant. The logic of your explanation contributes to the critical component of your writing.

So, a sentence or two might describe and reference the evidence, but this is not enough in itself. The next few sentences need to explain what this evidence contributes to the argument you are making. This may feel like duplication at first, or that you are explaining something that is obvious, but it is your responsibility to ensure that the relevance of the evidence is explained to the reader; you should not simply assume that the reader will be following the same logic as you, or will just work out the relevance of the quote or data you have described.
Line of argument

So far this Study Guide has considered the detail of what you write. The other key element in critical writing is the overall structure of your piece of writing. For maximum effectiveness, your writing needs to have a line, or lines of argument running through it from the Introduction to the Conclusion.

Just as you have used paragraphs on a micro scale to present your critical writing, so you need to consider the ordering of those paragraphs within the overall structure. The aim is to lead your readers carefully through the thread of your argument, to a well-supported conclusion.
Example of effective critical writing

The text below is an example of good critical writing, and is based on essay material supplied by University of Leicester’s School of Psychology.

The author refers to the available evidence, but also evaluates the validity of that evidence, and assesses what contribution it can realistically make to the debate.
There are a number of inherent methodological difficulties in evaluating treatment efficacy in this area, and this has contributed to controversy within the research literature surrounding treatment outcomes for this group of offenders (Marshall, 1997). Firstly, while there is no doubt that the primary criterion of treatment success is a reduction in the rate of re-offending (Marshall et al., 1999), reconviction data does not, in isolation, provide a realistic representation of actual levels of re-offending by this group. It is well established that there is a discrepancy between re-offending and reconviction rates: the latter underestimating the number of offences committed (Grubin, 1999). Indeed, a significant proportion of offences committed by offenders are either unreported, or do not result in the offender being convicted (Abel et al., 1987).

You can see how the author is considering the available evidence, but also the limitations on that evidence, and will be taking all of this into account in drawing conclusions.
Checklist for an overall review of your writing

It is always worth taking a critical look at your own writing before submitting it for assessment. The kinds of questions that might be useful to ask at that stage are:
What is the balance between descriptive and critical writing?

While a certain amount of description is necessary to set the context for your analysis, the main characteristic of academic writing is its critical element. A useful way to check this balance in your own writing is to use two coloured pens and to mark in the margin whether the lines are descriptive or critical. The balance will change at different points, but you need to make sure there is enough of the colour that represents critical writing.
Why should the reader be convinced by what I’ve just written?

Remember that, just as you are asking ‘Why should I believe what I’ve just read?’, the readers of your work will be asking the same question of your writing. A critical read through your own writing may reveal gaps in your logic, which you can rectify before you submit it for the critique of others.
Is my conclusion trailed and supported sufficiently well by my preceding analysis and argument?

Check out the conclusions that you have drawn, then locate and check the supporting evidence you provide earlier on. This is a good way of making sure you haven’t forgotten to include a crucial piece of evidence. It is also a way of checking that, when your reader comes to the end of your writing, the conclusions make sense, rather than being a surprise, or an unconvincing leap of logic.
Have I included any unsubstantiated statements?

Sometimes a generalised, sweeping statement can slip through: the kind of statement that might be acceptable on conversation, but not in academic writing. There are three main ways of dealing with such statements:

* present the evidence to support the statement
* re-phrase the statement to sound more cautious e.g.: ‘it could be argued …’ or ‘this suggests that …’
* remove the statement

Original source: Grab Your Example Essays Now

Tips to write an effective critical essay

2011-04-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

The word "critical" has positive as well as negative meanings. You can write a critical essay that agrees entirely with the reading. The word "critical" describes your attitude when you read the article. This attitude is best described as "detached evaluation," meaning that you weigh the coherence of the reading, the completeness of its data, and so on, before you accept or reject it.

A critical essay or review begins with an analysis or exposition of the reading, article-by-article, book by book. Each analysis should include the following points:
1. A summary of the author's point of view, including
a brief statement of the author's main idea (i.e., thesis or theme)
an outline of the important "facts" and lines of reasoning the author used to support the main idea
a summary of the author's explicit or implied values
a presentation of the author's conclusion or suggestions for action
2. An evaluation of the author's work, including
an assessment of the "facts" presented on the basis of correctness, relevance, and whether or not pertinent facts were omitted
an evaluation or judgment of the logical consistency of the author's argument
an appraisal of the author's values in terms of how you feel or by an accepted standard

Once the analysis is completed, check your work! Ask yourself, "Have I read all the relevant (or assigned) material?" "Do I have complete citations?" If not, complete the work! The following steps are how this is done.

Now you can start to write the first draft of your expository essay/literature review. Outline the conflicting arguments, if any; this will be part of the body of your expository essay/literature review.

Ask yourself, "Are there other possible positions on this matter?" If so, briefly outline them. Decide on your own position (it may agree with one of the competing arguments) and state explicitly the reason(s) why you hold that position by outlining the consistent facts and showing the relative insignificance of contrary facts. Coherently state your position by integrating your evaluations of the works you read. This becomes your conclusions section.

Briefly state your position, state why the problem you are working on is important, and indicate the important questions that need to be answered; this is your "Introduction." Push quickly through this draft--don't worry about spelling, don't search for exactly the right word, don't hassle yourself with grammar, don't worry overmuch about sequence--that's why this is called a "rough draft." Deal with these during your revisions. The point of a rough draft is to get your ideas on paper. Once they are there, you can deal with the superficial (though very important) problems.

Consider this while writing:

* The critical essay is informative; it emphasizes the literary work being studied rather than the feelings and opinions of the person writing about the literary work; in this kind of writing, all claims made about the work need to be backed up with evidence.
* The difference between feelings and facts is simple--it does not matter what you believe about a book or play or poem; what matters is what you can prove about it, drawing upon evidence found in the text itself, in biographies of the author, in critical discussions of the literary work, etc.
* Criticism does not mean you have to attack the work or the author; it simply means you are thinking critically about it, exploring it and discussing your findings.
* In many cases, you are teaching your audience something new about the text.
* The literary essay usually employs a serious and objective tone. (Sometimes, depending on your audience, it is all right to use a lighter or even humorous tone, but this is not usually the case).
* Use a "claims and evidence" approach. Be specific about the points you are making about the novel, play, poem, or essay you are discussing and back up those points with evidence that your audience will find credible and appropriate. If you want to say, "The War of the Worlds is a novel about how men and women react in the face of annihilation, and most of them do not behave in a particularly courageous or noble manner," say it, and then find evidence that supports your claim.
* Using evidence from the text itself is often your best option. If you want to argue, "isolation drives Frankenstein's creature to become evil," back it up with events and speeches from the novel itself.
* Another form of evidence you can rely on is criticism, what other writers have claimed about the work of literature you are examining. You may treat these critics as "expert witnesses," whose ideas provide support for claims you are making about the book. In most cases, you should not simply provide a summary of what critics have said about the literary work.
* In fact, one starting point might be to look at what a critic has said about one book or poem or story and then a) ask if the same thing is true of another book or poem or story and 2) ask what it means that it is or is not true.
* Do not try to do everything. Try to do one thing well. And beware of subjects that are too broad; focus your discussion on a particular aspect of a work rather than trying to say everything that could possibly be said about it.
* Be sure your discussion is well organized. Each section should support the main idea. Each section should logically follow and lead into the sections that come before it and after it. Within each paragraph, sentences should be logically connected to one another.
* Remember that in most cases you want to keep your tone serious and objective.
* Be sure your essay is free of mechanical and stylistic errors.
* If you quote or summarize (and you will probably have to do this) be sure you follow an appropriate format (MLA format is the most common one when examining literature) and be sure you provide a properly formatted list of works cited at the end of your essay.

It is easy to choose the topics for critical essay type. For example, you can choose a novel or a movie to discuss. It is important to choose the topic you are interested and familiar with. Here are the examples of popular critical essay topics:

* The Politics of Obama
* The Educational System of US
* My Favorite Movie
* Home Scholl
* “The Match Point” by Woody Allen
* Shakespeare “The Merchant of Venice”

Original source: Grab Your Example Essays Now

Commercial Law-B288X2RG97KM

2011-04-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

Question 1 (5 marks)

9 Dragons Shipping, a company in Can Tho that ships items by airplane, was hired to ship 10,000 live chickens from Can Tho to Ha Noi.

While on his way to deliver the chickens to Ha Noi, the pilot for 9 Dragons Shipping, Mr. Bao, decided that instead of going straight to Ha Noi, he would turn his airplane to the east and visit his family in Cam Ranh before continuing to Ha Noi.

As he flew over Phan Thiet on his way to Cam Ranh, Mr. Bao noticed a big red button in his airplane that was labelled:

Mr. Bao was curious and decided to push the button to see what would happen. When he did, all 10,000 of the live chickens were ejected from the airplane and fell toward the earth.

The chickens landed on a surfboard shop in Phan Thiet and completely destroyed the shop. For three days, the surfboard shop was covered with dead chickens, which looked and smelled terrible.

Ms. Thuy is the owner of an outdoor patio café next door to the surfboard shop. Luckily, none of the chickens hit Ms. Thuy’s café, but because of the dead chickens next door, no customers came to Ms. Thuy’s café for three days and she lost $3,000 in profits.

(A) Ms. Thuy hires you as her lawyer and says she wants to sue Mr. Bao. Please fully advise Ms. Thuy about all common law claims she might have against Mr. Bao.
(B) Ms. Thuy asks you whether she should also sue 9 Dragons Shipping. Please fully advise Ms. Thuy about any problems she might face if she decides to sue 9 Dragons Shipping in addition to Mr. Bao.

Question 2 (5 marks)

Zed Pty. Ltd. is a Melbourne-based company that manufactures “No-Brand Name” orange flavoured sore throat medicine tablets. Zed sells these to Stressils Ltd., a company based out of Sydney that puts a label on the medicine boxes that says “”Made by Stressils to Relieve Sore Throats”.

In manufacturing one batch of medicine that is sold to Stressils Ltd., Zed Pty. Ltd. accidentally puts twice the medicine in each tablet. This has the effect of causing people who take a tablet to feel very sleepy.

Mr. Hoa is at his friend’s house, and sees a box of Stressils on the table. Having a sore throat, he decides to take one. Afterwards, he is driving home on his motorbike and he falls asleep while driving and crashes into a wall. Mr. Hoa suffers a broken leg and must spend three weeks in the hospital, which costs him $2000. Additionally, he loses salary from his job in an amount of $1500.

Please advise Mr. Hoa as to any statutory claims he may have under Part VA of the Trade Practices Act.

Lessons of Fort Sumter There is no substitute for principled leadership in war

2011-04-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

The first shot of the Civil War is said to have been fired by a newspaper editor. In the early-morning dark of April 12, 1861, Edmund Ruffin, a self-declared hater of the "Yankee race," volunteered for the symbolic task; the round he fired, wrote historian Shelby Foote, "drew a red parabola against the sky and burst with a glare, outlining the dark pentagon of Fort Sumter." Four thousand more rounds were needed to induce the Fort's surrender; 620,000 Americans would die in the war that was there begun.

Hence the first lesson of Fort Sumter: War is too important to be left to the journalists.

But that isn't the only lesson, and Fort Sumter is worth remembering for reasons other than today's sesquicentennial. The crisis over the Charleston harbor fort had been brewing since South Carolina's secession the previous December, which included the demand that federal forces leave the state. It came closer to a head with Abraham Lincoln's pledge, in his first inaugural on March 4, 1861, to "hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government." Fort Sumter was one of four federal forts in what by then was Confederate territory.

The next day, Lincoln received a report from Maj. Robert Anderson, Fort Sumter's commander, that he had only six weeks of provisions left. Lincoln then asked his top general, Winfield Scott, what it would take to hold the fort. Scott answered that 25,000 soldiers would be required, and that it would take six to eight months to organize a relief flotilla. At the time, the entire U.S. army numbered 16,000 men.

That advice led straight to the conclusion that the garrison would have to be abandoned. But Lincoln was loath to agree, not least because he believed that the fort's surrender would be "utterly ruinous . . . that, at home, it would discourage the friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to insure to the latter, a recognition abroad." So he looked for, and got, a second military opinion from former Navy Lt. Gustavus Vasa Fox, who had an ingenious (and ultimately untested) plan to relieve the fort by sea.

Hence the second lesson: The views of senior military officials are not dispositive. Presidents have a responsibility to scout around for options. And the question of the "objective" military situation always has to be weighed against broader political and psychological goals.

Yet Lincoln also faced vexing political and psychological questions. Just as his first inaugural had promised to hold fast to federal property, he had promised, too, that the first shot would not come from him. "The government will not assail you," he had told his "dissatisfied fellow countrymen" in the South. "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."

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Corbis

Illustration of the Bombardment of Fort Sumter
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As most of Lincoln's cabinet saw it, the resupply of the fort was bound to be viewed by Southerners as an act of aggression. Secretary of State William Seward, who thought of himself as the brains behind the throne, fretted that an expedition would "provoke combat, and probably initiate a war." He was particularly keen to shore up Unionist sentiment in slave states that hadn't yet seceded, particularly Virginia.

Seward's advice to Lincoln was to change the subject. He wanted to abandon Fort Sumter but save face by relieving Fort Pickens in Florida. He wanted to let the seven seceding states go without a fight so they could stew in their own juices. He wanted to pick quarrels with foreign powers to turn American energies toward a common cause.

Lincoln would have none of this. "Stand firm," he advised one congressman. "The tug has to come and better now, than any time hereafter." Hence the third lesson: Crises cannot be solved by deflecting the issue, or by postponing the reckoning, or by compromising on core principles. And conciliation has its limits.

Lincoln thus embarked on an attempt to relieve Fort Sumter. By then, most of his cabinet had come around to supporting the effort, demonstrating a fourth lesson: Determined leadership tends to beget devoted followership. But the expedition quickly devolved into a comedy of military errors, with Lincoln inadvertently signing contradictory orders as to just which fort, Sumter or Pickens, the Navy's most powerful ship should be sent to relieve.

The blame for the mix-up might fairly have been laid on Seward. Yet Lincoln, according to Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, "took upon himself the whole blame—said it was carelessness, heedlessness on his part—he ought to have been more attentive." Hence lessons five and six: In war, execution is critical. But what is absolutely paramount is that the president assume ultimate responsibility for the failures of his administration.

Throughout the crisis, Lincoln remained determined to preserve the moral high ground in the contest for public opinion. Ruffin's shot gave him that. Maj. Anderson surrendered after a 34-hour bombardment. Lincoln called for 75,000 army volunteers and immediately got 92,000. Which offers a final lesson: Small and temporary reversals in battle can lay the foundations for eventual and lasting triumph in war.

Write to bstephens@wsj.com

Civil War's dirty secret about slavery

2011-04-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Editor's note: James DeWolf Perry and Katrina Browne work at the Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery and appear in Browne's PBS documentary, "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North." They are descendants of the DeWolf family of Rhode Island, which from 1769 to 1820 brought more enslaved Africans to the Americas than any other family.

(CNN) -- This week marks the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, a war that redefined national and regional identities and became an enduring tale of noble resistance in the South and, for the rest of the country, a mighty moral struggle to erase the stain of slavery.

On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces opened fire on the beleaguered Union garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. By April 14, the fort had fallen and the war had begun in earnest.

By the time Fort Sumter was again in Union hands, following the evacuation of Charleston in the closing days of the war in 1865, the war had become the bloodiest in the nation's history -- and has not been surpassed. Yet the relationship of the North to the South, and to slavery before and during the war is not at all what we remember today. The reality is that both North and South were profoundly complicit in slavery and deeply reluctant to abolish our nation's "peculiar institution."

To see this, start by considering the response of New York City to secession. On January 7, 1861, after the secession of South Carolina but before any other state joined in rebellion, Mayor Fernando Wood delivered his annual message to the New York City Council. Would the mayor of the largest and wealthiest northern city denounce the southern cause? Rally his fellow citizens around the Union and its president-elect, Abraham Lincoln? Perhaps lament the necessity of a bloody moral struggle to abolish slavery?
Both North and South were profoundly complicit in slavery and deeply reluctant to abolish our nation's 'peculiar institution.'
--James Perry and Katrina Browne

Wood did none of these things. Instead, he announced that New York offered "friendly relations and a common sympathy" with the "aggrieved brethren of the slave states." He then offered the bold proposal that New York City secede, as well, forming an independent city-state. This move, he argued, "would have the whole and united support of the southern states" and would allow the city to avoid breaking off its existing relationships with the slave states.

Of course, New York did not secede from the Union. But why did this northern mayor, along with many of his fellow citizens, so dramatically embrace the southern cause?

The first answer is cotton. Cotton -- southern, slave-picked cotton -- was the mainstay of New York City's antebellum economy, and indeed, of the North's. In 1860, the South produced 2.3 billion pounds of cotton, accounting for two-thirds of world production and more than half the value of all U.S. exports. Most of this wealth, however, flowed north and west, as these regions provided the financing, insurance, marketing, transportation, foodstuffs and manufactured goods for southern slave plantations. Even the growing industrialization of the North took the form of cotton textile mills, which were dependent on southern cotton production.

The critical linkage of northern industrialization and southern slavery, while generally ignored or downplayed in the past, has been drawing increasing attention from historians, as brought out at a conference on slavery and the U.S. economy this past week, organized by Seth Rockman of Brown University and Sven Beckert of Harvard University.

No one profited more handsomely from the cotton trade and the textile industry than New York's financial and maritime interests. Yet Wood was not in the pocket of big business; he was a populist supported by the city's working-class immigrants. New York's laborers, bolstered by waves of Irish and other immigrants, were just as dependent for their modest wages on King Cotton, and like other ordinary northerners, they knew it.

This leads us to the second answer: Racism. The North had seen slave-owning slowly fade away, and had grudgingly passed emancipation laws to gradually eliminate slavery over generations. Yet even as northern slavery was dying out -- indeed, precisely because it was -- free blacks in the North were increasingly ill-treated.

Draconian laws tightly controlled the lives and employment of free blacks, and black families were being driven out of northern towns by being deemed poor or disorderly or simply through armed attack. Finally, as the North began to erase responsibility for two centuries of slave-owning from its collective memory, an ideology of black racial inferiority arose to justify the impoverished conditions and harsh treatment of a free black population.

In the same vein, wealthy northern business interests had little regard for enslaved people in the South on whose labor their profits depended. And the working class viewed southern slaves not with sympathy, but as economic competition whose working conditions -- they mistakenly thought -- were no worse than those of northern "wage slaves." This is why New York City's working class, rioting against the Union draft in 1863, would turn to lynching free black men, women and children in the streets.

Abolition was a radical cause embraced by only a minority in the North. Northerners would march to war in vast numbers not to end slavery, but to preserve the Union.

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War -- 2011 to 2015 -- could easily become an occasion to rehash tired old myths: righteous northerners fighting to abolish slavery and proud southerners defending states' rights and the southern way of life. These beliefs provide each side with the smug view that history vindicates its actions and absolves it of responsibility for slavery.

Instead, let's use this anniversary to face and learn from our shared history in all its complexity. In this way, we can take a fresh look not only at the legacy of the Civil War for race in our society, but at lingering tensions between North and South, as well.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writers.

Lone mortar shell in Charleston opens 150th anniversary of Civil War

2011-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
Update at 10:12 a.m. ET: Cannon roared today in Hartford, Conn., to mark the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the bloody four-year war, The Hartford Courant reports, noting that 5,354 Connecticut men died in the conflict.

On April 13, 1861, the then-Hartford Daily Courant declared in an editorial about the assault on Fort Sumter:

Let it be forever remembered that the greatest crime committed since the crucifixion of our Saviour was wantonly and willfully committed in behalf of American Slavery!

Earlier posting: The fiery blast from a lone mortar at 6:45 a.m. today near Fort Sumter marked the start of the Civil War 150 years ago and the beginning of a four-year commemoration of the conflict that cost 600,000 lives, The Post & Courier reports.

Civil War re-enactors fire a 21-gun salute at Fort Johnson near Fort Sumter today to commemorate the moment the first shots of the Civil War were fired 150 years ago.
CAPTION
By Alice Keeney, AP
The mortar round on a grassy point near Fort Johnson in South Carolina triggered a bombardment of cannons lining the harbor toward Fort Sumter, which Union troops held April 12, 1861. A "star shell" was also fired into the sky today, signaling re-enactors who have been encamped in the Charleston area to begin reliving the attack that started the conflict.

Cannon set up around the harbor will fire throughout the morning in recognition of the bombardment, the Charleston newspaper reports.

"This was history, again, in the making," state Sen. Glen McConnell of Charleston, the main speaker at Fort Johnson, said of today's ceremony.

The lights, representing a divided nation, shine at Fort Sumter early today to commemorate the moment the first shots of the Civil War were fired in Charleston, S.C., in 1861.
CAPTION
By Alice Keeney, AP
The stage was set for this morning's events at 4 a.m. when a single beam of light reached skyward from Fort Sumter. About a half-hour later, there was a second beam signifying a nation torn in two.

The Associated Press recalled a dispatch to the AP in 1861 by an unnamed correspondent who observed the bombardment of Fort Sumter. He wrote of gun emplacements being "shot away" and shells falling "thick and fast."

"The ball has opened. War is inaugurated ... Fort Sumter has returned the fire, and brisk cannonading has been kept up," the correspondent wrote.

Business Statistics-Research on Mobile Phone in Vietnam-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:35:00.001-07:00

1. ABSTRACT:
Mobile phone becomes the necessary important thing to everybody in the modern life. Therefore, we want to know what the aspects that everybody concern when buying a mobile phone are. Are the price affected by the other factors? The result brings us many surprises; the gender is not the element has the impact on the price. In this report, we will point out the other significant aspects affect that factor.
2. INTRODUCTION:
Vietnam is the developing country in the world, which is a good place investment for foreign companies or businesses. Therefore, it promotes the competition between many companies.
. One example is the price of mobile phone is decreased but the functions are graded up and have more functions that are modern.
This survey shows that it is a common for a person who prefer buying a mobile phone based on the distributor or outside with lower price. Beside that, the owner took into account many aspects in order to have a satisfied mobile phone and a suitable price.
What could be the basic elements and how much does it influence to decide the changes mobile phone? In addition, one could be interested in to interrelate and interact among those aspects each other.
3. SURVEY ON THE LITERATURE
At the last 5-9 years, Vietnamese people consider as mobile phone is luxury thing with very expensive price. However at the end of 2004, the number of new subscriber increased dramatically 57.82% with 2,462,792 new subscribers. The total subscriber in 2004 is 4,259,411 subscribers (http://vietnamnet.vn/). According to EIU (Economists magazine of UK), they predict there will be 27.4 phones user / 100 Vietnamese people in 2011. Now, the mobile phones network is better and it can be cover all of 62 provinces and cities in Vietnam with many services: GPRS, developing the 3G and push-to-talk services. Furthermore, in 2004 the tax of mobile phones is changed from 15% to 10%, and 10% to 5% (http://www.mof.gov.vn). For all the above advantages, mobile phone becomes one of the most effective tools in communication field. Every body has a phone for many purposes: for assisting in working, for contact with every body, for entertainment with music, games for some helpful function such as: camera, Wireless, GPS.
4. METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS
a. Data collection instrument
We have designed the survey form, which is shown in the appendix. Our survey has 12 questions, which are divided, into three sections. In the first section which includes four questions, we ask people about their personal information such as gender, age, occupation and whether they use mobile phone or not. The second section includes six questions, which ask people some information about their mobile phone. For instance, brand, length of using time, price are considered. In the last section, we want to know what factors people prefer when buying mobile phone such as function, price, camera, etc.
b. Sampling Plan

Nowadays, with the significant development of telecommunication, mobile has become a necessary tools for every one in social life. There are various kinds of phone with different price, functions, design… for different hobbies. Therefore, our survey, which is show the association between the gender or age of owner and the price of the mobile phone, is very useful for referencing.
First of all, our group decides to choose students and staff in RMIT University as our survey’s sample. The reason is it is convenience for us to do the survey, moreover, we can sure that almost student as well as staff here use mobile phone and they are eager to do our survey.
Secondly, we discuss about the method of selecting a sample and the answer is Stratified Random sampling. We divided the sample into 4 groups which is has different characteristic: Staff, Bachelor, HED and English student .The purpose of this is to get the overall opinion not only focus on one style. . Then, we must choose random sampling in male or female, because we can’t choose exactly 50% for each of them. The advantages of Stratified Sampling method are that it is more representative of the population, simple, cheap, quite exactly and logical.
Finally, we begin to hand out our survey, the place that we choose is everywhere in the campus which can help us to accomplish the task, such as labs, ILC, canteen, classroom etc.
And weekday in the morning afternoon from 1 to 5 pm is the suitable time for us to complete because that is the time that most RMIT staff and students present at the school or finish studying so they are able to do the survey quicker and we reduce the sampling error such as coverage error.
c. Data collection Process
There are two types of probabilities of sampling that we use to collect the data:
• Simple Random Sample: it means that the chance of being selected of each individual is equal to one another.
• Stratified Sample: we divided the population into 4 groups which has the same characteristic. Then, we took a sample of each to do analysis.
There are five members in our group. Four members issued the survey and one member had to collect and organize the data. We split into four different areas with four targets: English, HED, Degree students and Staff. For English students, we waited outside the English lab or some English classrooms and asked any students who came out or in these areas. For HED and Degree students, it was much easier because they were everywhere. For Staff, we chose teachers most because they are common in the number of staff. We tried to do the survey on various kinds of people such as age, sex because they are one of the most important parts in our survey and we could reduce sampling error.
 Response rate
We issued 100 surveys and got 100 answers, which meant the response rate is 100%.
 Positive and negative side:
• Positive sides:
Each group has their own characteristics that represent the entire population effectively.
• Negative sides:
The number of RMIT students and staffs is about 3000 but we only took 100 to do the survey, so the sampling error will surely occur which has a significant effect on our results.
Coverage Error: unintended bias collection
d. Analysis Technique:
In this section, we use three kinds of analysis: Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate.
Univariate analysis: this type is divided into two:
• Descriptive Statistics: to show each question’s results about Central of Tendency, Std Deviation and Frequency Distribution…
• Independent- sample t- test
• Bivariate Analysis: one way ANOVA (Analysis of Variation), this method is used on questions which have more than two options. We also use Chi- square to analyze.
• Multivariate Analysis: Regression Linear is used to show the impacts of factors to price of mobile phone.
5. Analysis
a. Univariate

Question 1:

In this question, we have 51 males and 49 female answer this question. 51 males out of 100 people is about 51% compare with 49% for females.

How gender causes impact on the mobile phone price?

We do the T-Test in order to find out what is the impact that gender. We do the T-Test in order to find out what is the impact that gender make on the price of mobile phone. Base on the statistic chart, we got the Mean- the amounts of money people have to pay in average for having a cell phone. As the result, we can conclude that Male spend more than Female for having a mobile phone with the Mean are 4639411.76 compare with 4147959.18. SD for male is 3942194.522 which means the money male spend for mobile phone is 3942194.522 VND cluster around the mean of 4639411.76 VND. SD for female is 2529533.043 VND, implying the answer scatter around the mean of 4147959.18 VND within the area of 2529533.043 VND.

Question 2:

We asked 100 persons and got 100% response. For people with the ages ’10-20’, we got 38 with 38% valid and the same number for the ages’20-30’. The ages between 30 and 45, 18 response have 18% valid. Moreover, we have just 6% for people over 45 years old.

Descriptive Statistics

The minimum value is 1 which is represent for ’10-20’ and the maximum one is 4, that represent for the age ‘above 45’. The mean is 1.92 that means the average ages fall in people from 10 and 30. The SD shows that the age of people cluster around the mean of 1.92 within the area .895

Question 3: What is your occupation?

In this question, we distribute our member to classify who is the English, HED student, Degree or staff. We got the answers are divided into 25% valid for each occupation.

Question 5:

People who have used mobile phone less than 1 year are 10 persons which have 10% valid. We got 45% valid for 45 people use mobile phone ‘1-3 years’ and the same valid for people have used More than 3 years.

Minimum valid is 1 which represent for people using mobile phone Less than 1 year and the maximum valid is 3 for those using more than 3 years. The mean is 2.35 that mean the average of price of mobile phone fall into two categories ‘1-3 year’ and ‘more than 3 years’. SD is .657 shows that the duration of using mobile phone is distributed around the mean 2.35 within the area is .657

Question 6:

In this question, we listed 6 most popular brand names of mobile phone for people easy to recognize and ‘other’ for another brand. We got back 100% response, the statistic numbers show that Nokia is the best brand which has 45% valid out of 100. Next position is Samsung that has 22% compare with 100%. People choose Motorola as 3rd with 15% valid. Sony Ericsson and other brands have the same position as 4th place with 8 out of 100. Next, LG and Siemens are two brands which people least using with 1% valid.

Question 7:

This question is scale question which requires people tick in numbers with have value from 1 to 10 to show their thinking about the role of mobile phone for their life. The minimum value is 1 which means Not Important, 5 for Normal and 10 for Very Important. The highest value is 8 with has 25% valid. 23 people out of 100 think that mobile phone is extreme important with them. Next, 23% valid is belong to 7. The following positions are belonging to 9 with 11% valid; 5 with 9% compare with 8% valid for number 8. There is just 1 person think that mobile phone is not important at all and 1 rank mobile phone role number 4, both of them have 1% valid.

The mean of this question is 7.81 imply that people consider that mobile phone’s role is important enough with them, SD is 1.739 means the role of mobile phone cluster around the mean 7.81 within the area of 1.739.

Question 8:

69 people think that buying a mobile phone from distribution is safe, quality…with 69% valid compare with 31% valid of buying an outside phone with lower price.

Where you buy your mobile and how it affects to the price of mobile phone?

By doing T-Test, we can come up to some conclusions. If people want to have a good cell phone from excusive distribution, they have to pay more (4479130.43 VND), 4219354.84 VND for those buy mobile phone from outside with no warranty.
SD for distribution is 3267089.791, implying that when you buy the cell phone from Distribution, the approximate money you pay is 3267089.791 VND cluster around the mean (4479130.43 VND). SD for buying outside is 3478234.165 that mean buying the cell phone from Outside, the approximate money you pay is 3267089.791 VND distributes around the mean (4219354.84 VND)

Question 9:

The minimum value for this question is 1 which means Never change their phone, 5 for Sometime and 10 for very often.
We got answer for this question is 1 and maximum value is 8. 31 people out of 100 think that they sometimes change they mobile for some reasons, it has 31% valid. 21% valid for number 3, next place is number 4 with has 14% valid. The following position is 2 with 12% valid. There are 9 people choose number 1 that means they never change their mobile for any reason which has 9% valid. Next are 6 with 6% valid, 8 with just 4% valid and last one is 7 with 3% valid.
Mean is 3.96 which imply that the duration of people fall in two the range between 3 and 4, so people sometime change their phone. SD is 1.729 means the duration of mobile phone cluster around the mean 3.96 within the area of 1.729

Question 11.1:

We have 58 person interested in the function (camera) with 58% valid and 42 people don’t need this function with 42% valid.

Question 11.2:

People seem consider that Internet connection is not necessary, so 82 out of 100 say ‘no’ for this one with 82% valid. There is just 8 people need this function for their mobile phone associated with 8% valid

Question 11.3:

This function got a good result from people; they like to use their phone as a Mp3 music player. 76 persons would like to have this function with 76% valid. 24 out of 100 don’t need this one (24% valid)

Question 11.4:

3 out 4 people were asked say ‘no’ with games and a quarter say ‘yes’, the statistic valid are 75% and 25%

Question 11: Which function that affects to the mobile phone price?
a. Camera

We asked people about do they want to have camera in your mobile phone. For the people say “yes”, they have to pay approximate 4821724.14 VND and 3814285.71 VND for those say “no”, so the people want to have camera in their mobile phone have to pay more ( about 1000000 VND) than those don’t need this function.
b. Internet Connection

This T-Test shows us that if people want to have the internet connection in the mobile phone, they have to pay 6600555.56 VND and just 3915243.90 VND for having no internet connection. The different amount is up to nearly 2600000VND- a big amount. That prove the internet connection is very expensive function.

c. Mp3 music player

Depend on the statistic chart; the numbers of people having the Mp3 music player spend 4170526.32 VND while those don’t use this function have to spend 5120833.33 VND. In this case, it doesn’t mean this function (Mp3 music player) makes the price of cell phone decrease. There are some other reasons: People may use some mobile phones which have no Mp3 music player but they also have the high value because those phone maybe fashionable and luxurious.
d. Games

Base on the result, we can conclude that Games make people pay more. The mean of the mobile phone have no this function is 4174666.67_ which is also the amount of money people spend their phone in VND and 5070400.00 VND for the cell phone which have Games. The different between two mean is around 900000VND, so Games isn’t an expensive function.

Question 12.1:

Depend on the research, we got 19 people think brand is most important with 19% valid. 20 out of 100 (20% valid) ranked it as 2nd place; 7 people consider it number 3 with 7% valid compare with 17% for number 4. People think that brand is not a matter got the highest valid (22%) and the rest one chooses the brand as the lowest aspect when they buy a mobile phone (15%)

According to the analysis chart; mean is 3.48 that imply people thinking about the Brand fall into 3 and 4 valid, they consider that brand is just normal. SD is 1.778 that means Brand cluster around the mean of 3.48 within the area of 1.778.

Question 12.2:

We asked people about how the fashionable aspect important with them, 24 out of 100 thinks that their mobile should be fashionable and has the valid (9%), and 2nd place has 9 persons (9%) compare with 10% valid for 3rd one. The following position 4 and 5 got the same percentages (14%). Number of people don’t think fashionable is important has the highest valid (29%)

Mean is 3.72 that imply people think about fashionable aspect in average. SD is 1.970 means the fashionable aspect scatter around the means within the area 1.970

Question 12.3:

For this question, we got 3% valid for ranking number 1,15 out of 100 people ranked it number 2 (15%).The highest valid (26%) is ranking number 3.We got 20%, 21%, 15% in order for ranking 4 to 6.

Base on the analysis chart, we got mean is 3.86 which show us that the majority of response fall ranking number 3 and 4. The distribution is fluctuated around the mean of 3.86 with the area of 1.393 because SD is 1.393

Question 12.4:

23 out of 100 persons choose function is the most important with them (23%) For ranking number 2, we have the 16% valid and 17% for 3rd place.20 person ranked Function as number 4.the following ranking number 4 and 5 got 14 & 15% valid.

The minimum value is 1 and maximum is 6. Mean is 3.16, implying what people think about the Function fall between 3 and 4. SD is 1.656 that means the Function scatter around the Mean of 3.16 within the area of 1.656

Question 12.5:

In this question, 17 persons consider that Price is most important, 25 out of 100 people ranked the price as 2nd (25%), 23% valid for raking number 3, the 4 and 6 places have the same valid (10%) and 15% valid for the 5th place.

In this chart, mean is 3.11, which is average to this answer. SD is show that the Price cluster around the mean within the value 1.595

Question 12.6:

Base on our research, 14% people ranked Convenience is most important, 15 out of 100 consider it as number 2, number 3 has 17% valid, 19% for 4th place, and 14% for 5th one. There are 21 people think that Convenience is least important with them and it also has the highest valid (21%)

The analysis chart, mean is 3.67 shows that the convenience fall between the 3 and 4 place, implying the average for this answer. SD is 1.712 means the Convenience aspect distribution around the mean of 3.67 within the area of 1.712

b. Bivariate
Q.1: The relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the gender

Group Statistics

H0: M female = M male;
H1: M female ≠ M male

t critical = 1.98 ,t obtained = 0.739 so t |obtained | < t |critical |P critical = 0.05; P obtained = 0.462 so P| obtained| > P| critical|
Base on the statistic chart above, we got t obtained is less than t critical or p obtained is greater than p critical, so applying the Hypothesis testing, we do not reject the Null hypothesis (Ho)
Conclusion: the gender does not affect the price of the mobile phone

Q.2: The relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the age

Ho: M 10-20 = M 20 – 30 = M 30- 45 =M >45;
H1: M 10-20 ≠ M 20 – 30 ≠ M 30- 45 ≠ M >45

ANOVA
How much money does your current mobile phone cost?

F obtained = 1.525; F critical = 2.68 so F |obtained| < F |critical |P critical = 0.05; P obtained = 0.213 so P |obtained| > P |critical|
Based on the above table and comparison, we see that the f critical is lager than the f obtained as well as P obtained and P critical. As a result, we do not reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence that the price is different between the ages.
38 people from 10 to 20 years old as well as 38 people from 20 to 30 years old will buy the cell phone with the minimum price is 1 000 000 VND and the maximum price is 16 000 000 VND. The price of 10- 20 years old scatter around the mean 470421 with the standard deviation is 3808184. And for the price of 20-30 years old, the standard deviation is 3356661 which cluster around the mean of 486579.
18 people from 30-45 years old will spent for their mobile phone from 1 000 000 VND (minimum) to 16 000 000 VND (maximum).the standard deviation 2099859 clusters around the mean of 3333333.
And the final group is above 45 years old, which has 6 people. the price will between 1 000 000 VND to 5 000 000 VND. The mean is 2700000 that is scattered by the standard deviation of 3318467.

Conclusion: the different of ages does not affect the price of the mobile phone

Q.3: Is the price of mobile phone affected by the occupations?

Ho: M English = M HED = M Bachelor = M Staff;
H1: M English ≠ M HED ≠ M Bachelor ≠ M Staff

ANOVA
How much money does your current mobile phone cost?

f obtained = 2.938; f critical = 2.68 so f |obtained| > f |critical |
P critical = 0.05; P obtained = 0.035 so P |obtained| < P |critical Based on the above judgment, we see that the f obtained is lager than the f critical as well as P critical and P obtained. As a result, the null hypothesis is rejected. Therefore, there is sufficient evidence that price of the mobile phone is different between the occupation.When doing the survey, we decided that each group will contain 25 people in order to reduce the error to a minimum rate.The first group is English student, the minimum and maximum price they are willing to pay for their current mobile phone is significant different, from 1 800 000 VND to 16 000 000 VND. Moreover, the standard deviation is 3622025 which shows how the data fluctuate around the mean(X bar = 5636000)The second group is HED student, this group also has a large different between the maximum price (15 500 000 VND) and the minimum price (1 000 000 VND) for their current cell phone. The standard deviation 3163571 clusters around the mean 4438000.The next group is the Degree student, the price falls between 1 000 000 VND to 13 560 000 VND, and the mean is 4572400 which is scattered around by the standard deviation 3894948.The final group is staff. The price that they will pay is from 1 000 000 VND (minimum) to 10 000 000 VND (maximum).Moreover, the standard deviation is 1818680 which is show how the value distributed around the mean-2948000.In Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is affected by the classification of occupations. The reason is most of the student concern about their mobile phone more than the staff that just needs the phone to communication (call, receive a call or send, receive massage).the student represent for the teenager generation ;therefore, they spent more money for the functions, for the fashionable.Q.5: Does the time using the mobile phone have any impacts on the price of it? Ho: M < 1 year = M 1-3 years = M > 3 years
H1: M < 1 year ≠ M 1-3 years ≠ M > 3 years

ANOVA

How much money does your current mobile phone cost?

f obtained = 4.657; f critical = 3.07 so f |obtained | > f |critical |
P critical = 0.05; P obtained = 0.012 so P |obtained| < P |critical | Based on the above finding, we decide to reject the null hypothesis because the f obtained is lager than the f critical as well as P critical and P obtained. As a result, there is sufficient evidence that the time using the cell phone affects the price.Only 10 out of 100 people started to mobile phone within this year. And the price falls from 1 000 000 VND to 8 000 000 VND. The standard deviation-2787277 informs the value scatter around the mean 4065000. Half of the rest people use from 1-3 years. The maximum price for their phone is 12 650 000 VND and the minimum is 1 000 000 VND. The mean-3412222 is clustered around by the standard deviation 2108886.And more than 3 years is the time that the last 45 people use their phone. And the price is falls between 1 500 000 VND to 16 000 000 VND. the standard deviation is 4070677 shows how the data fluctuate around the mean-5459111.In sum, the price of the mobile phone is impacted by the amount of time we use it. This relationship is caused by the knowledge and thought. The more time we use the mobile phone, the more knowledge we understand about it, therefore, the more money we are willing to pay. The one who use mobile more than 3 years are likely to spend more than the others. The reason is they can understand the important role of phone in their lives and they have more knowledge to choose about the function which suitable for their need and it will cost more money.Q.6: The relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the brand which their mobile phone belongs to Ho: M Nokia = M LG = M Samsung = M Siemens = M Motorola = M Sony Ericsson = M othersH1: M Nokia ≠ M LG ≠ M Samsung ≠ M Siemens ≠ M Motorola ≠ M Sony Ericsson ≠ M others ANOVAHow much money does your current mobile phone cost? f obtained= 1.842 ; f critical = 2.17 so f | obtained | < f | critical |P critical = 0.05; P obtained = 0.099 so we have: P | obtained| > P | critical |
Based on the above table and comparison, we see that the f critical is lager than the f obtained as well as P obtained and P critical. As a result, we do not reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence that the price is different between the brands.
The majority 45 people choose Nokia as their first choice, therefore, the price they willing to pay is very various, from the minimum 1 000 000 VND to 16 000 000 VND. Moreover, the standard deviation is 4274484.339 which represent the data scatter around the mean-5084666.67 within the 4274484.339 value.
The next choice for their mobile phone is Samsung (22 people), however, because of the quickly decreased price, people just buy this brand with the medium rate from 1 000 000 VND to 5 000 000 VND. The mean is 2 956 818.18 which is clustered around by the standard deviation 1239844.024.
The third brand is Motorola which has chosen by 15 people, the price falls between 1000000 VND to 7500000 VND, the standard deviation 1734935.157 fluctuate around the mean 3300000.00.
Other brand which has 8 people chose is Sonny Ericsson and the others like Panasonic, O2…
The Sonny Ericsson price is from the minimum 2 500 000 VND to the maximum 8 000 000 VND has the data scatter around the mean 4662500.00 within 2263333.509 value (the standard deviation).
While the other phone like Panasonic and O2 has the prices fall between 2 000 000 VND to 10 000 000 VND, the mean is 6337500.00 which show the average price they will pay is 6 337 500 VND and the standard deviation is 2932058.029 which show the area that most of the price cluster around the mean.
Moreover, the LG and Siemens brand just has 1 choice; therefore, the figure can say anything.
In Conclusion: there is no relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the brand which it is belong to.

Q7: Is the price of mobile phone affected by the role of it in life?

Ho: µ1 = µ2 = µ3 = µ4 = µ5 = µ6 = µ7 = µ8 = µ9 = µ10
H1: µ1 ≠ µ2 ≠ µ3 ≠ µ4 ≠ µ5 ≠ µ6 ≠ µ7 ≠ µ8 ≠ µ9 ≠ µ10

ANOVA(b)

P obtained = 0.015; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained < P critical F obtained = 6.123; F critical (α, df1, df2) = 3.92 so F obtained > F critical
After doing hypothesis testing; we can se that p obtained is less than p critical and F obtained is greater than F critical, so we reject the Null hypothesis.
And here is the scatter Plot showing the relationship between role and price:

The X value (Horizontal) represents the role of mobile phone and Y value (Vertical) represents the price of mobile phone. As it is shown, we can see clearly that when the role increases, price will go up, too, which tells us that this diagram is positive. Furthermore, the role of mobile phone has a certain effect on the price of mobile phone. Moreover, according to the coefficient analysis table, we give more explanations about relationship between role and price:
Y= 784504.8+ 462752.3 X1
X increases by 1 unit and Y increases by 784504.8 VND
When X=0, Y= 784504.8 VND. It means if role has no effect on price, price will be 784504.8 VND individually.
Conclusion: the role of the mobile phone impacts significantly to price of it. The ways how people think about how important their cell phone is affect to the amount of money they spend on that field.

Q8: Is there any relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the place where you buy it (from distribution or outside)?

Ho: µ distribution = µ outside;
H1: µ distribution ≠ µ outside

P obtained = 0.719; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained > P critical
T critical = 1.96; T obtained = 0.36 so T obtained < T critical The Hypothesis testing show us that the p obtained is greater than p critical or the T obtained is less than T critical, so we do not reject the Null hypothesis (Ho)Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is not affected by the classification of place buying it.Q9: Does the frequency of changing cell phone impact the price?Ho: µ1 = µ2 = µ3 = µ4 = µ5 = µ6 = µ7 = µ8 = µ9 = µ10H1: µ1 ≠ µ2 ≠ µ3 ≠ µ4 ≠ µ5 ≠ µ6 ≠ µ7 ≠ µ8 ≠ µ9 ≠ µ10 ANOVA(b) P obtained = 0.006; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained < P critical F obtained = 7.852; F critical (α, df1, df2) = 3.92 so F obtained > F critical
The factor that also affects the price is the length of using phone which means that how often people change their mobile phone. When people change mobile phone, they tend to buy a more expensive one than the previous
We use Hypothesis testing to test whether the frequency of changing mobile phone cause impact on he price of cell phone or not. Because the p obtained is less than p critical and F obtained is more than F critical, so we reject the Null Hypothesis (Ho) that means the frequency of changing the cell phone affect the price the cell phone.
Moreover, we also do the regression analysis to prove our conclusion. This diagram below will show clearly about the change in price when considering frequency of changing phone:

Coefficients(a)

As we can see, this diagram also shows positive side, which tells us that the two valuables have certain effects on each other. In addition, we use the regression
Y= 2328188 + 462752.3 X2
It is shown that when X (change frequency) goes up by 1 unit, price (Y) will also increase by 462752.3 VND and if X= 0, Y = 2328188 VND
Generally, we can point out a common thing about relationship among Price and role and Length of use. If Y is the cost of mobile phone, X will be the role or Length. When X increases, Y will probably increase, too.
Conclusion: the frequency of changing cell phone affects the price a lot. How often they change the mobile phone is the aspect which causes impact on the price of mobile phone. The more times they change their phone, the more money they have to spend.

Q11: The relationship between the price of the mobile phone and the functions of it (Camera, Internet connection, MP3 music player, Games)?

Q11.1: Price VS camera function:

Ho: µ camera = µ Price;
H1: µ camera ≠ µ price

P obtained = 0.135; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained > P critical
T obtained = 1.508; T critical = 1.96 so T obtained < T criticalThe hypothesis testing prove that the function camera doesn’t cause any impact on the price of mobile phone because p obtained is greater than p critical and the t obtained is less than t critical.Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is not affected by the categorization of function: Camera.Q11.2: Price VS Internet connection: Ho: µ Internet Connection = µ Price; H1: µ Internet Connection ≠ µ price P obtained = 0.002; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained < P critical T obtained = 3.256; T critical = 1.96 so T obtained > T critical
After doing the hypothesis testing; we can give the conclusion that the function_ Internet connection causes a significant influence on the mobile phone price.
Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is influenced by the categorization of function: Internet connection. Recent research prove that which phone has this function is always more expensive than others, so if people want to use this function, they have to pay more.
Q11.3: Price VS MP3 music player:

Ho: µ Mp3 music player = µ Price;
H1: µ Mp3 music player ≠ µ price

P obtained = 0.223; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained > P critical
T obtained = -1.226; T critical = 1.96 so T obtained < T criticalThe hypothesis testing show that the p obtained is greater than p critical and T obtained is less than T critical, so the Mp3 music player doesn’t make any impact on the price of the mobile phone.Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is not impacted by the categorization of function: MP3 player.Q11.4: price VS Games: Ho: µ Games = µ Price; H1: µ Games ≠ µ price P obtained = 0.244; P critical = 0.05 so P obtained > P critical
T obtained = 1.171; T critical = 1.96 so T obtained < T criticalAfter doing Hypothesis testing, we reject the Null hypothesis (Ho) because P obtained is greater than P critical or T obtained is less than T critical, so it means the Function doesn’t affect to the price.Conclusion: the price of the mobile phone is not affected by the categorization of function: Camera.Q12: Factors people take into consideration when buying mobile phones: This section analyses factors that people take into consideration when they buy mobile phones. Respondents were asked rank the following features from 1-6: brand name, fashionable phone, size of the phone, function, price and convenience. Please note that the scale of 1 represents taking high consideration, whereas 6 means taking low consideration. When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Brand When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Fashionable When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Size When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Function When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Price When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? Convenience On the scale of 1 to 6, we consider 1-3 as considerable and 4-6 as less considerable. The ranking, derived from the above six tables, is reorganized as follow. It can be seen from the above table that, when making a decision to buy a new mobile phone, people consider price of the most important factor, followed by functions. Based on the ranking, we analyse whether people who pay for certain features pay for mobile phones at different price. An independent sample T-test was used as follows.(We just show which factor cause impact on the mobile phone price)Cost of mobile phone VS price factor Group Statistics **t (Obtained) = -4.834, p (obtained) = 0.000. HO: µ of money spent by people who take price into consideration = µ of people who don’tH1: The above two are not equalSince T (Obtained) of 4.834 is greater than T (critical) of 1.96 at 5% level of significant, the null hypothesis is rejected. This means that people who consider price as an important factors in making decision to buy mobile phone are likely to pay less than those who don’t think that price is an important factor. In other words, price conscious consumers are likely to buy cheaper mobile phones.Cost of mobile phone VS Brand name Group Statistics **t (Obtained) = 1.893 and p (obtained) = 0.61.Ho: µ of money spent by people who take brand name into consideration = M of those who don’tH1: The above two are not equalSince T (obtained) of 1.893 is greater T(critical) at 1.64 at .10 level of significant, the null hypothesis is rejected. People who take into consideration brand name are likely to pay more n mobile phone than those who don’t. This implies that people who pay attention a certain brand name when they buy mobile phones are likely to spend more money.Cost of Mobile Phone VS Fashion Group Statistics **t (Obtained) = 2.808 and p (obtained) = 0.006.Ho: µ of money spent by people who buy mobile phones based on fashion = µ of those who don’tH1: The above two are not equal. Because t (obtained) of 2.808 is greater than t (critical) at 1.96, we reject the hull hypothesis. People who buy fashionable mobile phones are likely to spend more money than those who don’t care about fashion. To sum up: there are three significant factors that influence how much money people spend on buying mobile phones. Those are price of the phone, brand name and fashion. People who are price conscious are likely to pay less than those who are not. People who look for a certain brand name are likely to pay higher than those who don’t care about brand. Those who look for fashionable phones are likely to pay higher than people don’t pay attention to fashion.6. Chi- Square Test Chi-Square Tests a 6 cells (50,0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is ,60.Ho: the age impacts on the time using mobile phoneH1: the age doesn’t impact on the time using mobile phoneSince X2 obtained = 21.397 is greater than X2 critical = 12.592 as well as P critical and P obtained (0.05 > 0.002), we reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the age is one of the factors that impact on the time using mobile phone. We can notice on the above tables that the older you are, the longer you use mobile phone. We can easy accept this issue because the more age we have, the more important we understand about the telecommunication, therefore, we need tools such as computer, mobile phone to support our lives.

a .15 cells (71,4%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is, 10.

Ho: the duration using mobile phone affects the brand of the phone
H1: the duration using mobile phone doesn’t affect the brand of the phone

Based on the table, the P obtained =0.031 smaller than P critical =0.05 as well as X2 critical and X2 obtained (21.026 < 22.605), therefore the null hypotheses is rejected. There is sufficient evidence that the brand of the phone is affected by the duration using mobile phone. People who start to use mobile phone always choose a safe way for their phone like choose the brand has a well known reputation such as Nokia and Samsung, Sony Ericsson. Moreover, Nokia is the first choice for the one who use mobile phone from 1 to 3 years because of its stable price. However, for more than 3 years using mobile phone, they are the one that have a good knowledge and confident to choose the phone which is suitable for their habit, therefore, the brand is more various, such as ATC and O2 . To sum up, the brand that the cell phone belongs to is influenced a lot by the time using,7. Multivariate analysis:In this section, we will point out 4 factors that can affect significantly the price of the mobile phone:Coefficients (a)a. Dependent Variable: How much money does your current mobile phone cost?To analyze this, we use Sample Regression Function (SRF): Y= b0+ b1 XiY is the dependent variable which represents the price of mobile phoneXi is independent variable which represents role, duration and age. Y= b0 + b1 role+ b2 Duration+ b3 age+ b4 genderWhen X=0 which means those factors have no effect on price, Y is equal to 2609594.938 VND. In addition, we compare the effects of those four factors to price to see whether they have effects or not. Firstly in the role of the mobile phone: P obtained = 0.082 is less than P critical =0.05, as a result the null hypothesis is rejected and there is sufficient evidence that the role is the factor impact the price of the phone. Y= 2609594.983+ 328079.098X1When X1 increases by 1, Y will increase by 328079.098 VND. This is clear that the more important the role is, the more people will pay for their mobile phone. So role has a significant effect on price. If X=0, Y will be 2609594.983, meaning when role has no effect on price among three factors, price will be equal to 2609594.983 VNDSecondly is the duration changing mobile: X2, P obtained = 0.01 is equal to P critical =0.01, as a result we reject the null hypothesis.Y= 2609594.938+ 496584.371X2If X2 increases by 1, Y will increase by 496584.938 VND. In conclusion, when people change mobile phone more frequently, price will also be affected. Changing mobile phone means that people want their phone to be more modern or having more functions, so price will go up according to some factors. Moreover, if we assume that frequency of changing phone has no concern with price, it will become 260.9594.983 VND Finally is the age: X3, P obtained = 0.025 is less than P critical =0.05, as a result the null hypothesis is rejected.Y= 2609594.983+ 808115.649X3If X goes up by 1 unit (10 years old), Y will rise by 808115.649 VND, If X=0, this also leads to the value of Y as 260.9594.983 VND From this result, we can see that when age increases by 10 years, price will probably rise by 808115.649 VND, a large amount of money. In conclusion, all the above three factor has a strong influence on the price however the age has the most significant effect on price among three factors. To explain this, we look at the fact that from the lowest interval of age (10 to 20), people from this interval are often students, they don’t have much money to buy an expensive phone. But when they are older, they get a job; they have more money so they will surely pay more for their belongings especially mobile phone. 8. Self- Critism In our group project, the hypothesis testing ,regression, chi-square are the most effective and helpful analyzing tools that help us to show the relationship between prices of the mobile in Vietnam with the other factors that affect this feature. It’s a first time we do this project with survey so that we cannot avoid getting errors. Especially from sample errors, its difference between the very small population (RMIT university) and a huge sample (Vietnam) become a definitely factors effect the fault. For example, the average gender and price of their phones of in RMIT University include: student with HED, English, Degree and staff with teacher, receptionist (Sample mean) is different from the average gender and price of their phone in Vietnam (Population mean).Firstly, all of the people I survey have valuable mobile phones. The average price of their mobile phones will be higher than the Vietnamese people. Some of them have 2 phones for different purposes, so they choose the better phones to give us information.Secondly, the student and receptionist may be not doing the survey honest because they busy with their jobs. It’s funny that I ask a design student the cost of his phones and I receive the answer that: it cost him a lot of time and effort in designing this specific phones. With him, it’s invaluable. Or a student answered that his mobile was worth billion. Moreover, it’s hard to have exactly answered in the ranking question. It can’t be perfect. For example that: many people using phones for taking pictures and listening music. They can’t decide which one is more important. Or, they can’t decide the role of phones in their life: may be its 5 (average) or 6, 4 (a little bit important or not). Thirdly, because the prices of phones are decrease regularly, it’s hard for them to have exactly price. Furthermore, some people gave us the price of their phones when they buy it new from the seller for a long time ago; it’s not exactly the price in recent time. The other people give us the price when they buy second hand from the others people. It’s also a problem with the origin of their phones, some people can’t know exactly about it because it’s a gift from the other people. It become complicated in having an exactly answer.9. ConclusionBy using different statistic technique, the report can satisfied This report used a survey technique to show the association between the gender or age, and the price or functions of the mobile phones people in Vietnam use. Using different statistic technique, the results have shown that the price of the mobile phone is affected by: Classification of occupations The amount of time we use it The role as well as the frequency of changing your cell phone The Internet Connection function, Element about price and FashionMoreover is the association between many aspects around the price such as age, gender with the duration as well as the brand of mobile phone.This report can become a decision-making process to help us in deciding what the mobile phone they should choose depending on the price to purchase, the brand and the functions. Furthermore, this report can be useful information for Mobile Phones Company and supplier to have information about the Vietnamese people and market to have good strategy for investment.10. APPENDIX:SurveyThe mobile phone in VietnamMethod: Selecting a sample and stratified random samples.Team 01, Group Sta4We are a group of students doing a research on the mobile phone and show the association between gender or age, and the price or functions of the mobile phones people in Vietnam use. Would you please help us to complete our project in Statistic subject because your feedback is very important for us. You can stick more than one answers, fill in the blank, and rank from 1- most consider to 6 – less consider.We thank you for participating in our survey.1) What is your gender?1. ⁭ Male 2. ⁭ Female2) How old are you?1. ⁭ 10-20 2. ⁭ 30-453. ⁭ 20-30 4. ⁭ Above 453) What is your occupation?………………………………………………………….4) Do you use mobile phone?1. ⁭ Yes 2. ⁭ No(If Yes – continue to answer)5) How long have you been using your mobile phone?1. ⁭ Less than 1 year2. ⁭ 1-3 years3. ⁭ More than 3 years6) Which brand does your mobile phone belong to?1. ⁭ Nokia 2. ⁭ LG3. ⁭ Samsung 4. ⁭ Siemens5. ⁭ Motorola 6. ⁭ Sony Ericsson7. ⁭ Others: (Please write specific your answers)……………………………………………………7) What do you think about role of mobile phone?Not important Normal Very important├─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 108) Do you prefer buying a mobile phone from the distributors or outside with lower price?1. ⁭ Distribution 2. ⁭ Outside9) How often do you change your mobile phone?Never Sometimes Very often├─────────────────┼─────────────────┤1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1010) How much money does your current mobile phone cost? ( fill in the blank )…………………………………………………………11) Which functions are you interested in when buying a mobile phone?(You can stick more than one)1. ⁭ Camera 2. ⁭ Internet connection3. ⁭ Mp3 music player 4. ⁭ Games12) When you choose a mobile phone, what do you consider? (Rank from 1 – most consider to 6 - less consider)1. ⁭ Brand 2. ⁭ Fashionable3. ⁭ Size 4. ⁭ Function5. ⁭ Price 6. ⁭ ConvenienceThanks for your corporation. Reference list• Dinh Hang 2004, Vietnamnet, http://vietnamnet.vn/cntt/vienthong/2004/12/358232/ , viewed at 15/09/2007.• Thong Tan Xa Vietnam 2007, EIU Information, http://www.baokhanhhoa.com.vn/Kinhte-Dulich/2007/07/227373/, viewed at 15/09/2007.• Hoang Anh 2004, Magazine of Vietnam Economic, http://www.mof.gov.vn/Default.aspx?tabid=82&ItemID=16629 , viewed at 15/9/07Original source: Grab Your Example Essays Now

Statistics Project-Helmets and Law-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:34:00.001-07:00

Executive Summary

Recently, the government has passed a new law wearing helmets inside the city. This law was a controversial issued for many years but when this was about to acted it failed because the citizens are against the policy. However, due to the dramatically increase in number death causing by traffic accidents, government strictly launch the law this time. Base on that issue, we decided to choose wearing helmets and how other factors can effect on wearing helmets as our project. However, because we do not have enough conditions involving money, time and human, RMIT was chosen as our population. Moreover, as our purpose was to figure out whether the relationship between law and number of people wearing helmets so we only did observation two weeks before and after the law passed to see whether the law will affect on the number of people wearing helmets. In regarding to that, this report will present our data and how we do the analysis to define the possible relationship between wearing helmets and other factors such as law and different times of the day through a chain of Z Test, Confidence Interval for proportions and hypothesis testing. Once this project is finished, it should be able to show what problems may occurs and whether the law is applied effectively. It also can provide ideas for researches on the differences in the number of people died in accident before and after the law were passed so the future direction for traffic accidents will probably be defined.
Introduction
According to Vietnam Net, a local popular online newspaper, in 2006, the number of people died by traffic accidents in Ho Chi Minh has jumped to a warning level with around 1.332 traffic accidents resulted in 1.014 people died mainly by brain injuries. Since 32 Law declared that wearing helmets in highways from 15 September and in all the streets from 15th December is compulsory, it seems to be the best solution for the problem. However, people especially students still prefer not to wear them when driving out. In regarding to this issue, this report will look at RMIT Southern Vietnam International University as a sample in an observation research to analyze how students react to the law and how the law and other factors such as time affect on the number of students wearing helmets. In order to do that, this report will first describe the methodology in collecting information and the related problems by measuring central tendency, variation as well as diagrams such as histogram, Pareto will be used to illustrate the issues. Then, these problems will be analyzed through performing Z test, confidence interval for proportions as well as hypothesis testing to see whether there are any other factors affecting on the effectiveness level of the 32 law as well as defining if there are any possible relationship between wearing helmets and other factors such as times and the law . Finally, proposed solutions to the issue will be given.
Data Collection
This project was done by Heroes Teams including Tam, Chuong, Duy, Khoa and Dung. We want to know whether the number of students wearing helmets after 15th December will be different. At first, we was going to conduct a survey to get what students think about the law so that we can based on their opinions to estimate whether they will obey the law or not. Then guessing how different it would be in comparing to before the law. However, it seems to be that survey research may give us irrelevant and biased data. Therefore, we have planned to conduct an observation research to have an accurate data about the number students wearing helmets before and after 15th December by observing two week before and after the law. From 15 September students just have to wear the helmet on the highways so we decided to count the number of students wearing helmet at the intersection between Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard and RMIT University. Each member in group will stand on the intersection two hours: one hour in the morning and another in the afternoon, to count following the schedule that shown below. At the end of the day, the last person will also be in charge of summary the data collecting in this day. Overall, we have done our task successfully. All of us have tried our best to manage our timetable in order to complete the team’ tasks although we need to stand under the sun for around one hour. In addition, although RMIT students in total are about 3000, only a thousand or more study each day. Consequently, a sample of 2000 students will be observer using the simple random sample with replacement in four week. In average, 100 students, a half in the morning and another half in the afternoon per day up to 4 weeks. The reasons why we decide to use this sampling strategy are because we cannot control who will be observed and students used to have different timetable for each day so using another strategies such as systematic, stratified or cluster or even simple random sample without replacement seem to be impossible. We also have discussed and determined two very important factors that we need to observer carefully such as the number of students wearing helmets as well as whether the way they used to wear the helmets is correct. We want to have accurate figures about these factors to prevent getting irrelevant data. The data collected two weeks before and after the law was provided below:

Week Students Law Date Days Morning Wear Helmets Afternoon Wear Helmets
1 Khoa Before 12/3/2007 Monday 7:00 - 8:00 13 12:00 - 1:00 20
1 Tam Before 12/4/2007 Tuesday 8:00 - 9:00 14 1:00 - 2:00 25
1 Chuong Before 12/5/2007 Wednesday 9:00 - 10:00 20 2:00 - 3:00 21
1 Dung Before 12/6/2007 Thursday 10:00 - 11:00 19 3:00 - 4:00 23
1 Duy Before 12/7/2007 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 23 4:00 - 5:00 27
2 Khoa Before 12/10/2007 Monday 7:00 - 8:00 17 12:00 - 1:00 26
2 Tam Before 12/11/2007 Tuesday 8:00 - 9:00 26 1:00 - 2:00 29
2 Chuong Before 12/12/2007 Wednesday 9:00 - 10:00 31 2:00 - 3:00 30
2 Dung Before 12/13/2007 Thursday 10:00 - 11:00 32 3:00 - 4:00 15
2 Duy Before 12/14/2007 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 35 4:00 - 5:00 32

Week Students Law Date Days Morning Wear Helmets Afternoon Wear Helmets
3 Khoa After 12/17/2007 Monday 7:00 - 8:00 41 12:00 - 1:00 49
3 Tam After 12/18/2007 Tuesday 8:00 - 9:00 45 1:00 - 2:00 48
3 Chuong After 12/19/2007 Wednesday 9:00 - 10:00 47 2:00 - 3:00 48
3 Dung After 12/20/2007 Thursday 10:00 - 11:00 46 3:00 - 4:00 49
3 Duy After 12/21/2007 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 49 4:00 - 5:00 48
4 Khoa After 12/24/2007 Monday 7:00 - 8:00 50 12:00 - 1:00 50
4 Tam After 12/25/2007 Tuesday 8:00 - 9:00 48 1:00 - 2:00 49
4 Chuong After 12/26/2007 Wednesday 9:00 - 10:00 50 2:00 - 3:00 50
4 Dung After 12/27/2007 Thursday 10:00 - 11:00 49 3:00 - 4:00 50
4 Duy After 12/28/2007 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 50 4:00 - 5:00 50

Data summary

Firstly, after two weeks before law we find out that there are many students do not wear helmet while they was driving on Nguyen Van Linh highway. In the first week, there were only 207 over 500 occupied 41.4 % students wearing helmets. One week after, the figures increase slightly to 273. This could have been due to the fact that some students have already prepared for the law in 15th December.

After the law, in the third week, there are 470 over 500 students wearing helmet at the intersection between Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard and RMIT University. The last week, this number has increased by 25 to 495 students. This could be because students have become more familiar with the law. However, there was still a small proportion not wearing helmets such as the students living near Nguyen Van Linh highways.
Clearly, the number of students wearing helmets has increased significantly after 15th December from just 207 students jump up to approximately 495 students. Beside the law, there also some other factors probably affecting on the number of students wearing helmets such as weather, times. For example, in the morning the number of students wears helmet is less than the number of students wears helmet in the afternoon.

The reason might be that they want to protect their skin in the afternoon. Furthermore, the number of times polices guards on Nguyen Van Linh Street in the afternoon also less than in the morning. As it can be seen in the diagrams, the number of students wearing helmets in the morning is just 705 while this figures for the afternoon is 739. In order to have a more clear view about whether the law and times determined the change in the number of students wearing helmets, the following part will discuss in more detail.
Wearing Helmets and Time

Wear Helmets In The Morning Wear Helmets In The Afternoon
N Valid 20 20
Missing 0 0
Mean 35,25 36,95
Std. Error of Mean 3,085 2,901
Median 38,00 40,00
Mode 50 50
Std. Deviation 13,795 12,976
Variance 190,303 168,366
Skewness -,365 -,241
Range 37 35
Minimum 13 15
Maximum 50 50
Sum 705 739

The number of students wearing helmets in both the morning and afternoon has a negative skewness distribution. The reason for that may due to the fact that in the first two week the figures is quite low and then it increase significantly to approximately 500 students. The central tendency including mean, mode and median are quite different between the morning and afternoon. Although, the average number of students wearing helmets in the morning is less than in the afternoon, its standard errors of the mean are higher than in the afternoon.
In addition, the number of wearing helmets students has reached the maximum value of 50 students, the number we observe for each one hour. However, because of the different between data two weeks before and after the law, the standard deviation for both in the morning and afternoon means that the real data is far from their means.

This negative skewness graph above describes each figure we have collected in the morning in frequency. It can be seen that that the number of students wearing helmets has increased in quantity from 13 students to 50 students at the end of week 4.
Also, the total hours we have used to collect the data in the morning was 20 hours. Although the data collected has a mean of 35.25 implying that the average number of students wearing helmets per day is about 35.25. However, its data spread far from the mean with the standard deviation up to 13.795.

In the afternoon, the average number of students wearing helmets is 36.95 with a high standard deviation of 12.976 proving that the data is different between two periods of time. From the minimum value of 15, the figure also reaches a peak of 50 in the last two weeks. It can be understand more clearly through the box and whisker below:

Through the above box and whisker plots, we can see how the data is distributed in the number of students wearing helmets in the morning and the afternoon. Clearly, the distance from the minimum value to the mean is less than from the maximum value. Also, the figure in the afternoon is obviously higher than in the morning.
Effects of the Law
In order to understand more about how the law effects on the number of students wearing helmets, a data analysis has been shown below:

In the first two week, only a few students wearing helmets when they are driving into the intersection of Nguyen Van Linh and RMIT University. Although the maximum value is quite high, the average students wearing helmets per day are just 23 students. Also, the data spread quite far from the mean with a standard deviation of 7.746.
This may be because while some students have already prepared for the law, others still prefer not wearing helmets so the change in number of students was unstable.

The highest and lowest numbers of students wearing helmets in the first two weeks are 35 and 13 respectively. However, after 15th December, this figure has gone up significantly to a new minimum level of 40 and maximum of 50. The standard deviation also decreases sharply to about 2.877 reducing the distances between data and the mean.

Before the law, the average students wearing helmets in Nguyen Van Linh Street was about 25 students, which is higher than in comparing to the figure in the morning. However, the numbers are spread quite far from the mean with the standard deviation up to 5.16 while the standard deviation in the morning is just 2.6. This may be because students used to driving out more at the same period of time. Although the number wearing helmets in the afternoon is quite higher than in the morning, this figure maximum was only 32 while it is 35 in the morning.

Although the standard deviation is quite high before the law, it is only 0.876 after 15th December. In the last two week, the number of students wearing helmets in the afternoon increase significantly with the mean of 49.1 and reach a peak of 50 first time at the end of week 3. The minimum of 32 in the first two weeks has also jumped up to 49.
Obviously, the law has played an essential role in the increasing of the figures. In order to have a more clear view about how the law has effect on the number of students wearing helmets both in the morning and the afternoon, we can also look at the Pareto diagram below:

Overall, in the last two week, the figures has increase nearly double in both the morning and afternoon from just more than 110 to over 240 students in the afternoon wearing helmets and a large increase from 89 to nearly 150 students in the morning.

Finally, another problems need to be mentioned is the way of students wearing helmet. Before the law, no one cares about the way they wear the helmet correctly or not. However, after the law, the police will catch the students who wears helmet incorrectly. For example, the police will charge 50,000 VND for those who do not wear the helmet belt. In some case, some students wears the helmet belt but it still incorrect, compare with the helmet rule. So, it explains why the percentage of students wearing helmet incorrectly is high with over 88% (Vietnam Net). In addition, wearing helmets incorrectly is very dangerous for the drivers because if accident happened, instead of their brain, their neck may be damaged seriously and it can lead to death.
Inferential Statistics

In this part, we decided to use some statistic components to analyze any possible relationship between different variables and the number of people wearing helmets included:

 Using Confidence Interval Estimate for the Proportion to define the quantity of helmets people wearing before and after the law.

 Using Z test for proportion in term number of successes to check whether the proportion of people not wearing helmets is 0.5

 Using Z test for two difference proportion to identify possible relationship between law, times and wearing helmets.

Confidence Interval Estimate for the Proportion

A 95% confidence interval estimate of the population proportion of RMIT students can be used to evaluate the number of students wearing helmets in 1000 RMIT students before and after law separately. There were 478 and 966 students wearing helmets before and after law respectively.

Before law:

Sample Size 1000
Number of Successes 478
Confidence Level 95%

Intermediate Calculations
Sample Proportion 0.478
Z Value -1.95996398
Standard Error of the Proportion 0.015796075
Interval Half Width 0.030959739

Confidence Interval
Interval Lower Limit 0.447040261
Interval Upper Limit 0.508959739
We have 0.447≤p≤0.508. Therefore, there is 95% confidence that between 44.7% and 50.8% of 1000 RMIT students wearing helmets before law.

After law:

Sample Size 1000
Number of Successes 966
Confidence Level 95%

Intermediate Calculations
Sample Proportion 0.966
Z Value -1.95996398
Standard Error of the Proportion 0.005730969
Interval Half Width 0.011232492

Confidence Interval
Interval Lower Limit 0.954767508
Interval Upper Limit 0.977232492

We have 0.954≤p≤0.977. Therefore, there is 95% confidence that between 95.4% and 97.7% of 1000 RMIT students wearing helmets before law. This is much higher comparing to the figure before.
Base on those statistics of our sample we can 95% confidently estimate before a new law about wearing helmets was passed there were only 44.704% - 50.508% of RMIT students wear helmets. However, when the government really acted this law, the percentage of RMIT students wearing helmets increased significantly to 95.476% - 97.723%.

Z Test for the Proportion In Terms of the Number of Successes

Our assumption from observing the data is that the number of students wearing helmets before law is equal to the number of students not wearing one. In order to know whether it is correct or not, we decide to use the Z test for the proportion in terms of the number of students obey the helmets law when driving on Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard. In 1000 students we have observed in the first two week, there are 478 students wearing helmets and 522 do not.

In terms of proportions, the null and alternative hypotheses are stated as follows:
Ho: p=0.5 that is the proportion of students wearing helmets was 0.5
H1:p1#0.5 that is the proportion of students do not wearing helmets before law was 0.5

Because we want to know whether our assumption is right, a two-tail test is used with a level of significant α of 0.05. The decision rule is
Reject Ho if Z < -1.96 or if Z > +1.96
Otherwise do not reject Ho

Null Hypothesis p= 0.5
Level of Significance 0.05
Number of Successes 478
Sample Size 1000

Intermediate Calculations
Sample Proportion 0.478
Standard Error 0.015811388
Z Test Statistic -1.39140217

Two-Tail Test
Lower Critical Value -1.959963985
Upper Critical value 1.959963985
p-Value 0.164103507
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Because Z= -1.39 > -1.96, we do not reject Ho. Thus, there is evidence that the proportion of students wearing helmets is 0.5. That mean before the law, the number of people wearing helmets is just about equal to the number of people do not wear one. However, after the law was passed, there is a significant change in this figure with 966, almost double the number of people wearing helmets before law.
Z Test for Two Proportions

In evaluating differences between two proportions on the basic of two samples, that is 1000 RMIT students before and after law as well as 1000 students in the morning and afternoon, we decided to use Z test for different between two proportions. This Z test mainly will be used to determine whether the number of students wearing helmets after the law will be higher than before and if the figures in the afternoon is higher than in the morning. Therefore, we used lower-tailed test.
Law and Wearing Helmets

The null and alternative hypotheses are
Ho: p1≥p2 that is the number of students wearing helmets before law is greater than the figures after the law.
H1: p1 +1.96
Otherwise do not reject Ho.
Hypothesized Difference 0
Level of Significance 0.05
Before law
Number of Successes 478
Sample Size 1000
After law
Number of Successes 966
Sample Size 1000

Intermediate Calculations
Group 1 Proportion 0.478
Group 2 Proportion 0.966
Difference in Two Proportions -0.488
Average Proportion 0.722
Z Test Statistic -24.35644092

Lower-Tail Test
Lower Critical Value -1.644853627
p-Value 2.4772E-131
Reject the null hypothesis
From the result, using the 0.05 level of significance, we see that Z test statistic is too small compare with lower critical value (-24.356 << -1.644) therefore we reject the null hypothesis Ho. Hence, it can be concluded that the law has effect and lead to an increase in the number of students wearing helmets. This explained why the figures has increased significantly from a low level of 478 in the first two week to approximately 966 students wearing helmets at the end of week 4. Times and Wearing Helmets The null and alternative hypotheses are Ho: p1=p2 that is the number of students wearing helmets in the morning is equal to the figure in the afternoon H1: p1#p2 that means conversely. Since the test is to be carried out at the 0.05 level of significance, the critical values are -1.96 and +1.96. The decision rule is: Reject Ho if Z < -1.96 Or if Z > +1.96
Otherwise do not reject Ho.
Hypothesized Difference 0
Level of Significance 0.05
Morning
Number of Successes 705
Sample Size 1000
Afternoon
Number of Successes 739
Sample Size 1000

Intermediate Calculations
Group 1 Proportion 0.705
Group 2 Proportion 0.739
Difference in Two Proportions -0.034
Average Proportion 0.722
Z Test Statistic -1.696965146

Two-Tail Test
Lower Critical Value -1.959963985
Upper Critical Value 1.959963985
p-Value 0.08970325
Do not reject the null hypothesis

After doing the test, using the 0.05 level of significance we see that Z test Statistic (-1.696) is larger than the lower critical value (+-1.959) and smaller than the upper critical value which means the null hypothesis is not rejected. In brief, there is evidence that time does not effect on the number of students wearing helmets.
After performing different analysis, we realized that although the number of people wearing helmets before 15th December is just equal to others, this number changed significantly after the law was passed. To illustrate, through confidence interval for the proportion, it can be seen that there is 95% confidence that between 44.7% and 50.8% of 1000 RMIT students wearing helmets before law. However, this figure has jumped up to 95.476% - 97.723% after the law.
Reflection

Achievement

When doing our report, we have made some decisions effecting positively on the process of collecting data:

 The sample size is just enough for us to observer with an average of 50 students that one members need to count each hours so we have finished our tasks successfully. In addition, the sample is large so its sampling error is very low.

 The sample proportion for each week is equal and measured scientifically, that is 500 students were observed.
General Problems

Overall, there are some mistakes that we have met during doing this project. The most important mistake is choosing observation as the mean of Data collection. The reason for why we call it was an error because base on our observation there were too little information and problems that we can analysis in the Inferential Statistics part. Therefore, this part only takes a small place in our report and contains only some problems even though this is the highest score session.

Beside, the most serious problem was that we have chosen wrong sample for our original purpose. In particular, we have seen a relationship between the number of accidents and the law. However, because our sample and population is RMIT students while the statistics of accidents and deaths are for the Ho Chi Minh City. As a result, we cannot make a conclusion about this relationship. In addition, we have thought narrowly when think that the data for accidents and deaths are easy to find. In contract, these kinds of data update really slowly and are mainly put in some articles instead of a report. Therefore, we cannot find the data for the number of accidents after 15th December to put into the inferential part.

Sampling error

Although we have taken a sample of about 2000 students two weeks before and after 15th December, sampling error is unavoidable because we do not take all the population because it is costly, time-consuming and ineffectively. Nevertheless, our sample has very small sampling error because we have decided to choose up to two over three of all RMIT students.

Sampling bias

Since we only observe from 7am to 5pm and do not observe in Saturday so there might be some missing data in the other time especially in the evening. Because, we do not have enough condition to observe at these time so it is also unavoidable. In addition, some time students come to school as a large group so it is quite difficult for one person to count all. Therefore, there is a chance one person may be counted more than two times while the others were not be counted. However, we have developed a scientific schedule for all members and learn from our past experiences in order to reduce these errors to the minimum level.
Lurking Variables

 Location: some students live near RMIT University so they sometimes do not wear helmets when driving to school.
 Outside students: sometime students from outside or from high schools pupils coming to visit RMIT University and sometime we cannot define who is the students that we need to count. Therefore, the number of students wearing helmets may be over counted.
 Hypothesis-Testing error: using a sample statistic to make a decision about a population parameter may lead to type I and type II errors.

Recommendations

As we have mentioned above that our observation did not support for our original purpose and therefore, a number of other problems also occurred during project. We will provide some basic ideas that might help to improve it below:

 Firstly, to accomplish our objectives, we should choose another place as well as a larger sample to do observation like a specific street so that we can get data about not only whether law and times effecting on the number of people wearing helmets but also the number of accidents and deaths could be found through asking or giving to students the survey included some questions like: “Have you made any accidents” and “If yes, when did you make that?”, for example.

 Secondly for those remaining error, we suggest that enlarging our observation schedule including Saturday and observe in the evening probably help us cover all kind of RMIT students so they may have a same chance to be observed. Furthermore, we should also ask them whether they are RMIT students or not before counting them.

 Finally, we should attempt to control the lurking variable in order to get more accurate data about the situation.
Conclusion

After four weeks observing at the intersection between Nguyen Van Linh highways and RMIT University, we have organized and analyzed the data having from observation and concluded that there are differences in the number of people wearing helmet effecting by other factors such as times of the day and law. After using hypothesis testing, Z test for proportion and confidence interval to check and determine on how law and times influence on the number of people wearing helmets, we found strong evidence that the number of people wearing helmets after the law is also increase significantly comparing to before. However, it was also pointed out that the different times of the day do not effect on the number of people wearing helmets. Nevertheless, it cannot be concluded without a controlled experiment because the results might also be due to other factors such as the sampling error, selection bias. Besides, it was a pity for us because we cannot perform the test for the number of people death and injuries or whether students wearing helmets correctly or not because there were not any up-to-date data from 15th December.

References

 Levine, D, Stephan, D, Krehbiel, T & Berenson, M., 2005, Statistics for Managers: Using Microsoft Excel, 4th edn, Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

 Vietnam Net, “TPHCM: Mỗi ngày hơn 50 người chết và bị thương vì TNGT”, viewed 23th December 2007,
< http://vietnamnet.vn/baylenvietnam/giaothong/2007/04/687470/ >

 Vietnam Net, “Đội mũ bảo hiểm sai cách, nhiều người nhập viện cấp cứu”, viewed 30th December 2007,
< http://vietnamnet.vn/xahoi/2007/12/761406/ >

Business Statistics-parents or educators are paying more attention to nowadays, is the independence of teenagers-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

I. ABSTRACT:
A growing concern in Vietnam, that people especially parents or educators are paying more attention to nowadays, is the independence of teenagers. While many people think that young generation tends to depend on family, others believe that teenagers are more active in earning money and prove their abilities. To have a deep insight into this problem, we conducted a survey which focuses on students planning or running their own business during the university period. Based on the specific statistics from the survey and detailed analysis, we can have the relevant accurate conclusion about this issue.

II. INTRODUCTION
Surprisingly, in 2002, amongst 40.000 entrepreneurs being investigated in Vietnam, there were only 7.28% of them who were under 30 years old (Vietnamnet). This means that students running their own business hold a very small proportion. However, recent economic booming in Vietnam has changed teenagers’ thinking about doing business. They have deeper understanding about the benefit that running business brings to them. This change fosters us to make this survey to draw out the correct consideration about this issue. Moreover, this survey also can assist us in accumulating experience and gaining valuable knowledge; therefore, we can have a thorough grasp of the procedure of statistical thinking which has a strong relationship with another subject such as marketing research. Our report will be divided into three parts: descriptive statistics which summarizes the main points in the survey and also the relationships between factors such as gender, semester, department and educational environment. The next part is inferential statistics in which we draw conclusions based on the sample statistics. In final part, we will present some recommendations in order to enlighten students’ mind about doing business.

III. LITERATURE:
According to the real statistics from the study of Vietnamnet, the proportion of Vietnamese students running business is much less than other nations. The first reason is that most students would like to work for Government companies after graduating in order to have stable income, receive good welfare and retirement pension. Secondly, being scared of failure and preferring avoid risks prevent students from catching opportunities to do business. However, economists state that teenagers should alter their mind and be more active, confident to face with challenging. By this way, they can contribute to the development of Vietnam economy. Therefore, we decide to carry out this topic relied on the credible responses from students of the three universities including Foreign Trade University (FTU), University of Economic HCM City (UEH) and RMIT University.
(Nhat Vy 2005)

IV. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT:
We decided to choose primary sources, specifically conducting survey because there are no available sources about our topic. Our survey is divided into three sections. The first one is the background of the students such as gender, semester, department; the next is their plans, main financial support as well as purposes. The final section is their attitude and thinking toward the success and failure when running business.

1. SAMPLING PLAN:
It is obvious that all of the students from universities related to economic majors in Ho Chi Minh City are our population. However, the numbers of students are too large to examine. In addition, due to the limitation of time and money, we decided to draw a sample. We selected 120 students randomly in three different universities and 40 students from each university, one is the international university- RMIT University, the others are the national universities- UEHHo Chi Minh City (HCMC) and FTU. The differences of background, education environment and financial condition of these students are the reason why we have chosen these three universities.
Sampling Method
We made up our mind to use probability sample “which is one in which the subjects of the sample are chosen on the basis of known probabilities” (Levine, M., David et al, 2005, p.10). Simple random and stratified sample seem to be the best choice.
Simple Random: is defined as “the method that every individual or item from the frame has an equal chance of being selected and selection may be with replacement and without replacement” (Levine, M., David et al, 2005, p 11). We decided to use simple random without replacement because it is simple to use. Furthermore, when every individual has the same chance of selection, it will ensure the fairness of the result.
Stratified Sample: “is one in which population divided into two or more groups according to some common characteristics, and then simple random sample selected from each group” (topic: introduction to statistic, 2007). “Stratified sample ensures representation of individuals across the entire population” (topic: introduction to statistic, 2007) is the reason why we applied this method.
We used stratified sample two times. Firstly, we divided our sample into three groups of university – 40 students from each. Secondly, in those 40 students, we separated 20 students from semester 1 to 4 and 20 from semester 5 to 8. Moreover, amongst 40 those students, we also made survey with 20 females and 20 males. The reason why we split students into two groups is that we want to figure out whether the semester periods and gender influence on the students’ decision on planning or running business during the university time or not.

2. PLAN FOR THE SURVEY
There are five members in our team. Firstly, we discussed about the questions going to ask in this survey. We finally showed our consensus on 10 questions after many times discussing and come up with the process of making the survey paper. We also unified the method of sampling (stratified sampling method) and our sample size was randomly 120 students in three different universities. Moreover, it also was created in both Vietnamese and English so that everyone who was surveyed could understand clearly and provide accurate answers.
After that, we started to run our surveying process firstly in RMIT campus. Then, we came to the other university campuses and continued with their students.
Finally, based on the results supported by those students, we can summarize and analyze data.

3. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
3.1 Advantages:
- Our sample included students from three different universities relating economic majors in HCM City. Therefore, our conclusion may be more objective.
- Sample size of 120 students which is large enough for us to conclude that the sampling distribution can be safely approached by Normal Distribution. Moreover, it also allows us to calculate and verify the results by applying Z-table and t-table.
- Stratified sampling method which divided our sample by semester and gender helps us to present the individuals’ performance across the rest population.
- Avoid measurement error: After many discussing hours, our questionnaire is fairly complete and clear which reflects aspects requiring to open a business such as financial support, kind of business, capital.
3.2 Disadvantages:
- There are some unclear responses due to the fact that we did not sit next to each individual respondent. Hence, we cannot ensure they answer honestly or not.
- Coverage error: Our sample just includes three common universities in HCM City. By this way, it cannot reveal the exact conclusion about other universities fairly.
- Sampling error: There is a difference between the result of our sample and the actual value of population because our sample size is smaller than the population size. Moreover, our sample just focuses on students studying economic majors; hence, in some way, it cannot reflect exactly the proportion of young Vietnamese people planning to do business. Thus, sampling error is inevitable.
V. DATA SUMMARY
1. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
1.1 Gender:

1.2 Semesters:

1.3 Are you planning or running your small business during university time?

The bar chart shows the proportion of students of the three universities who plan running business while studying or not. The result presents that there are 50% (20 students) RMIT students who planning or running business and the rest (50%) say “no”. While there are 33 students of the UEH (82%) say “yes”, only 7students (18%) say “no” when being asked. However, the percentage of students who plan to run business or not of FTU seems to be similar with 21 students say “yes” and 19 say “no”.

1.4 If you plan or run business, what is your main financial support?

As can be seen from the (), most three usniversities’ students have their main financial support from their family. RMIT and UEH have the same proportion with 56% of the total while FTU has a higher rate at 63%. It can be understood that family always plays the most significant role in the decision of starting to run a business of teenagers recently. Borrowing moneys from bank also occupies an important rate of students with 20% and 14% in total of RMIT and FTU. However, UEH stduents do not consider the investments from bank for their financial support. They can find investments from other ways and that rates at 23% totally. To conclude, students can find their own way to get the main financial support for their business. Generally, most of them believe their family is the safest and the best financial investment in order to plan or run a business.

1.5 What kind of business are planning or running?

According to the diagram, opening the fashion shop occupies the highest proportion with 26% totally of students from RMIT University. On the other hand, both UEH and FTU students like to open their business in other types that make up 37% and 34% in total. It can be seen that students want to build up their own business which has to be new, unique and also easy to manage the operations.

1.6 How much money have you invested or will invest in your business?

Here are 3 summary tables of the statistical figures from the 3 universities. As can be seen, RMIT has the highest Mean, Median and Mode of the 3 universities (Mean is 3,216.425$, Median is 2,110$ and Mode is 3000$). However, we can not modify the shape of its population’s distribution because the Median is smaller than Mode and Mean. On the other hand, both UEH and FTU have the similar shape of distribution that have the Mean is larger than Median and then Mode (UEH has the Mean at 1,566$, 1,050$ of Median and Mode is 500$ while FTU has the Mean at 1,740.25$, 1,300$ of Median and Mode is 300$). It can be understand that their data are positive, or right-skewed that has a long tail on the right of the distribution and a distortion to the right that is caused by extremely large values. About the standard deviation, RMIT still gets the highest with 3,147.11$ for each investment for each student’s plan on business. It may be due to the fact that the main financial support of RMIT students is their family thereby satisfying all their needs for their plan on business. Next is FTU with the standard deviation of 1,897.74$ and finally is UEH with 1,349.85$. In general, RMIT students have the highest investments for their business compared with the other 2 universities.

1.8 What are your purposes to start planning / running your business?

The pareto diagram above shows some purpose patterns that students of FTU give when being asked for the reason of running business during the university period. As can be seen, the most important reason which makes students feel interested in doing business is earning money (50%). Then, there is 20% ideas claim that they want to do business when studying to accumulate experiences for their future careers. Following, while some students assert that they like the feeling of challenging in the business environment (10%), there is very small percentage of students has other purpose for opening a business, just 1%.

The pareto diagram above gives the proportion of the four main purposes that students of the UEH City present when running their own business. There is 36.49% ideas state that earning money is the most vital reason when doing business and 27.03% of them think accumulating experiences is the main purpose because there are many real experiences they cannot gain from school. Just by running the real business, they can have valuable experiences. Next, other reason, which is 20.27%, is considerably more common than the reason of preferring challenging, which makes up 16.22%.

The proportion of the four main reasons of doing business which are given by the students of RMIT University Vietnam is illustrated by the pareto diagram above. Earning money has the highest percentage amongst the four (52.63%). Subsequently, accumulating experiences is the second reason that students choose after earning money which constitutes 36.84%. There is 7.02% students state that they decide to do their own business because they like the sensation of challenging and 3.51% presents other reasons.
As can be seen, most students from the sample think that earning money (46.37%) and accumulating experience (27.96%) purposes are the most important reasons for doing business. While students of FTU and RMIT University state that sense of challenging encourage them to run business, UEH’ s students have other reasons for their decisions.

2. COMBINED QUESTIONS:
2.1
 Gender: Male / Female
 Are you planning or running your small business during university time?
The three column charts show the proportion of males and females in three universities including the FTU, UEH and RMIT university, divided into whether they plan and do business or not.

The FTU shows a contrary result with the greater percentage of males who do not have plan or do business (9 students) than the ones do (11 students). On the other hand, there are twelve (12) females say “yes” and eight (8) of them say “no” when being asked.

While the gender effects extremely in business plan in RMIT University and FTU, UEH meets a different situation. The result of survey shows that the numbers of male and female who have plan and do business seem to be equal with sixteen (16) amongst 20 males and seventeen (17) amongst 20 females. On the contrary, there are only 4 males and 3 females answer “no” for this question.

In RMIT university, there are thirteen (13) among 20 males who are being asked, answered that they have plan or actually have their own business while there are only seven (7) females say “yes” for this question. Surprisingly, the oppose result of female describes that the number students who tend to do business (7 students) is much less than the students who do not (13 students).
2.2
 Semester: 1-4 5-8
 Are you planning or running your small business during university time?
The bar chart shows the numbers of students from sem 1-4 and sem 5-8 in the response to having plan to do business or not.

As can be seen, students from sem 1-4 who plan to do business in this univeristy,which account for 12 are more than students from sem 5-8, which are 9. In addition, students from sem 1-4 who don’t have plan is 8 out of 20 which are less than students from sem 5-8, which make up 11. Surprisingly, the numbers of students who want to run businees from sem 1-4 are more than the numbers of students from sem 5-8. In Foregin Trade Univeristy, it could be that the numbers of sem students take do not impact on their thinking and desire to do business during university time.

This chart illustrates that there are a large number of students from semester 1-4 and semester 5-8 have plan to do business. However, those numbers from semester 5-8 are more than students from semester 1-4. There are 18 out of 20 students from semester 5-8 said that they want to run business during university time while students from semester 1-4 are 15. It can be said that in UEH, the numbers of semester taken may influence on the thinking of students. It seems that when students study higher and become mature, they will think about running their own business.

The bar chart presents that students from semester 1-4 who tend to do business in RMIT University are less than students from semester 5-8. 8 out of 20 students from semester 1-4 answer “yes” compare with 12 out of students from semester 5-8. Students from semester 1-4 who do not have plan, which is 12 are more than students from semester 5-8 which constitutes 8. It could be that the circumstance of RMIT University is the same with UEHHCMC. When students study higher level, they have accumulated experience and become mature. As a result, they may want to challenge themselves. They tend to have their own plan and own way to develop. Therefore, it can explain why students from semester 5-8 who plan to do business are more than students from semester 1-4.

2.4
 Gender : male /female
 What are your purposes to start planning / running your business? (more than 1 answer is accepted)

In the FTU case, the number of male (6 students) who like to face with changing is more than female (4 students). Beside that, most of FTU’s students tend to do business to earn money with 15 males compared to 16 females. Moreover, there are 11 female and 9 male who do business to gain experince. There is only 1 male has other purpose while this number for female situation is zero.

The side by side bar chart above shows the relationship between the gender and the purpose of doing business in OEH. It appears that male decide to run business because they like feelings of challenging (7 students) more than female (5 students). Surprisingly, there are more female students stating that earning money (16 students) and other reasons (4 students) encourage them to do business than males, which constitue 11 for earning money purpose and 1 for other purpose. 10 male and 10 female agree with each other that experience is a factor that lead them to run business.

The connection between the gender and the reason why RMIT’s students prefer to run business is illustrated in the side by side bar chart above. As can be seen, there is the equality in the amount of male and female students stating that preferring challenging sensation (2 students of each) and other reasons (1 student of each) make them want to do business. Besides that, when doing business, money is the motivation. Hence, this number for the earning money reason between male and female seems to be equal (16 for male and 14 for female). Moreover, the number of female (11 students) who run business for gaining experience purpose is greater than male (10 students).

VI. INFERENTIAL STATISTIC
In this report, we choose to use hypothesis testing and regression analysis. In the first section, we apply hypothesis testing to check that whether the gender and semester affect the decision of doing business of Vietnamese young people or not. Moreover, “t test for differences in two means” also assists us to compare the differences in the amount of money that students invest in their own business amongst three universities. Next section is the regression analysis in which we use “measures of variation” and “hypothesis testing and confidence interval for population slope” to check whether there is the relationship between the age and the capital or not.

1. HYPOTHESIS STATISTIC
1.1 WHETHER THE SEMESTER FACTOR IS INDEPENDENT TO THE DECISION OF PLANNING BUSINESS OR NOT
1.1.1 FTU
Results
Critical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 0.902256
p-Value 0.342178
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Because p-value =34.21% is more than level of significance (α=0.05),not reject Ho. There is not enough evidence to claim the semester affects the decision to plan business at FTU students.
1.1.2 UEH
Results
Critical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 1.558442
p-Value 0.211894
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Since P-value = 21.19% is more than the level of significance (α=0.05), not reject Ho. There is not enough evidence to claim the semester affects business plan at UEH students.
1.1.3 RMIT
Results
Critical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 1.6
p-Value 0.205903
Do not reject the null hypothesis

P-value of 20.59% indicated the probability of having a sample mean (n=40) which is ether semester independent to planning business or not given that the null hypothesis is true since 20.59% is more than 5% ( level of significance) ,do not reject Ho. There is not enough evidence to conclude the semester do not independent to planning business at RMIT students.

1.2 WHETHER GENDER FACTOR IS INDEPENDENT TO THE DECISION OF PLANNING BUSINESS OR NOT
1.2.1 FTU
Results
Critical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 0.902256
p-Value 0.342178
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Since P-value =34.21% is above the level of significance (α=0.05), not reject Ho. There is not enough evidence to conclude the gender affect business plan at FTU students.
1.2.2 UEH
Results
hjCritical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 0.17316
p-Value 0.677318
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Because p-value=67.73% is higher than level of significance(α). There is not enough evidence to conclude the gender do not independent to planning business at UEH students.
1.2.3 RMIT
Results
Critical Value 3.841459
Chi-Square Test Statistic 3.6
p-Value 0.05778
Do not reject the null hypothesis

Since P-value = 5.78% is above the level of significance of 5%(α), not reject Ho. There is not enough evidence to conclude the gender do not independent to planning business at RMIT students.
In general, gender and semester do not affect the decision making of planning or running business of the students in three universities.

2. COMPARISON
In this part, we would like to use “t test for differences in two means” to compare the differences between the money each student from each university invest in their business with other university.
We assume that 1= UEH
2 = FTU
3 = RMIT
2.1 UEH & FTU
H0: 1 - 2 > 0 [UEH’s students invest more money than FTU’s students]
H1: 1 - 2 < 0 [FTU’s students invest more money than UEH’s students]COMPARISION CAPITAL BETWEEN UEH &FTU DataHypothesized Difference 0Level of Significance 0.05Population 1 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 1566Sample Standard Deviation 1349Population 2 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 1742Sample Standard Deviation 1895 Intermediate CalculationsPopulation 1 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Population 2 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Total Degrees of Freedom 78Pooled Variance 2705413Difference in Sample Means -176t Test Statistic -0.47853 Lower-Tail Test Lower Critical Value -1.66462p-Value 0.316805Do not reject the null hypothesis According to the table above, since p- value = 0.31605 > = 0.05, we do not reject the null hypothesis. This means that there is not sufficient evidence to claim that FTU’s students invest more money than UEH’s students do.
2.2 FTU & RMIT
H0: 2 - ¬3 > 0 [ FTU’s students invest more money than RMIT’s students]
H1: 2 - 3 < 0 [ RMIT’s students invest more money than FTU’s students]CAPITAL COMPARISION BETWEEN FTU & RMIT DataHypothesized Difference 0Level of Significance 0.05Population 1 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 1742Sample Standard Deviation 1895Population 2 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 3216Sample Standard Deviation 3147 Intermediate CalculationsPopulation 1 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Population 2 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Total Degrees of Freedom 78Pooled Variance 6747317Difference in Sample Means -1474t Test Statistic -2.53774 Lower-Tail Test Lower Critical Value -1.66462p-Value 0.006575Reject the null hypothesis The table above presents that p value= 0.006575. Since p value < = 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that RMIT’s students invest more money than FTU’s students do. 2.3 RMIT & UEHH0: 3 - 1> 0 [RMIT’s students invest more money than UEH’s students]
H1¬: 3 - 1< 0 [UEH’s students invest more money than RMIT’s students]CAPITAL COMPARISION BETWEEN RMIT & UEH DataHypothesized Difference 0Level of Significance 0.05Population 1 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 3216Sample Standard Deviation 3147Population 2 Sample Sample Size 40Sample Mean 1566Sample Standard Deviation 1349 Intermediate CalculationsPopulation 1 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Population 2 Sample Degrees of Freedom 39Total Degrees of Freedom 78Pooled Variance 5861705Difference in Sample Means 1650t Test Statistic 3.047803 Lower-Tail Test Lower Critical Value -1.66462p-Value 0.998427Do not reject the null hypothesis According to the table above, since p value= 0.998427 > = 0.05, we do not reject the null hypothesis. There is not enough evidence to conclude that UEH’s students invest more money than RMIT’s students do.

3. REGRESSION ANALYSIS
3.1 FTU
FTU

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.060600843
R Square 0.003672462
Adjusted R Square -0.022546684
Standard Error 1.919014829
Observations 40

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1 0.515816761 0.515816761 0.140067955 0.710293818
Residual 38 139.9394807 3.682617914
Total 39 140.4552975

Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%
Intercept 2.923504929 3.176141101 0.92045814 0.36314014 -3.506256525 9.353266383
-0.056818964 0.151818228 -0.374256537 0.710293818 -0.364158896 0.250520968
• Slope: b1= -0.056818964 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would decrease $95.68 on average.
• Y- intercept: b0 = 2.923504929
• I = b0 + b1 Xi = 2.9235 – 0.05681. Xi: Negative relationship
• R Square: r2 = 0.003672462: There is 0.367 % of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 99.633% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.
• Multiple R: r = 0.060600843: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.
H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)
H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital)
• Standard error: SYX = 1.919014829
• = 0.151818228
• t Stat = - 0.374256537
Assume that = 0.05
Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244
Since the test statistic (t=- 0.374256537) falls into the non-rejection region (t=-0.374256537> CV= -2.0244) then we do not reject the null hypothesis. There is not enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.
3.2 UEH
UEH

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.40134593
R Square 0.161078556
Adjusted R Square 0.139001676
Standard Error 1.252529755
Observations 40

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1 11.4465901 11.4465901 7.296255401 0.010265102
Residual 38 59.6155699 1.568830787
Total 39 71.06216

Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%
Intercept 9.645036179 2.997502057 3.217691263 0.002642853 3.576910561 15.7131618
Slope -0.407004342 0.150677716 -2.701158159 0.010265102 -0.712035428 -0.101973256

• Slope: b1= -0.407004342 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would decrease $407 on average.
• Y- intercept: b0 = 9.645036179
• I = b0 + b1 Xi = 9.645036179 – 0.407004342. Xi: Negative relationship
• R Square: r2 = 0.161078556: There is 16 % of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 84% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.
• Multiple R: r = 0.40134593: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.
H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)
H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital)
• Standard error: SYX = 1.252529755
• = 0.150677716
• t Stat = - 2.701158159
Assume that = 0.05
Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244
Since the test statistic (t=- 2.701158159) falls into the rejection region (t=- 2.701158159< CV= -2.0244) then we reject the null hypothesis. There is enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.3.3 RMITRMIT Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.112057547 R Square 0.012556894 Adjusted R Square -0.013428451 Standard Error 3.168178574 Observations 40 ANOVA df SS MS F Significance F Regression 1 4.850349637 4.850349637 0.483229836 0.491192181 Residual 38 381.4195081 10.03735548 Total 39 386.2698578 Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%Intercept -1.075504022 6.194416523 -0.17362475 0.863082002 -13.61544457 11.46443653age 0.21116502 0.303770158 0.695147348 0.491192181 -0.40378551 0.826115549• Slope: b1= 0.21116502 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would increase $211 on average.• Y- intercept: b0 = - 1.075504022• I = b0 + b1 Xi = - 1.075504022 + 0.21116502. Xi: Positive relationship• R Square: r2 = 0.012556894: There is 1.256 % of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 98.744% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.• Multiple R: r = 0.112057547: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital)• Standard error: SYX = 3.168178574• = 0.303770158• t Stat = 0.695147348Assume that = 0.05Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244Since the test statistic (t= 0.695147348) falls into the non- rejection region (t= 0.695147348< CV= 2.0244) then we do not reject the null hypothesis. There is enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.VII. RECOMMENDATIONIn this study, we have applied hypothesis testing and regression analysis to examine the relationship between the decision of planning or running business of students and other factors affecting that decision. The useful functions of excel and PHStat helps us to calculate statistical numbers fast and exactly. Therefore, we can minimize errors and draw the more accurate conclusion about the attitude of Vietnamese young people in doing business during university period. Through the study, we can conclude that the gender and semester factors do not affect the idea of doing business. Additionally, by using hypothesis testing and confidence interval for population slope, we clearly see that age factor does not have any influence on the students’ investment. It seems that the decision to do business during the university period is not based on those factors we examine in this study. However, errors about sample mean, sample standard deviation still exist because the sample size is too small comparing to population size. In addition, the sample we choose to conduct survey focus on students study in business education; therefore, it may not represent the whole population, which means that it cannot reflect clearly the trend of doing business of Vietnamese youth in the whole countries. Consequently, increasing sample size and choosing right sampling method is necessary to minimize these errors and make the research more accurate. Moreover, we should enlarge the survey area by conducting survey in different education sector. Last but not least, preparing a detailed survey minimizing the potential error is also essential to make the research more credible. People can based on the research to have a deep insight into the trend of doing business of Vietnamese youth in the globalization era. VIII. CONCLUSIONFollowing the purpose of our research, getting a deep insight understanding about the trend of running business during the university period of students, we apply descriptive and inferential Statistics. Firstly, in data summary and Descriptive Statistics part, we use lot of charts to analyze the underlying reasons affecting decision on running business. For example: We see that over 50% interviewees have main financial support coming from family. Secondly, we used different statistical methods such as hypothesis testing and regression analysis to examine whether the gender, semesters and age affect the decision of doing business of Vietnamese young people or not. In the result of our sample , the fact that both gender and semester have no relationship with the decision of planning or running business of students at RMITVN, UEH and FTU. On the other hand, age only affects this decision at UEH . In general, we can say that we have achieved our planed purpose in this research because finally the analysis has shown that virtually those factors we mention in the survey do not affect the idea of doing business. Furthermore, there is some errors such as dishonest answer and the lack of paying attention which can reduce the quality, especially credibility although the statistical method and calculating process are right. IX. REFERENCE LISTLevine, M., David, Stephen David, Krehbiel, C., Timothy and Berenson, L., Mark. 2005, Statistic for Managers using Microsoft Excel, Fourth Edition, Prentice- Hall, New Jersey, p.10.Levine, M., David, Stephen David, Krehbiel, C., Timothy and Berenson, L., Mark. 2005, Statistic for Managers using Microsoft Excel, Fourth Edition, Prentice- Hall, New Jersey, p.11.Nhat Vy. 2005, ‘Why young Vietnamese young people still dare to do business?’, VietnamNet, viewed 24 November 2007,.

‘Topic: introduction to statistic’ 2007, RMIT University, viewed 22 November 2007,
.

IX. APPENDIX
SURVEY
Topic: The proportion of students plan or run small business during the university time.
Purpose: We are students of Commerce Faculty from RMIT Vietnam University. With the purpose of performing a statistical number of students planning or running business during the university times, we send this survey to you and hope that we will receive your honest respondents.
1. Gender:  Male  Female
2. Semester: a/ 1-4  4-8
b/ age:______
3. Department:
 IT  Design  Commerce  HED
4. Are you planning or running your small business during university time?
 Yes  No
5. If you plan or run business, what is your main financial support?
 Family  Bank Friends  Others
6. What kind of business are planning or running?
 Fashion shop  Investing in Stock Market  Souvenir
Coffee shop  Online Selling  Others
7. How much money have you invested or will invest in your business?
Less $ 500 $ 500 – 1000  $ 1000 – 2000  more than $ 2000
¬¬¬¬please write the exact number: ¬¬¬¬¬__________________USD
8. What are your purposes to start planning / running your business? (More than one option would be accepted)
 Challenging  Earn money  Accumulate experience  Others
9. Starting to run a business when studying, do you think you can succeed?
 Yes  No
10. If you fail, do you want to try again? If yes, why?
 Yes  No
Your reason_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

--- Thanks for your cooperation ---

FTU:
i = 833
i = 69.61
. Yi = 1440.55
2 = 17507
2 = 261.5941
A or SSXY = = = -9.07825
B or SSX = = = 159.775
C or SST = = = 140.4553
b1 = = = = -0.05682
b1= -0.05682 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would decrease $95.92 on average.
b0 = - b1 = 2.9235
I = b0 + b1 Xi = 2.9235 – 0.05682. Xi: Positive relationship
= 0.00367
There is 0.367 % of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 99.633% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.
r = = = 0.0606: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.
H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)
H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital)
= 1.9190
= 0.1518
t = = -0.3743
Assume that = 0.05
Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244
Since the test statistic (t=- 0.3743) falls into the non-rejection region (t=-0.3743> CV= -2.0244) then we do not reject the null hypothesis. There is not enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.

ECONOMIC:
i = 794
i = 62.64
. Yi = 1215.28
2 = 15830
2 = 169.1564
A or SSXY = = = -28.124
B or SSX = = = 69.1
C or SST = = = 71.06216
b1 = = = = -0.407
b1= -0.407 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would decrease $407 on average.
b0 = - b1 = 9.64495
I = b0 + b1 Xi = 9.64495 – 0.407 Xi: Negative relationship
= 0.16
There is 16% of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 84% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.
r = = = -0.40134: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.
H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)
H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital)
= 1.25253
= 0.150678
t = = - 2.70112
Assume that = 0.05
Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244
Since the test statistic (t= -2.70112) falls into the rejection region (t=-2.70112< CV= -2.0244) then we reject the null hypothesis. There is enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.RMIT i = 813 i = 128.657 . Yi = 2637.923 2 = 16633 2 = 800.08545A or SSXY = = = 22.969475 B or SSX = = = 108.775 C or SST = = = 386.26986 b1 = = = = 0.2111b1= 0.2111 which shows that for each one-year-older students are, the amount of money they invest in their business would increase $211 on average. b0 = - b1 = -1.07215 I = b0 + b1 Xi = -1.07215 + 0.2111 Xi: Positive relationship = 0.01256: Positive relationshipThere is 1.256 % of variation in the capital that students invest in their business can be explained by the variation in the age of students. The remaining of 98.744% of the variation in the capital can be explained by other factors which we ignore in this study.r = = = 0.112: is closed to zero so there is a weak relationship between capital and age of the students.H0: 1= 0 (no significant relationship between age and capital)H1: 1 0 (there is a relationship between age and capital) = 3.1682 = 0.30377t = = 0.69493Assume that = 0.05Critical Value= t /2, n-2 = t0.025, 38= 2.0244Since the test statistic (t= 0.69493) falls into the non-rejection region (t=0.69493> CV= 2.0244) then we do not reject the null hypothesis. There is not enough evidence to conclude that the age of the student affect the money they invest in their own business.

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Critical Writing-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:30:00.001-07:00

Critical Response to Two Articles
“Globalization: Marginalization of the poor” “A one-world market is beneficial to all”
Since few decades ago the term “globalization” has been mentioned as an ebullient issue all over the world. From the financial news on the television to academic studies teach in school and it also has become a controversial topic due to the advantages and disadvantages it brings the whole world. In his article Banques. T. K (2007), “Globalization: Marginalization of the poor”, Liberty Press, argues that globalization under the control of developed countries increases the disparity between the first and third worlds, makes the proportion of poverty goes up. On the other hand, in his article “A one-world market is beneficial to all”, World View, Noette points out opposite claims that globalization is eroding the disparity between developed and developing nations, creating the global prosperity, and disseminating wealth, power and liberal democracy throughout the world. This essay will argue that globalization despite of glowing term is considered as a more negative phenomenon in the world.
In the first point, Banques states that globalization is marginalizing the poor. Developing countries are being exploited through “the use of multinational capital and global governance”, resulting an increase of the gap between rich and poor nations. In contrast, Noette addresses that globalization has increased world prosperity and improved the welfare of citizens in the world. Beside that, it guarantees developing of nations’ share of world trade and contribute to the development of all sides for any individual country.
Both Banques and Noette have presented arguments in support of their view, however Banques seems to be more convincing by pointing out appropriate statistics about the value of share in Africa and Latin America has fallen. It proved that Noette’s claim that globalization makes the nations’ share increase is wrong. Moreover, Noette does not cite any sources to back up his claims, and fails to acknowledge that the rapid dissemination of globalization has led many troubles to small countries and make them become more vulnerable.
At the second point, Noette says that globalization has brought about huge benefit as can be defined as “the diffusion of prosperity, wealth and power, resulting in modernization and development”. For example, the economic in Eastern Asia has merged as a young, progressive and potential market. Additionally, the major multinational companies or international institutions such as the IMF, The World Bank and the G7 are doing really a great job in restructuring developing countries into a better organization which will be more flexible to deal with world political, economic and social problems. Nonetheless, Banques blames the crisis happened in Asia was a directly result of globalization which spread rapidly and seriously effected on the economic zone. Banques also believes that the interference of The World Bank and IMF has slowdown the development and coerce the countries’ growth by compellable strategies. In this argument, Noette’s claim is not supported with any concrete evidence and too general while Banques are successful in adding the facts that happen seriously in over the world.
In conclusion, Banques and Noette have different perspectives about the spread of globalization and its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Banques argues that globalization is not the solution for world poverty and hunger however Noette strongly believes that globalization has brought plenty of benefits to the world and all the citizens. Yet, Noette fails to convince the reader as his claims are not supported by any supporting documentation. Like a coin, every thing has two sides but it seems that globalization is ruining the world; from the economy field to the connection between people.

Reference list:
Banques, Kyle Theo, 2007, “Globalization: Marginalization of the Poor”, Liberty Press, USA

Noette, Rich N. 2007, “A One World Market is Beneficial to All”, World View Press, USA

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Critical Response to Two Articles

2011-04-12T04:29:00.001-07:00

Critical Response to Two Articles
“Globalization: Marginalization of the poor” “A one-world market is beneficial to all”
Globalization process is bringing the world closer together. Life becomes more modern, society is more developing and the whole world is on the way of development. However, some still consider that globalization is not a glowing term at all. Beside that, it brings more troubles to the world despite the sparkling surface. In his article Banques. T. K (2007), “Globalization: Marginalization of the poor”, Liberty Press, USA claims that globalization is coercing developing nations and dominating them through economic demands. Nonetheless, in his article “A one-world market is beneficial to all”, World View, USA, Noette (2007) argues that globalization brings prosperity to the world, and it is creating “a global market civilization in which wealth, power and liberal democracy are being disseminated”. This essay is in response to both of these articles with the point of view that globalization is beneficial to all.
In the first argument, in term of the development in every country Banques claims that globalization is dominating and controlling small nations and makes them become weaker while developed country is getting stronger and stronger and it also widens the gap between rich and poor people. In contrast, Noette points out that globalization has increased world prosperity and reduced global poverty. Moreover, it has improved the welfare of citizens in almost all regions of the world and guarantees for the nations’ share of world trade. The technological innovation, brought about by globalization has created a new step for the development of the whole world.
Both Banques and Noette have presented arguments in support of their view, however Noette is more convincing because his claims is naturally flow and it does reflect the fact that globalization is much more beneficial to the world. On the other hand, Banques’s points seem to be too negative. It is undeniable that developing countries together with help from multinational capital and global governance become richer and more developing rather than being controlled by power nations.
In term of the effect of globalization on the world economy, Banques addresses that “the East Asian Crisis was a direct result of globalization”. It proves that poorer countries are more vulnerable and suffer more than rich countries. In addition, he argues that multinational companies or international institutions are not helpful to make the third worlds are better but worse. They slowdown the economy and force the nation to follow strategies that it is obligated to do. Taking the same points to look at but Noette has totally different view. He states that globalization is such a huge beneficial mine not to any individual but the whole world. The process of globalization has brought prosperity to the world, resulting in the modernization and development. An example that can be claimed for this point is the new economy zone which is developing rapidly in Asia. Globalization has helped those countries to have chance to corporate and do business with multinational companies. It is like a lever for the nation to push itself economic to develop and become larger. In addition, Noette also presents that the IMF, The World Bank and the G7 are helping the poorer countries to restructure its organization in order to enable these countries to deal with international policy, and adapt to the global economy.
In his arguments, Banques fails to convince the reader as his claims are not backed up by any concrete evidence. Moreover he seems to be over generalization when assumes that international institutions are ruining the developing countries’ economy. In fact, institutions such as WTO, APEC have brought many financial benefits to many countries as they always strive to join these organizations. It also proves that, Noette has better concept about organization than Banques and they close to reality than just a negative point of view like Banques’s.
To conclude, Banques and Noette have different perspectives about the spread of globalization and its effect to the world. Banques states that globalization is not effective and helpful at all while it increases the world poverty, the gap between rich and poor nations. Nonetheless, Noette points out supported evidences for the process of globalization over the world because of the rise in prosperity, modernization and development in every countries and improvement of society and communication. In fact, globalization brings many advantages to the world that cannot be denied and as Noette states it is “beneficial to all”.
Reference list:
Banques, Kyle Theo, 2007, “Globalization: Marginalization of the Poor”, Liberty Press, USA

Noette, Rich N. 2007, “A One World Market is Beneficial to All”, World View Press, USA

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The beauty icons of the Western World that set the standard-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

In recent decades, Vietnam had noticeable changes. In his article, “Vietnam: West is the best for beauty”, BBC News, 2007, Simon Ingram claimed that Vietnamese women assumed that “the beauty icons of the Western World that set the standard”. The article is about Vietnamese perception about beauty but written by a foreign journalist so obviously it cannot reflect the fact in Vietnam, that explain the purpose of this essay is to response three of his main arguments.
The first argument, Ingram stated that “traditional notions of physical beauty are changing rapidly as a huge wave of advertising and other western factors influence the country.” The author did not cite any sources to back up his claims so the statement was just an over view about the situation at the moment and also based on his bias.
In the second point, Ingram asserted that the shops overflow with whitening cosmetic due to large demand from customers who want to turn a brown skin white. In fact, having a bright skin is still the beauty standard in Vietnam for thousand years. It represents for an innocent beautiful lady. That explains why many girls on the road cover themselves carefully with mask face and gloves to avoid the sun. Moreover, Ingram fails to recognize that bronzed skin was no longer being “the mark of a lowly manual labor”, that was just the author’s opinion.
The last point, the author claimed that Vietnamese women prefer using plastic surgery to “make comfortable living trimming nose, creating double eyelids and expanding the busts”. However, not all patients feel satisfy with the result and usually they have to be extra careful with their new nose or it will two time easier to be broken.
In conclusion, in this article, “Vietnam: West is the best for beauty”, Ingram mentioned that Vietnamese people are chasing western beauty so women buy cosmetic to have white skin or using plastic surgery will embellish a Vietnamese look buy making her nose in a western shape. However, the author failed to convince the readers as his claims were not backed by any supporting documentation or reliable resources. Moreover, Vietnam beauty is well known over the world proven by high prices in the beauty contest world wide every year. Each country has its own best and all the Vietnamese women are uniquely beautiful.
Ingram, S. 1999, ‘Vietnam: West is best for beauty‘, BBC News, January 11, viewed 4 July 2007, .

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Business Plan-Dilemma Report-Today and Tomorrow (TnT)-Free Essay

2011-04-12T04:25:00.001-07:00

1. INTRODUCTION:
TnT Company currently is one major plastic manufactures in the plastic industry. The success that the firm has today is so much thanks to great contribution of all employees. However, there is an issue that has arisen among the company. There is an 57 years old employee who works in the Marketing Department now not be able to perform his tasks as well as before. However, firing or continue hiring this employee both have major impacts on TnT due to some ethical and economic issue. Therefore, managers in TnT have to be very carefully examine and analyze the situation in order to point out the best solution for both company and the old worker.
2. ETHICAL ISSUE:
In this case, the firm knows that firing this employee will affect badly to his annual income and furthermore to his family. Besides that, this old employee has been working for the firm 19 years, it is not a short time, and definitely he contributed not a small part in the company. The “fairness or justice approach” implies that everybody should be treated equally base on the ethical action. Thus the firm seems to be unfair with this employee because of age discrimination and furthermore unfair with the one who has lots of contribute to the company success. Firing him also makes the firm against the “right approach” which strongly respect one own human’s rights. This employee has his right to work like every other people as he is willing to work until 62 years old. If the company does not treat its employees well, of course, those employees will not take the firm’s business serious. It will raise a question among the employees as if they would be treated the same way with this man. Consequently, it results to the lower productivity and loyalty of the firm’s employees. The company will not just has bad view from its employees but also bad perspective from customers and society as a whole; that what “Common good approach” talks about. “This approach calls attention to the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone”. Therefore the company should not ignore this important field because it could affect the firm strongly in term of productivity, reputation and sale volume.
On the contrary, another thing that the firm is considering is still employing this old employee. It could also influents many other aspects. As mention above, the “fairness or justice approach” concern about the equality between people, however, it also indicates that people should be treated fairly and proportionately if unequally base on ethical action. In this case, other labors in the company may not be treated equally; this old worker now cannot fulfill his job but he still earns money from the firm. However, it could be argue that there are more positive ethical perspectives when keep this old worker with the company. According to the “utilitarian approach”, it identifies the harms and benefits in term of the satisfaction of personal preferences or in purely economic term. It means the company does not put much concern about the economic term, how much to employ this inability working employee and how much money will regard. It focuses on moral and ethical issue which tries doing the least harm to anyone who are affected. Employ him does not harm to any people excluding some employees who feel unfair with this one, additionally, it bring more benefits for the company. The firm will have good reputation because it respects the old one and appreciates the well-contributed working life one. As a result, the firm’s productivity and sale volume could increase. It also fit to the “Virtue approach” which says “the ethical action is the one that embodies the habits and values of humans at their best”. By doing this, the firm will be seen as a moral and ethical organization which tolerate, honesty, fairly, fidelity and generosity.
3. RELEVANT STAKEHOLDER:
3.1. INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS:
3.1.1. The older employee
The older people always contribute an important voice in society, especially in Vietnam. For the older worker in this case, his advice or idea is valuable and have great esteem from other people in company, therefore, a clever solution of this issue may change not only in that worker’s thought but also in other employees in TnT’s company. If TnT’s managers cannot give any acceptable decision, they will break the solidarity between employers and employees. It seems to make people feel no more truth in company and like the bad forecast for TnT future.
3.1.2Workers
Whatever solution will be chosen, the young employees will think it seem to be the result in their future if they still work for TnT. Therefore, when young workers look at the way TnT’s managers solving the problems with older employees, they may change their views about TnT company. If workers feel satisfy with the managers decision, the output of productivity may be improved and the company will also get more benefits. The increasing of belief and’ loyalty of employees will lead to the increase in quality of products. However, if the company managers do not do well in this issue, they will get the protest from other workers. It may cause to the reducing in productivity, company’s reputation or even occurring a strike of employees, then TnT will get into many problems including inside and outside of company. For example, while people are in strike, TnT’s production will come to a standstill which directly affect on company’s income, the government legal department will also find out the cause of issue and they can punish or close the business.
3.1.3 Manager departments
Marketing, production and financial managers are also impact to TnT’s decision. The ideas or advises of these department are very important to deciding the best solution for TnT’s problem. For example, Production department are able to know clearly about TnT’s employees, their ability and can suggest that TnT can keep this worker or should not basing on his profile and his working performance. Besides that, financial manager can show that which decision is able to perform depending on company’s financial situation. In addition, marketing department can find out the best solution by their micro and macro environment researching.
3.2. EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
3.2.1. Competitors and customers:
Firing or keeping the older worker also influence on TnT’s competitors and customers. If TnT cannot make the older worker satisfy with company solution, competitors may take unfair advantages of this situation and embroiling TnT’s experienced workers to their companies. A remarkable example occurring in Vietnam last year is Vedan company and the way they pour toxic waste into Thi Vai River. That action impacts badly in its local’s environment and makes Vietnamese people turned their backs to Vedan. Similarly, in case that TnT makes an unfair treatment with that old worker, then the bad rumor spread out, the support from TnT’s customers will be reduced rapidly. As a consequence, TnT business will get threats very soon.
3.2.2. Public organization
Employees are protected by many organizations, especially Vietnam Labor Unions. Therefore, any actions that affect the right of this older worker may be kept a close watch on company by these organizations, which established to protect the rights of employees. If they unite together to support that old employee to sue TnT or forcing company to keep him until his retirement age, the dilemma will become a serious problem. Since, TnT will be always under these organizations control as well as their pressures.
3.2.3. Social view
To run a success business in long term, the view of social is very important. In Vietnam, where the older people are always respected as the traditional thinking, TnT may be isolated with the social if company cannot show its respects to that older worker in particular and to the old people in general. Similarly, there are no more changes for TnT to develop its brand wealthy and successfully in Vietnam.
4. OPTION ANALYSIS
4.1. OPTION 1: “Carry the employee for one year until his retirement benefits are in full force”.
In case that TnT Company takes this action it can be considered as a safe solution for the old worker because there is no effect on employee’s morale and loyalty. It also refers to the right approach if the solution is undertaken. The company will offer the old worker a chance to continue his job and protect his right to be awarded due to long time he was up and down with the firm. Moreover, many other employees especially the older ones in the company will look at manager’s manner and they highly possible form a positive perspective of the way TnT treats its labours. Therefore, they know that the company respects the old workers and it creates belief for them. Through this action the firm reaches to the virtue approach which encourages its employees perform their tasks better.
However, on other aspect this solution does affect quite much on company budget. First of all, the company will definitely have to hire additional employee to fulfill lacking performance ability of the old one and it charges $40.000 in next quarter. Additionally, many legal advisors concern about the same situation might happen in the future and it costs $50,000 incurs if other workers require for the same treatment. Ethical issue should be concerned by any company but if it is not realistic and effects too much on the company expenses rather than the benefits it can get, the solution might not be a good way to go.
4.2. OPTION 2: “Fire the employee”.
In reality, many companies will prefer this solution because it only costs $27,000 for employee severance payment. Moreover, the company does not have to worry about its labours productivity or negative effect on Marketing Department because it is quite flexible to fire the old worker and hire a new one. Therefore, it guarantees every activity in the company will be processed well and it may bring more profit rather than expenses. At the point of economic perspective view this action brings the best benefit to TnT Company.
Nonetheless, it has high probability of being sued for age discrimination. In other words, if TnT takes this solution the firm would fight against the common goods approach. The reason is this employee is 57 years old; he is vulnerable and too old to be able to find another job. Thus, if he is fired it indicates that TnT Company does not protect the weak people and there is a distinguishable line from old employees to the young ones. Furthermore, the firm would not also concern to the justice approach while firing the old worker. He may feel unfair because he contributed so much to the company growth throughout 19 years and cannot be kicked out easily like that. Therefore, the probability of this case can be happened is very high and it will cost additional $100,000 in total for the lawsuit. Furthermore, the company will get bad reputation of being disrespect for old worker. In terms of both ethical perspective and economic perspective, this solution is the worse one.
4.3. OPTION 3: “Offer the employee early retirement with full benefit of a 20-year employee”.
With this solution, it obviously carries less harmful effect on worker. Thus, there will be no chance of being sued if the company stops the old labour from work together with offering him an early retirement with full benefit of a 20-year employee. This solution shows fairness approach because the old worker will retire with his deserving reward and other employees who have better skills will have chance to take his place. Hence, TnT is still able to keep its employees belief and loyalty and in addition have an effective employee to replace this weak point and the company can remain its productivity and keep growing.
Nonetheless, in other point of view, it might cause dissatisfaction for the old worker and it does not follow the right approach because this labour is willing and wants to work until he is 62 years old. Thus, this action will upset him and somehow make him lose face because everybody in the company will know that he is now unable to catch up with the workload and he no longer being an able employee as in the past. In addition, if other older workers demand equal treatment it will increase cost incur up to $100,000 in total. This kind of situation will highly happen so it charges the company very high price if the solution would have been done and also HR Department will have to deal with blank positions and losses experienced workers.
4.4. OPTION 4: “Offer a training program for older workers”
Following this option, it seems to have the highest moral intensity so consequently, the turnover rate will be reduced moderately. Moreover, with special training program it can increase the old worker’s performance and he will be able to remain and work in the company until his wish age. Through this virtue approach, it does not only conduct satisfaction and more loyalty for employees but also brings benefit to the company thanks to the improvement of the old workers and good reputation. Besides, comparing to other solution it costs only $65,000 at least to train all older workers. It can be viewed that this solution bears of both the most ethical perspective and economic perspective.
However, there is still disadvantage of the solution due to some people may think it is not necessary to train old workers who is weak and only continues working in a few years.
5. EVALUATION AND OPTION SELECTION
After examining all of four options, we realized that every option brings both advantages disadvantages to the company and none of them are perfectly fit into ethical perspective either economic perspective. Therefore, it requires more carefully solutions analyzing in order to choose the best one. After a discussion involved managers in company, TnT decided to choose solution 4 to solve the problem.
5.1. IMPACT ON TNT COMPANY AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS
5.1.1. Internal impact
Following the option 4 means the company have to pay $65,000. It is clearly not a few bucks but huge amount of money but, TnT believes that this money is spent in right place. This employee has a very long working time in the company; his contribution to TnT cannot measure into specific number. Thus, there is no reason for the company to treat him like useless people when his performance is not effective as before. The employee has the right to work because he is still not at retired age and actually, he is willing to continue his career in the company. Hence, stop him from working by anyway is totally unfair for him and the worker might feel like he is discarded. For those reasons, the company drew a solution to offer a special training program for not only him but also other older workers to be trained and improve their working skills.
This action intends to show all the employees in company that they are not hired to work and make profit for the company but the company in return does care about them. The company does not only offer them job opportunity while they are young and have full ability but also encourage them and help them improve when they become weak and old. Besides, it demonstrates that there is no age discrimination that old workers will have to suffer and they will never be considered as a burden for TnT.
Through this method, TnT can increase loyalty from employees therefore, increase productivity thanks to positive thinking of workers and they will try their best to work for the company. Considering to long-term growth, the solution costs $65,000 at the first place but as a result, when productivity of all employees increases the company will definitely grow faster. Besides, due to high morale intensity TnT will not have to face with any legislation issue that may occur.
The solution brings benefit to both employee and the company. It guarantees for better production process, the company is able to keep an experienced worker as well as the old employee is allowed to continue working, contribute to the company with more effective performance as his desire and be able to earn more money for himself.
5.1.2. External impact
Vietnam is a country that has a very strict tradition costumes especially in respecting the older. Therefore, TnT as a company operates its business in Vietnam cannot against this tradition and the country culture. Every activity, which is undertaken by the company, will have impact on other external stakeholders. In this case, social view is considered as the biggest one. If TnT does not know how to treat old employees in right way and regard them like expired products, society may view at the company as a material manufacture. Thus, there will be never a good reputation for the company, customers might boycott its products and eventually the company will fail.
5.2. CONSEQUENCES OF SELECTION
Generally, option 4 is considered as the best solution to solve the problem that TnT Company is facing. Nevertheless, there is no perfect way and this option does bring some limitations. First of all, the company will have to pay extra money for training workers and it takes quite a long time. Meanwhile, demand of the market changes every day as well as new technology. Therefore, it is not easy for old people to cope with new business. The Manager will have to consider carefully about designing training program to be appropriate and accurate for what employees are lacking.
Moreover, many people might feel that it is not necessary to train old workers who can work for only few years. The company is wasting money on them and instead of trying to improve those old workers the company should save money to hire a young and talent one to take their positions.
Another issue is that, it is a risk probability that the program may not work out and the old employees are still unable to work as before. Thus, the company does not only throwing away a lot of money but also fail its employees’ trust.
5.3. IMPROVEMENT OF IMPACTS OF CONSEQUENCES
In order to limit disadvantages of the solution, it is suggested that the manager should take time to identify the accurate lacking skills of the employees and through that he can be able to conduct the most effective program to fulfill their ability. Besides, the company should think about establishing a friendly working environment whereas young and older employees corporate and helping each other freely. Thus, the old employees can be more up to date with new technology, new trend of the market while young employees will gain more experiences from predecessors.
5.4. OTHER IDEA TO SOLVE DILEMMA
5.4.1. “Change the employees’ salary situation”:
Recently, TnT are paying the same level salary to every working employees. However, every worker has the different ability to work, different healthy status, that lead to the output of productivity different. By this calculating, it is not matter that any worker performs many or less products, they get the same amount of money. If TnT pay salary depend on the output that each worker can make, it is more fairly for workers, who have high distribution and company also can salvage the capacity of high performance workers. So, the old workers will get the salary as much as they can perform. Moreover, a bonus budget will be awarded for workers, who have the highest output in each quarter. This way will encourage TnT employees hard working to get higher income.
5.4.2. “Short term labour contract”
TnT can also sign a short term contracts with employees and resign it annually. This method will clearly indentify the duties and the benefits of each part in contract. By this method, TnT can avoid similar dilemma in the future and also other different problems. Beside, employees will work more effectively, improving their working skills frequently to be able to resign the labour contract with company in the next periods.
6. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the dilemma situations occur normally in business and requiring company to solve the problems effectively. For this dilemma, there are no perfect or completed decisions are given, but TnT chose the option that company think it is the best solution which was decided among the managers of company. TnT believes that the long term benefit of company will come up by contributing the good relationship with employees as well as the respecting them.
7. REFERENCES:
Anderson, P., Beveridge, D., Scott, T. and Hofmeister, D., 2008, Threshold Competitor, ver. 4.17, Prentice Hall
Manuel V., Dennis M., Michael J. M., Thomas S., Margaret R. M., David D., Claire A., and Kirk O. H., ‘A Framework for Thinking Ethically’, Viewed 15th, April 2009.