Wednesday, July 31, 2019

What were Apple’s competitive advantages

During the end 70’s and beginning of the 80’s, Apple’s competitive advantages assured high profitability to the firm. Apple II and Macintosh were premium (priced) products that were very easy-to-use computers with appealing design and technical elegance. Despite the slow processor speed and the lack of compatible software, the combination of superior software and peripherals, giving â€Å"unmatched capabilities in desktop publishing†, allowed Apple to reach 8% of the world market and more than 50% of the education market in the US by the mid 80’s. Also one other factor important for the high success of Apple in its early days is the fact that the operating system (OS) was a closed system, being therefore very difficult to clone. After some ups and downs during the 90’s decade, the strategy of Apple continued to base on differentiation. They offer high-quality, an exceptional design, the ease of use of their products, security, high-quality bundled software and in-store personalized service. At the same time, the incorporation of some standard interfaces (like USB ports) made Apple computers less closed systems, allowing the Mac customer to use non Mac peripherals with his OS. In terms of technical features, the total Mac sales increased about 40% from 2006 to 2007 thanks to Intel’s dual-core technology for Apple’s laptops. This specification allowed Apple to build laptops that were faster and less-power consuming, and at the same time could also easily run Windows and other third-party OS. One of the main problems of Apple, the lack of Macintosh software, was now solved. As it was mentioned above, one of Apple’s recent competitive advantages is the in-store personalized service. This, of course, is directly related to the introduction of stores, important not only because those stores are sales locations, but also because it allows Apple to control the image of the brand and provide an excellent customer service. The success of Apple stores is also due to the â€Å"halo effect† of iPod and iPhone that attracted many people to the stores. The iTunes Music and App online store, together with the iPod and iPhone products, are also one of the main reasons for the increasing of sales of Mac computers. Analyze the dynamics of the PC industry. Are these dynamics favorable or problematic for Apple? In our days computers are in most people everyday life and business and therefore computers are becoming even more a commoditized product. It is estimated that 1 billion of PCs are in use around the world! The PC industry has its origins in the mid-70s and it was dominated by IBM during its first decade of existence. By the early 90’s Wintels (Windows OS with Intel processors) replaced IBM computers as the industry standard. The market in those years already suffered some (fast) changes, as there were thousands of manufacturers (HP, Dell, Acer, Apple, and clone makers) building computers. In terms of buyers, also some several changes were observed: the US was no longer the main customer of this industry. The main share of the average 15% growth of PCs goes to the emerging markets, to countries like India and China. At the same time, revenue growth didn’t grow, mainly due to the decreasing of prices of these products. The main suppliers in this industry are the component manufacturers, the OS software programmers and the Application software developers. In what component manufacturers is concerned, the industry is dominated by two players, Intel and AMD, to produce microprocessors. These microprocessors are totally different in terms requirements and motherboard design, so if a PC manufacturer would think on changing the microprocessors of its products, it would also have to support high switching costs. The OS software programmers are resumed to one player, Microsoft Windows (about 90% of world computers run through Window platform). The Application software developers are mainly ISV’s, or Independent Software Vendors. In what buyers are concerned, we can divide them into 5 categories: home, small and medium business, corporate, education and government. In the past years we have been assisting to several changes: the home segment is nowadays the most important of the segments (42% of computers were acquired by this segment in 2007), followed by the business customers. In order to respond to the many needs of these customers, PC manufacturers react offering broad products. At the same time, it also must be taken into consideration that these segments meet different requirements when acquiring a PC: the home segment is very price sensitive and has recently started to value the product design, the mobility and wireless capability. The business customer makes his decision based on a combination of price an service. In terms of barriers of new entries, brands like Dell, Apple or HP are brand recognized and in a general way their clients are loyal to them, creating therefore difficulties for a potential new player in this market. Also the fact that most of these companies have good relationships with OEM allows them to benefit from economies of scale. The threat of substitution is high. Taking in consideration that the home buyer is the â€Å"best client†, there are several products that might be an alternative to computers, in particular laptops. PDA’s, smartphones, or game consoles allow the consumer to run video, watch DVD’s, play games, or even surf the web. In terms of competitive rivalry, the market is dominated by 4 players, Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo. Together, these companies are responsible for more than 50% PC shipments (2007 data). In a general way, these companies are adopting a strategy of improving design, R&D spending, and aggressive consumer marketing. According to this industry analysis, Apple’s position in the market might be of some concern. One of the good and positive aspects of Apple’s strategy is the launching of complementary products to the Macs, like the Apple TV or home data centers. The strategy of differentiation and innovation has to continue to be adopted, as well as to build exclusive agreements and partnerships and OEM. Has Steve Jobs finally solved Apple’s long-standing problems with respect to the Macintosh business? In 1997, when Steve Jobs became the CEO of Apple, the firm was going through some problems with the Mac business. These problems weren’t solved with Spindler and Amelio strategies, which were mainly the cost reduction (cutting of 16% Apple workforce and reducing R&D spending), and several deep payroll cuts. Apple was already incurring in several losses and something had to be done! Steve Jobs started to restructure the company: partnerships with Microsoft, development of core products such as Microsoft Office, end of licensing agreements (to avoid cannibalization of Apple’s computers), consolidation of the product range, outsourcing, changing of distribution system, and promoting the brand as â€Å"a hip alternative† to other brands. But one of the most important changes was during 2006, four years after the launch of Mac OS X, when Apple’s computers also started to be equipped with Intel technology, allowing not only to reduce the technical specifications gaps between Macs and Wintel computers (Mac were slower in speed and more energy consuming) but also to use third-party applications (until then, Apple had to produce their own software because of its small market share). These measures, together with the synergies of iPod, iTunes and iPhone are responsible for the 33% increasing of Total Macintosh sales from 2006 to 2007. However, Apple still remains in the 2-3% range worldwide PC market. As its products are premium priced, I think that some measures might have to be taken in consideration, such as to continue developing and improving the brand image in order to continue practicing premium prices in its products, to improve relationship with 3rd parties (for example, with music labels for iTunes, with NBC for the Apple TV or with 3rd party software developers) or to continue producing complementary products to Macs. The iPod-iTunes business has been a spectacular success. Has Jobs found a new formula to create a sustainable competitive advantage for Apple? In fact, the iPod and iTunes and their synergies with Apple’s computers are one of the key drivers for the success of Apple. The launch of the iPod in 2001 and specially the introduction of iPod for Windows in 2002 simply boosted Apple’s sales. In 2003 the sales of iPods more than doubled in respect to the previous year. Its design, the easy to use system, its high margins (thanks to the use of flash memories instead of hard disks) and its reasonable selling price are some of the factors responsible for being such a hit. But it is in this very same year that the iTunes system is born. This online service is the main factor for iPod’s success (in 2004, after the first year of iTunes launch, iPods sales almost increased 300% as of 2003; in 2007 the iPod accounts for 35% of Apple’s total revenue). This reveals the synergy between iPod and iTunes (and also iPhone). This competitive advantage is not difficult to maintain as Apple has in fact the best product in the market, in terms of hardware and an efficient easy to use online store. The only problem that might exist is in terms of relationships with the music companies. In order to maintain the market size, Apple has to improve on this subject.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Detterence

Running Head: Deterrence 1 Deterrence Criminology Shawn Caulder Excelsior College Deterrence 2 Abstract: During the course of study in references for the topic of deterrence I have found a vast amount of information.Most are articles written by different intellectual scholars in the criminal justice field all weighing in on what they believe the theory of â€Å"Deterrence† is and how it relates to the ability to deflect and or inhibit crime during war time, peace time and stately situations. In particular I found one article to be an astounding work done by a man named Stephen Quackenbush with an article titled General Deterrence and International Conflict: Testing Perfect Deterrence Theory (2006). Although this article deals with deterrence theory of international conflict it still involves the basic roots of deterrence.I would like to show that through Mr. Quackenbush’s work one can come very close to a â€Å"Perfect Theory of Deterrence â€Å" by simply following the logic of the article. Deterrence 3 When searching for the topic it was my goal to find the meaning of deterrence and or the application behind the theory. I wanted something with close ties to the relationship of the text we are using in the classroom.The text we are using Vold’s Theoretical Criminology, 6th ed (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2010). I found in the article what I needed to relate different aspects of the text to the fundamentals behind what S. Quackebush (2006) had theorized about the levels behind deterrence. Not only does his research provide information on when and how to implement deterrence it can use simple math to determine the victor in every situation based on fundamentals of push and shove and force on force comparisons.In order to understand what deterrence was I wanted to find a source to provide a little more input than data from the 1800’s, as we have learned from Cesare Bonesana (1738-1794) statement concerning the implementation of ke eping punishments proportional to the seriousness of the crime so that the cost always exceeds the reward (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, pg. 14). This is all well and good to understand how to set its boundary of punishment to the crime but I needed a better understanding of how it worked and what other factors besides crime helped to determine severity and what types of deterrence we see in our world today.By looking into Quackenbush’s (2006) theory I can gain a better understanding of the levels of deterrence and the players in the game. By understanding it better myself and can readily adapt it better in my of life and have a better understanding of why and how it is used not only on the global level but on every street corner in America. I order to locate the information I was searching for I followed the link provided in module one under the paper one resource provided by the course administrator.After following the link to the Excelsior Library’s resource search pa ge I entered deterrence into the search box and began to look for articles that appealed to me over those that were easier for lack of a better term. Deterrence 4 I did find an article prior to the one by Mr. Quackenbush (2006) but after careful review I found the course required the article to be from 2000 and up. My article was from the 1930’s so that got quickly recycled and I found the article mentioned above.When I have used the library resource in the past I find it is always best to find your specific subject of study go to that portion of the library and search using specific terms within the requirements you have for the research to be done. In this case it was easy I had one word to describe my intent to the search box and in return it pulled up many documents. I knew that since mine needed to be a specific format â€Å"Article† I then eliminated all but the required information such as periodicals and journals. Of course a wide variety of useful and some no t so useful articles, journals and periodicals popped up.I simply perused through them until I found a few that grabbed my attention. I would then open the journal and briefly read through it to see if it contained the content I wanted or was interested in. Once I found the writing that best fit the work I wanted to explore my time was done in the Excelsior Library. While looking through the many choices that were made available to me I quickly looked at content for information that one, intrigued me and two had some rational sense in which I could then understand and use.What is the point of using information that you have no Comprehension of? Once these guidelines were established I look at the list of references and crossed checked these and the original author through the internet to find any additional information that may have been useful to me. The trick to this as well is to find a resource that has the intent of the message being interpreted and received by the viewer. If I am to do a paper on deterrence what benefit would I gain from a paper on crime rates in Kalamazoo, MI? At this point relevance to the meaning of the research is a factor.Another key thing to look for in an article is what amount of evidence is backed up by fact and how much of it is based on opinion or hearsay? Deterrent 5 A good resource needs to be based on as much proven fact and be backed by additional works to allow for the best use of the material in which you are going to use for your paper. Anyone can find a story on their topic but is it a story or is there hard evidence to back it up?I believe my methods of evaluation are probably a bit more stringent than those described in the library resource. I tend to be a stickler for what I want to use for any form of writing in order to try to get my point across as best as possible. The library resources are abundant with useful information though. Do not think I am discrediting then because that would be far from the truth. As a new student when I first started my Undergraduates Degree I used all the resources available to me especially the library.The article I chose to introduce to compliment Chapter two’s lesson on deterrence is an article called General Deterrence and International Conflict: Testing Perfect Deterrence Theory, by Stephen L. Quackenbush (2006). When I first began to read the article it intrigue my because it deals not just with the cause and effect of deterrence but the quantative measure of it as if it is and has always been a scientific fact of life. It begins by stating deterrence is the use of a threat (explicit or not) by one party in attempt to convince another party not to upset the status quo (Quackenbush, S.L. 2006). It breaks it down into two purposes which are direct and extended deterrence. One is immediate and used primarily as a means of prevention or attack on a defender, while the other is meant to deter a general population. Along with this are two types of situa tions that are created by deterrence. The first is immediate and is targeted toward a specific challenger and general which is all encompassing of a group (Quackenbush, S. L. 2006). Deterrent 6Inside these purposes are different categories to describe different events of deterrence to include direct immediate deterrence, direct general deterrence, extended immediate deterrence and extended general deterrence (Quackenbush, S. L. 2006). These are considered different strategies based on your position. In this article the author chose to focus primarily on direct general deterrence to prove his theory of the â€Å"perfect deterrence†. At many times Dr. Quackenbush (2006) speaks in term of deterrence being that of a game. I will describe the way that I understand his game based n the article as it delves deep into mathematical equations that do make sense but are a long way to describe it how I will. As discussed before there are and have to always be two sides when we speak of deterrence. In the case of the article they are known as Challenger and Defender. In this game there are choices to be made and depending on the choice each side makes will determine whether you are the defender or the challenger. Think of it if you will like a national game of chess depending on how you chose to play your piece will either make you the aggressor or leave you making defensive moves to get out of harm’s way.Earlier it was discussed that deterrence is simply used to bring one party back to the status quo or the normal. Being the defender or challenger and based on the decisions you make will put you into one of two places. You will either be the defender, come back to the status quo or you will retaliate (becoming the challenger) and move into conflict and vice versa. Based on this Dr. Quackenbush (2006) has established that no matter where we are even in peace times there will always be a direct general deterrence. The shift from this happens when one side mov es their piece one way or another.The understanding of deterrence in this article is based on a state to state or nation to nation offensive and defensive. We typically are discussing criminal activities of general population during this course but I do have a way to show just how much it looks like the national scale of deterrence within our precincts and our cities. Deterrence 7 One of the ways it can be shown that Dr.Quackenbush’s (2006) Theory of the perfect deterrence being present in our text is to compare just a few similarities in which he based his work on. One of the first few terms that come to mind is deterrence decay and residual deterrence. If compared to the though t of a continual deterrence as suggested by Dr. Quackenbush then you can consider these the effects of a deterrent being put into place. This would happen in three stages the initial deterrent, the deterrent decay and what would be left would be the residual deterrence. By showing that there are dif ferent levels and or stages of deterrence at any given ime then we can validate the Theory of Perfect Deterrence as proposed by Dr. Quackenbush (2006). By knowing the challenger to defender relationship it can compare to local law enforcement against drugs, crime, gangs and the list goes on. At times the law enforcement agencies are the challenger and the criminals are the defender. Those roles do reverse and local authorities have come under attack many times before. By understanding that there is always some type of ongoing deterrence whether perceived or intentional the challenger and or the defender will plan accordingly.The threat of going to jail for a crime is a constant deterrent for most. At times though there are those that weigh the benefit to the loss and chose to defy the deterrent sometimes they get away with it and sometimes they don’t. It is knowing that there is a consequence for your action that keeps most on the straight and narrow. A perceived deterrent wo uld be a shining star in proof of constant deterrence theory. Based on past experiences people will build a perceived notion of punishment for an offense. The deterrent had been initiated long ago yet the residual effect of it remains.Deterrence 8 References: Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, (2010) Vold's Theoretical Criminology, 6th ed. Oxford University Press INC. New York, NY Quackenbush, S. L. (2006) General Deterrence and International Conflict: Testing Perfect Deterrence Theory: Retrieved from: http://ehis. ebscohost. com. vlib. excelsior. edu/eds/detail? vid=4;hid=5;sid=aa2e740b-17f8-471a-843f-25982123af97%40sessionmgr111;bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=a9h;AN=48490499

Audit Delay

Pg1Pg1 International Bulletin of Business Administration ISSN: 1451-243X Issue 10 (2011) EuroJournals, Inc. 2011 http://www. eurojournals. com Audit Report Lag and the Effectiveness of Audit Committee Among Malaysian Listed Companies Ummi Junaidda Binti Hashim Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin E-mail: [email  protected] edu. my Tel: 609-6653760; Fax: 609-6669220 Rashidah Binti Abdul Rahman Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam E-mail: [email  protected] uitm. edu. my Tel: 603 55444745; Fax: 603 55444921 AbstractThe purpose of this study is to examine the link between audit committee characteristics and audit report lag among 288 companies listed at Bursa Malaysia for a three year period from 2007 to 2009. The characteristics of audit committee examined are audit committee independence, audit committee diligence and audit committee expertise. In this study, audit report lag refers to the number of days from the company’? s year end (financial year ) to the date of auditor’? s report. The results of this study show that audit report lag for the listed companies in Malaysia ranges from 36 days to 184 days for the three year period.The results of this study also show that audit committee independence and audit committee expertise could assist in reducing audit report lag among companies in Malaysia. This study however could not provide any evidence on the link between audit committee diligence on audit report lag. Overall, the findings in this study provide some evidence supporting the resource based theory, whereby characteristics of the audit committee as the resources and capabilities could improve companies’? performance as well as corporate reporting. Keywords: Audit Committee, Audit Report Lag 1.Introduction Financial reporting in general will provide useful information and assist users in decision making as capacity of capital providers in companies. Particularly users rely on the audited financial reports i n their assessment and evaluation of companies’? performance. The audited financial reports will increase its reliability and users will feel affirm on the reports verified by the auditors and would be able to make decision wisely (FASB, Concepts Statement 2). Timeliness itself will enhance the usefulness of the information. There are many ways to define timeliness.Commonly known that timeliness is the reporting delay from the company’? s accounting year end to the date of the audit report completed (Chambers and Penman, 1984). Audit report lag would lead the shareholders and potential shareholders to postpone their transaction on shares (Ng and Tai, 1994). This in turn, would provide negative effect to the company. 50 Pg2Pg2 Bursa Malaysia1 has demanded for timely financial reporting through the provision of Chapter 2 and Chapter 9 of the Listing Requirements (2009), Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.Bursa Malaysia listing requirement under chapter 9. 23 (a) provides t hat a public listed companies must submit its annual report to Bursa Malaysia within six months after the company’? s year end. To prevent companies from late submission of their audited financial reports, Bursa Malaysia in consultation with Securities Commission has imposed penalty to public listed companies for failure to disclose the material facts such as the annual report within the time frame. However, despite the penalty being imposed, there are companies that could not meet the submission deadline.This current scenario as reported in Bursa Malaysia website 2010 (www. bursamalaysia. com). Many professional and regulatory bodies have taken various actions to identify the factors that hinder companies in delaying the submission of financial reports. Bursa Malaysia highlighted that corporate governance mechanisms which is audit committee would play a significant role in the company to ensure that the objective of Bursa Malaysia on timely reporting can be achieved. The ame nded Bursa Malaysia Listing requirement in 2009 provides that the members of audit committee must not be less than 3 persons.All members of the audit committee must be non-executive directors, with a majority of them being independent directors and at least one member is a member of the Malaysia Institute of Accountants (MIA). If the member of the audit committee is not a member of MIA, the member must have at least three years of working experience. Malaysian Government has recommended Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG, 2000) which was later revised in 2007. The revised code recommends that member of audit committee to comprise of fully non-executive directors, be able to read, analyse and interpret financial statements.This is to ensure that they would be able to effectively discharge their functions. Since audit committee has a close working relationship with external auditors, the audit committee would able to assist the level of audit coverage and assurance. This cou ld be done by employing knowledgeable members in the audit committee (Abbott et al. 2003), thus, would improve timeliness and reduce audit report lag. Past studies that have examined the determinants of audit report lag among companies focused only on company’? specific variables such as company size, (Al-Ajmi, 2008), profitability (Ahmad and Kamarudin, 2003), year end (Ahmed, 2003); leverage (Owusu-Ansah and Leventis, 2006), industry type (Jaggi and Tsui, 1999), audit opinion (Ng and Tai, 1994), and type of auditor (Afify, 2009). However, these studies did not examine corporate governance mechanisms in relation to audit report lag. Afify (2009) and Tauringana (2008) examined the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on audit report lag. Both studies were conducted in a non-Malaysian setting.Within the Malaysian context, studies that have examined the issue of timeliness using firm’? s specific variable include those by Ahmad and Kamarudin (2003) and Che-Ahmad and Abidin (2008). These two studies did not examine the issue of timeliness in relation to corporate governance mechanism. The current study extends the corporate governance literature by examining the issue of timeliness of annual reports in the Malaysian market by incorporating corporate governance, firm’? s specific variables in relation to audit report lag.The aim of the current study is to examine whether the existence of audit committee could assist in reducing audit report lag. Such examination is important since the audit literature has identified the role of audit committee in reviewing the financial statement. This study aims to answer the following research question: â€Å"? Could audit committee play an important role in effectively monitoring the timeliness of audit report? This study contributes to the corporate governance and audit literature by examining association of corporate governance; audit committee and the audit report lag.The findings of the study would have policy implications for MCCG. It provides supporting evidence on whether the development of corporate governance could significantly increase the timeliness of annual reports among companies in Malaysia. This study could assist Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance 1 Bursa Malaysia was previously known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. 51 Pg3Pg3 (MICG) to provide best practice in order to enhance corporate governance mechanisms. The findings could also assist external auditors in evaluating the effectiveness of the audit committee in their audit planning.Such assistance would assist the external auditors in identifying the best time to be allocated for their audit engagements in terms of effort such as whether to reduce or increase effort and the amount of fees to be charged. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, it discusses on literature review and hypotheses development. Next, it describes on research design to conduct the study. It further provides the results of the analysis and discussion. The final part concludes and provides suggestions for future research. 2. Literature Review and Hypotheses DevelopmentWithin the corporate governance mechanisms, audit committee plays an important role in the monitoring process as well as its reporting role in companies. These members would reduce auditors’? task complexity and increase timeliness. Therefore, arguably, audit committee would be able to reduce audit report lag. This is because the appointment of audit committee are in line with the agency theory (Jensen and Meckling 1976) where agents act on behalf of principles in ensuring the company is performing well and provides quality annual reporting.The following sections develop three hypotheses to meet the objectives of the study which are related to the characteristics of audit committee. 2. 1. Audit Committee Independence According to the agency theory, the independent members in audit committee could help the principals to monitor the agents’? activities and reduce benefits from withholding information. This is because audit committee with more independent directors is considered as being a more reliable group other than board of directors in monitoring the company.The effective role provides by audit committee would be appropriate to represent the rights and privileges for all stakeholders. An independent audit committee enhances the effectiveness of monitoring function since it serves as a reinforcing agent to the independence of internal and external auditors in a company. Menon and Williams (1994) posits that an audit committee must comprise entirely of independent directors in order to be more effective. Klein (2002) shows that independent audit committees reduce the likelihood of earnings management, thus improving transparency.Carcello et al. (2000) found that audit committee independence have positive significant relationship with audit fees. This provides evidence that independence of the audit committee would lead to higher quality of financial report. Further, Ismail et al. (2008) found that the independence of audit committee would not influence the quality reporting of the companies. They argue that this is due to the companies only fulfilling the requirements, rather than the impact of the requirements. In contrast, Ali Shah et al. 2009) found that companies in Pakistan are having good corporate governance through having independence of audit committee. Bursa Malaysia Listing requirements (2009) and MCCG (2007) have highlighted that the audit committee might institute stronger internal control and good monitoring of financial reporting process in a company. The strong internal control managed by audit committee would lead to auditors reducing their work on the company’? s accounts because of their reliance on the internal control of the company. This would subsequently lead to the decrease in audit delay.Therefore, the first hypothesis is develope d. H1: There is negative relationship between the audit committee independence and audit report lag. 52 Pg4Pg4 2. 2. Audit Committee Diligence Ismail et al. (2008), measure audit committee diligence based on actual number of audit committee meetings held in a year. Audit committee meetings are considered as an important tool in ensuring audit committee members are fulfilling their responsibilities towards the company. Audit committee must carry out activities effectively through increased frequency of meetings in order to maintain its control functions (Bedard et al. 2004). Abbott et al. 2000) in their examination found that audit committee that meets at least twice annually is subjected to less exposure of sanction by the authorities. This is because regular meetings conducted would indicate that the audit committee discharges their duties in a well manner as an agent in the company. They also noted that audit committee that is wholly independent is also active by way of having mee tings. Dechow et al. (1996) argue that audit committee is an integral part of a company that emphasises high level monitoring. Moreover, the monitoring function would be more effective in terms of financial reporting.American Bar Association posits that an audit committee which holds less than 2 meetings annually is considered not committed to their duties. This indicates that the audit committee is unable to contribute to the internal control in that situation. Auditors who really monitor the internal control function of the company would reduce their works. However, Ismail et al. (2008) found that frequency of audit committee meeting could not influence the quality reporting of the companies. They argue that this is due to the companies only fulfilling the requirements, rather than the impact of the requirements.Razman and Iskandar (2004) found Malaysian companies that have good reporting meet more frequent than poor reporting companies. This is because, during the meeting, they c an monitor the management activities. Of consequence, this will lead to the decrease time taken on auditing by the auditors and reduce the reporting lag. Therefore, following hypothesis is developed. H2: There is negative relationship between audit committee diligence and audit report lag. 2. 3. Audit Committee Expertise Audit committee expertise is important in order to deal effectively with external auditors.This is because audit committee typically acts as the mediator between the management and the auditors. DeZoort et al. (2003) note that audit committee members with experience in financial reporting and auditing especially those who are CPAs would understand auditors’? tasks and responsibilities. They would become more supportive of the auditors compared to audit committee members who do not have similar experience. Audit committee members who are experts are more ‘? friendly’? with the auditors, comprehensible, logical and coherent when they are discussing with the auditors regarding the financial reporting of the company.Audit committee with more expertise would be more concerned about the financial reporting quality of the company. DeZoort (1998) contends that an audit committee with more internal control experience makes decisions or judgments similar to auditors compared to those audit committee members who are without experience. This reflects that experience in the accounting, internal control or auditing is fundamental to enable the audit committee to understand and cater on the problematic issue on the financial reporting system of the company. They would also realise the benefits of producing financial statement on time at the market.It is also identified that audit committee with financial expertise are going to facilitate each other. As discussed in resource based theory, the resources and capabilities that audit committee posses with financial expertise may assist in improving the firm performance. Listed companies in Mal aysia that have financial literate members of audit committee would have ability to end up with good financial report (Razman and Iskandar, 2004). This is because audit committee who has knowledge in accounting and auditing is able to demonstrate their ability in monitoring of internal control and reporting.Strong internal control also would lead the auditors in 53 Pg5Pg5 reducing their work because of their reliance on the credibility of the internal control. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed: H3: There is negative relationship between the audit committee expertise and the audit report lag. 3. Research Design Sample covered in this study are among 288 companies listed at Bursa Malaysia for three years from 2007 to 2009. The samples are chosen randomly from 806 of the population. Table 1: Total number of companies and sample based on industry IndustryPopulationSample of companiesPercentConstruction49197 Consumer1395318 Hotel521 Industrial2658830 Infrastructure731 Prop erty883111 Plantation43166 Technology29124 Trading & services1816422 TOTAL806288100 The companies listed at Bursa Malaysia are selected for this study because they are governed by the rules and regulations imposed by MCCG and Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements. The companies selected include consumer, industrial products, trading and services, construction, infrastructure, hotel, property, technology and plantation. Table 1 provides the number of companies selected from each of the sector.There are seven operational variables which comprise of one dependent variable, three independent variables and three control variables as describe in Table 2. Table 2: Variables Measurements VariablesDefinition Dependent ARLAudit report lag Independent ACINDAC independence ACMEETAC meeting (ACdiligence) ACEXPAC expertise (AC experience) Control SIZECompany size AUDIT TYPEType of audit firm PROFProfitability Measurement Represents the number of days elapsing between the end of the fiscal year of t he company to the completion of the audit for the current year for each individual firm (the audit report date)Percentage of non-executive directors to the total of audit committee members Number of audit committee meeting No of audit committee member with background experience in financial reporting (such as MIA,MICPA) to the total of audit committee members. Natural log of year end total assets Dummy variable, ‘? 1’? if auditor is one of the former Big-4 audit firms, ‘? 0’? otherwise PROF = Return on asset, measured by net income divided with total assets 54 Pg6Pg6 4. Results 4. 1. Descriptive Statistic Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Audit Report Lag (N= 288) YearNMinimumMaximumMeanMedian 2007ARL28840. 00184. 00103. 14110. 50 008ARL28840. 00146. 00103. 42111. 00 2009ARL28836. 00136. 00102. 46110. 00 2007- 2009ARL86436. 00184. 00103. 00111. 00 Notes: ARL = number of days between the end of the fiscal year to the date of completion of audit As shown in Table 3, the mean score of audit report lag for the pooled sample is 103 days with a maximum and minimum days of 184 and 36 respectively. This indicates that on average, the companies took 103 days to complete their audit report. Using the pooled sample from period from period 2007 to 2009, the results indicate that the companies did comply with Bursa Malaysia listing requirements and he Companies act where they submit their report within six months except for one company which took 184 days to submit the report. It shows that companies are improving over the years on the number of days taken to complete the annual reports. The results of this study are somewhat similar to Afify (2009) that found the maximum and mean score number of days to complete the annual report was 115 days and 67 days respectively. The results indicate that the number of days that the companies took to complete the audit report has reduced from 2007-2009 by 48 days. Results on previous study show relative di fference with the current study.Che-Ahmad and Abidin (2008) found that 442 days while Ahmad and Kamarudin (2003) reveal 273 days on the maximum of days to complete the annual report. Table 4: Number of companies and audit report lag for 2007 – 2009 Audit report lagNo. ofNo. ofNo. of ARL (within)companiescompaniescompanies Year / percentage2007Percent2008Percent2009Percent 1 month (30 days)00. 0000. 0000. 00 2 months (60days)227. 64206. 94258. 68 3 months (90days)4214. 584114. 244114. 24 4 months (120days)19868. 7521173. 2620872. 22 5 months (150days)258. 68165. 56144. 86 6 months (180days)00. 0000. 0000. 00More than 180days10. 3500. 0000. 00 Total288100288100288100 Table 4 shows that for the three year period, no company has completed and submitted their annual report within a month. The results also show that for the three year period, 41 to 42 companies have completed and submitted their annual report within 3 months. None of the companies have submitted their audit reports exceeding 6 months except for one company which managed to submit their audited report only after 184 days in year 2007. The results in Table 4 shows that most companies reports way ahead the date stipulated by Chapter 9 (9. 3a) of Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirement that the annual report shall be issued and submitted within a period not exceeding 6 months from the financial year end of the company. Such results indicated that the companies are concerned and realised that audited reports are useful for users’? 55 Pg7Pg7 decision-making. The results support the notion that excessive delay in publishing financial statements would increase uncertainty in relation to investment decisions(Ashton et al. 1987; Ahmad and Kamarudin, 2003). Table 5: Descriptive statistic for Audit Committee Characteristics and Control VariablesIndependent VariableNMinimumMaximumMeanMedianStd. Deviation ACIND8640. 601. 000. 931. 000. 18 ACDIL8641. 0012. 004. 845. 001. 67 ACEXP8640. 001. 000. 400. 330. 19 Control variable SIZE TOTASSET (RM BILLION)8649 -336. 640. 790. 242. 86 TYPEAUD864010. 580. 000. 49 PROFITABILITY864-1. 8811. 0590. 030. 030. 40 Notes: ACINDP= percentage of non-executive directors to the total of audit committee members ACDIL= number of audit committee meeting ACEXP= no of audit committee member with background experience in financial reporting TOTASSET= total assets that the companies have at the end of the financial year.TYPEAUD= ‘? 1’? if audited by Big-4, ‘? 0’? if otherwise PROFITABILITY= net income divided with total assets Table 5 presents the characteristics of the audit committee among the listed companies. The results show that audit committee independence (ACIND) has a mean score 93 percent. The results also show that the listed companies minimum score of 60 percent of their audit committee member being represented by independent directors. The results indicate that the companies comply with the Bursa Malaysia listing require ment (2009) which requires a company to have majority of the audit committee members being ndependent directors. Although the requirement of Bursa Malaysia on the number of independent directors in a board of directors is different from MCCG’? s (2007) requirement, the requirement of Bursa Malaysia listing requirement prevails MCCG’? s requirements2. Table 5 also presents the results on the number of meetings held by the audit committee. The results show that almost all audit committee in the listed companies discharge their duties appropriately in which on average 5 meetings were being held.The highest number of meeting held by the audit committee during the three year period was 12 times. MCCG (2007) provides that companies should have their audit committee meeting at least 4 times a year. Table 5 also shows the mean score of audit committee expertise (ACEXP) as 0. 4 (40 percent). Such results indicate that most audit committee in the listed companies have audit comm ittee members with experience in financial reporting. Only 24 of the companies (2. 78 percent) formed their audit committee with members not having accounting qualification.The later results did not comply with requirements of Bursa Malaysia listing requirements and MCCG that states at least one member of the audit committee must fulfill the financial expertise requisite. In fact, two companies for the three year period have yet to comply with the requirement to have one of the audit committee members’? with financial expertise. 4. 2. Correlation Matrix Analysis Table 6 shows a non-significant value (0. 333) which is more than 0. 05, indicating data normality. Based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk tests, this study concludes that audit report lag is normally distributed. MCCG (2007) provides that, all members of the audit committee should be non-executive directors. 56 Pg8Pg8 Table 6: Normality Test for Audit Report Lag Kolmogorov-SmirnovaShapiro-Wilk StatisticdfSig. S tatisticdfSig. NARL0. 0348640. 0210. 9988640. 333 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction Table 7 shows no correlation problem among the variables since the value is less than 0. 5. The variance inflation factor (VIF) indicates all variables have a value below two which is within the acceptable range of 10. Table 7: Correlation Matrix Table ARLACDILACINDACEXPLog_AssetTYPEAUDROA ARL1 ACDIL0. 096**1 ACIND-0. 68*0. 0301 ACEXP-0. 0190. 0220. 0131 LOG_ASSET-0. 170**0. 093**0. 078*-0. 0031 TYPE AUD-0. 170**-0. 088**0. 010-0. 0210. 195**1 ROA-0. 076*0. 0330. 029-0. 032-0. 0210. 0061 **Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). * Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed) Notes: ACINDP= percentage of non-executive directors to the total of audit committee members ACDIL= number of audit committee meeting ACEXP= no of audit committee member with background experience in financial reporting LOG_ASSET= natural log of total assets (in billions of ringgit Malaysia) TYPE AUD= ‘? 1’? f audited by Big-4, ‘? 0’? if otherwise ROA= net income divided with total assets 4. 3. Fixed Panel Regression This section presents the results of the fixed panel regression using Eviews. The panel data analysis is an increasingly popular form of longitudinal data analysis among social and behavioral science researchers (Hsiao, 2003). A panel is a cross-section or group of people who are surveyed periodically over a given time period. In this study, the group is the listed companies selected and the time is the duration of the data collected, which is the three year period of 2007 until 2009.Since the data is bound to be heterogeneity, the panel data technique could take such heterogeneity explicitly into account by allowing individual specific variables (Gujarati, 2003). Normal regression does not adjust firm’? s specific effect which would lead to variables being omitted and mis-specified the model (Fraser et al. 2005). Fixed effect mo del could overcome such problem by adjusting the effects through firm’? s specific intercept by capturing immeasurable firm’? s specific characteristics (Fraser et al. 2005). Panel data provides more informative of data, variability and efficiency.Under the panel data, the model is generated as follows: ARL = 1ACINDP + 2ACMEET + 3ACEXP + 4SIZE+ 5AUDTYPE + 6PROF + it Table 8: Fixed Panel Regression Result VariableCoefficientProb. ACIND-0. 0217060. 001* ACDIL-0. 0098350. 899 ACEXP-0. 0400840. 001* LOG_ASSET-0. 1297820. 012* ROA-0. 0021460. 264 TYPEAUD0. 0025350. 294 C5. 7867340. 000 N864 57 Pg9Pg9 Table 8: Fixed Panel Regression Result – continued Adjusted R-squared0. 802562 F-statistic12. 811 Prob(F-statistic)0. 000 Notes: ACINDP= percentage of non-executive directors to the total of audit committee members ACDIL=number of audit committee meetingACEXP= no of audit committee member with background experience in financial reporting LOG_ASSET= natural log of to tal assets (in billions of ringgit Malaysia) TYPEAUD= ‘? 1’? if audited by Big-4, ‘? 0’? if otherwise ROA= net income divided with total assets Adjusted R2= adjusted R2 coefficient determination F stat= indicate how much variation is explained by the regression equation. *significant at 1%. Table 8 shows that the audit committee independence (ACINDP) and audit committee expertise (ACEXP) are significant at 1% level. Thus, accepting hypotheses one and three respectively.On the other hand, the results show that there is no relationship between audit committee diligence and audit report lag. Therefore, hypothesis two is rejected. The results indicate that audit committee independence and audit committee expertise may reduce on audit report lag but audit committee diligence could not influence audit report lag. Carcello et al. (2000) found that audit committee independence and audit committee expertise have significant relationship with audit fee while audit co mmittee diligence did not provide any relationship on audit fees.The results in this study shows significant relationship between audit independence and audit report lag which is similar to Klein (2002) that found that more independent audit committee members would effectively influence financial reporting quality. The results of this study support the view that audit committee with a simple majority of independent audit committee members are more likely to fulfill its duties effectively compared to an audit committee members that have no independent audit committee members.This is consistent with agency theory where independent members in an audit committee could assist principals to monitor the agents’? activities and reduce benefits from withholding information. They would have had provided more effective roles in monitoring the companies. Further, the number of financial experts on audit committee will reduce incident of fraud (Farber, 2005). A member with financial exper tise demonstrate a high level of financial reporting knowledge and thus expected to lead the committee, identify and ask knowledgeable questions that challenge management and external auditor (He et al. 009). In practice, it is a general belief that more meeting and discussion of the committee would improve the performance of the company. However, similar to the study done by Uzun et al. (2004), the results in this study show that the number of audit committee meeting held is not significantly associated with audit report lag. More frequent meeting that the company has does not necessarily provide better achievement to the companies. Thus, the company needs to ensure audit committee member raised and resolved issues with management during the meeting, and as a result improve the quality of reporting. . Conclusion The results of this study show that audit committee characteristics: audit committee independence and audit committee expertise contribute as important factors that affect audit report lag of the companies. Such results correspond to the resource based theory where those characteristics of audit committee as the resources and capabilities that may improve companies’? performance as well as on the corporate 58 Pg10Pg10 reporting.These two characteristics represent the Bursa Malaysia listing requirement that require audit committee compose of not fewer than 3 members with majority of them being independent directors and requires at least one member of the audit committee to have financial expertise requisite. Audit committees with those characteristics could assist the companies to be timely in their annual reporting. Finally, this study could not find significant link between audit committee meeting to audit report lag.This study suggests that audit committee could prioritise important things that need to be resolved during the meeting in order to improve the performance of the company as well as in assuring audit report lag. This study is not w ithout limitations. This study does not include other factors such as government policy or political issue that also might affect audit report lag. McGee (2007) noted that the influence of timeliness might be attributed by culture, political and economic system of the country.Secondly, covering a bigger sample would provide greater generalization on the Malaysian listed companies on audit report lag and corporate governance characteristics. Finally, this study only covers a three year period from 2007 until 2009. A longer period such as ten year period data would be more interesting as it can show the trend on audit report lag. For future research avenues, a possibility is to examine other corporate governance mechanisms; characteristics of board of directors in assuring audit report lag.Future research can also examine which parties are liable for the delay of annual report, either on the hands of the preparers or auditors. References [1] Abdul Rahman, R. and Mohamed Ali F. H. , 20 06. â€Å"? Board, audit committee, culture and earnings management: Malaysian evidence†?. Managerial Auditing Journal, 21 (7), 783-804. [2] Abtott, L. J. , Parker, S. , Peter, G. F and Raghunandan, K. , 2003. â€Å"? The association between audit committee characteristics and audit fees†?. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Vol. 22 (2, 17-32. [3] Abbott, L. J. and S. Parker. , 2000. â€Å"?Auditor selection and audit committee characteristics†?. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory. 19 (2), 47-66. [4]Afify, H. A. E. ,2009. Determinants of audit report lag: Does implementing corporate governance have any impact? Empirical evidence form Egypt. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 10(1), 56-86. [5] Ahmad, R. A. R. and Kamarudin, K. A. , 2003. â€Å"? Audit delay and the timeliness of corporate reporting: Malaysian evidence†?. Working paper, MARA University of Technology, Shah Alam. [6] Ahmed, K. , 2003. â€Å"? The timeliness of corporate r eporting: a comparative study of South Asia†?.Advances in International Accounting, 16, 17-43. [7]Al-Ajmi, J. 2008. â€Å"? Audit and reporting delays: Evidence from an emerging market†?. Advances in Accounting, Incorporating Advances in International Accounting, 24, 217- 236. [8]Ali Shah, S. Z. , Ali Butt S. and Hasan, A. ,2009. â€Å"? Corporate governance and earnings management an empirical evidence form Pakistani listed companies†?. European Journal of Scientific Research, 26(4). [9]Ashton, R. H. , Willingham, J. J. and Elliott, R. K. , 1987. â€Å"? An empirical analysis of audit delay†?. Journal of Accounting Research, 25(2), 275-92. [10]Atiase, R. K. , Bamber, L. S. nd Tse, S. , 1988. â€Å"? Timeliness of financial reporting, the firm size effect, and stock price reactions to annual earning announcements†?. Contemporary Accounting Research, 5(2), 526-552. [11]Bedard, J. , Chtourou, S. M. and Courteau, L. 2004. â€Å"? The effect of audit c ommittee expertise, independence, and activity on aggressive earnings management†?. Auditing, 23 (2), 23-36. [12]Bursa Malysia website, Retrieved 12 July 2010 at http://www. bursamalysia. com. [13]Carcello, J. V. and Neal, T. L. 2000. â€Å"? Audit Committee Composition and Auditor Reporting†?. The Accounting Review. 75 (4), 453-467. 59 Pg11Pg11 [14]Carslaw, C. A. nd Kaplan, S. E. , 1991. â€Å"? An examination of audit delay: further evidence from New Zealand†?. Accounting & Business Research, 22(85), 21-32. [15] Chambers, A. E. , and Penman, S. H. , 1984. â€Å"? Timeliness of reporting and the stock price reactions to earnings announcements†?. Journal of Accounting Research, Spring, 21-47. [16] Che-Ahmad, A. and Abidin, S. , 2008. †? Audit delay of listed companies: A case of Malaysia†?. International Business Research, 1(4, 32-39. [17] Davies, B. and Whittred, G. P. , 1980. â€Å"? The association between selected corporate attributes and timeliness in corporate reporting: further analysis†?.Abacus, June, pp. 48- 60. [18] Dechow, P. M. , R. G. Sloan and A. P. Sweeney. , 1996. â€Å"? Causes and consequences of earnings manipulation: an analysis of firms subject to enforcement actions by the SEC†?. Contemporary Accounting Research, 13(1), 1-36. [19] DeZoort, F. T. ,1998. â€Å"? An analysis of experience effects on audit committee members’? oversight judgments†?. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 23(1), 1- 21. [20] DeZoort, F. T. , Hermanson, D. R. and Houston, R. W. , 2003. â€Å"? Audit committee support for auditors: the effect of materiality justification and accounting precision†?.Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. 22, 175-199. [21]Farber, D. B. 2005. Restoring trust after fraud: â€Å"? Does corporate governance matter? †? The Accounting Review, 80(2, 539-561. [22]FASB, 1979. 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W. , 2007. â€Å"? Corporate governance and timeliness of financial reporting: a case study of Russian energy sector†?. Working paper, Barry University, Miami Shores, USA. [36] Menon, K. , and Williams, J. D. , 1994. â€Å"? The use of audit committees for monitoring†?.Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 13, 121-139. 60 Pg12Pg12 [37] Mohd Ghazali, N. A. ,2010. â€Å"? Ownership structure, corporate governance and corporate performance in Malaysia†?. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 20, (2), 109- 119. [38] Ng, P. H. and Tai, Y. K. , 1994. â€Å"? An empirical examination of the determinants of audit delay in Hong Kong†?. British Accounting Review, 26, 43-59. [39] Owusu-Ansah, S. and Leventis, S. , 2006. â€Å"? Timeliness of corporate annual financial reporting in Greece†? , European Accounting Review, 15, 273-287. [40] Razman, S.R. , and Iskandar M. T. , 2004. â€Å"? 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Monday, July 29, 2019

Compare the quiet american to max boot chapter Essay

Compare the quiet american to max boot chapter - Essay Example Thomas Fowler: â€Å"The pursuit of U.S. for neo-imperial foreign policy is often disguised as an attempt to rebuild and aid a vulnerable nation. Unknown to many, the U.S. consented the bombings in Vietnam for this same pursuit.† Max Boot: â€Å"This is not an ‘either or’ condition, the U.S. had to fight to establish a precondition for a negotiation. The situation warrants Colonel Littleton W.T. Waller to disarm the Haitian army and fight the Cacos.† Thomas Fowler: â€Å"The problem with the U.S. foreign policy can be clearly illustrated in the Vietnam war where thousands of lives were lost. The U.S. was preoccupied with their commitment to eliminate communism and pursued a war that lasted for nearly fifteen years. The U.S. utilized its military force to attain its goal. But the war ended with the failure of the U.S. to accomplish its goal. The U.S. became too absorbed in shaping everything in an ‘American way.’† Max Boot: â€Å"The failure of the U.S. in Vietnam is not due to a flawed U.S. foreign policy but to too much reliance of Vietnamese leaders on the U.S. and commitment of various errors. The North Vietnam, which is a communist regime utilized its human resources. A generation of the North Vietnamese was eliminated. Hanoi compelled its citizen to participate in the war effort of the country through entrenching a distribution system for basic goods. In addition, the U.S. forces depended too much on modern equipment and weaponry. The U.S. used conventional manner against North Vietnams unconventional warfare. The U.S. underestimated the nature of their nemesis, the political struggle, and the effects of supporting an unpopular and weak regime. These factors explain why the U.S. lost in Vietnam.† Thomas Fowler: â€Å"It should be reiterated that the U.S. is mainly driven to protect their ‘interest.’ This is manifested by their intervention in Vietnam, which is fuelled by the belief that communism will

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Hammurabi's Code Essay

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Hammurabi's Code - Essay Example Gilgamesh was going to the temple of Shamash to consult with the god before undertaking a major mission also shows the great influence religion had in Mesopotamia. In both of these texts, it can be noted that the sun – god Shamash, who was also the Mesopotamian god of justice, plays a major role in some of the major events which take place considering that he granted Hammurabi the laws and always gave guidance to Gilgamesh so that he would succeed in his missions (Hawkins, 277 – 278). The values of the ancient Sumerians seem to have been guided by their religion and many believed that they needed the authority of a god while doing anything important to ensure that their actions were a success. One would notice in these texts that the relationships between the people of this society in the ancient times were very close and that friendships had a higher value then than they have today. Friends tended to treat each other more like siblings than as people from different bac kgrounds and a good example of this is the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Although Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk and Enkidu was wild man from the fields, these two strike a friendship that would be very unlikely in the current times. It can further be noted that the rulers of ancient Mesopotamia tended to place a very high value to their connection with the gods most likely in an attempt to justify their authority over their people. We note that Hammurabi claims to have been in direct communication with a god when he was given the laws, which would be imposed, on his people (Beaulieu, 11). Gilgamesh on the other hand is said to have been two-thirds god and one-third man and that his mother was the goddess Ninsun who is repeatedly seen to intercede on his behalf to the other gods.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Business Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Data Analysis - Essay Example The value of correlation coefficient is positive. Therefore it can be said that as age increases so does income. The level of dissatisfaction is significantly higher in women as compared to men. There were 14 ‘extremely dissatisfied’ responses from women as compared to only 6 from men. On the other hand the positive responses were 117 as compared to only 89 from women. However almost 21 males very a little dissatisfied as compared to only 8 from women. a. Predictors: (Constant), How many promotions, if any, have you received while working for your present employer?, How many traumatic events did you experience last year?, How many hours did you work last week, at all jobs?, How many years of school have you completed?, In your household, how many family members, including yourself, were employed last year?, Age, Your pre-tax income last year ($000), Total family pre-tax income last year ($000), Since you were 16 years old, about how many years have you worked for full-time pay? The age of employees at the company varies between 69 and 18. This is a very large level of diversity. This diversity can be help in creating creativity but also can be a tough task to manage such a diverse workforce. The major workforce has their age in the mid thirties. The age of employees can affect their output. Therefore it was important to analyze the affect of employee age on different variables. The analysis revealed that as the age of employees was increases their number of hours worked were becoming less. This means that older people were working less as compared to the younger workforce. This can be due to the higher posts of senior employees and managerial roles. The increase in pretax income with an increase in age also supports this theory. As the employees get older they become senior and therefore have a better pay scale and have to put in fewer hours. The age however was totally unrelated to union membership. Therefore we can that there was an

Friday, July 26, 2019

Women in Politics in the Progressive Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women in Politics in the Progressive Era - Essay Example At the end of 19th century women were considered the moral guardians and the protector of the home. During the progressive era, female reformers used ideology that in order to fully protect the home, females should shift to the public scope where they could practice their ethical power over matters such as public hygiene and education which eventually had huge impacts on the homes (Schneide & Schneider 106). Before having the right to vote the women participated in the political arena by joining volunteering organizations to work for reforms in the country. Efforts began to develop at the grassroots level and extended to the state and national level. These women carried out research, executed program, and pushed for the legislature to look into social, political, and economic problem. Middle class club women and settlement workers were to organize and address issues concerning education, healthcare, and political corruption while working women got organized in their own and in partnership with middle class women to raise welfare wages and improve working conditions in America. African American women were in organization to fight racism and provide mutual support. The status of women was beginning to change rapidly in this era, for most part middle class white married women thou they still did not work outside their home. Working women were primarily young and single, widow or divorcees or poor married woman. Most women continued working in agriculture as domestic servants especially the African American women. However, new jobs were opening up and most women began to seek for occupations in department stores. Mid-class women were able to find jobs as clerical workers i.e. typist, clerk, telephone operator, and a few excelled as lawyers, doctors, journalists, and scientist (Schneide & Schneider 146). In the 1930s some reformed women in the era were already in

Thursday, July 25, 2019

What are the causes and effects of obesity Essay

What are the causes and effects of obesity - Essay Example This essay "What are the causes and effects of obesity?" outlines the major reasons for obesity and its impact on the health of the person who suffers from this health condition. It is surprising that many regions that registered high poverty rates in the past are now making headlines with the alarming obesity rates. Evidently, unhealthy eating habits are a leading contributor to the increasing rates of obesity. Notably, many people living in the developed and developing world consume unhealthy foods. There is a remarkable high preference for food products that have high sugar content instead of whole food (Gustafson 2015, n.p). The increased consumption of soft drinks and high-fat content food has also contributed to the development of obesity in many parts of the globe. According to the Word Obesity Federation, unhealthy eating habits have contributed to an energy imbalance in the body. The globe registers a higher level of food consumption. For this reason, the intake of calories is higher than the body requires (Abc.net.au 2015, n.p). People are slowly becoming used to large food portions without considering the recommended calorie intake required for their body and age. The preference for high-energy food serves to increase the energy imbalance in the body. Lack of physical exercise is an additional cause of the increasing rates of obesity. Many people are adopting a sedentary lifestyle with little or no exercise at all. The world has moved into a new technology level, eliminating the value of physical labour.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Language development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Language development - Essay Example At this preliminary stage it is necessary to investigate the topic through a variety of means. Researchers suggest a number of strategies which may be effective in examining the topic. These include brainstorming, clustering and free-writing (Lipkewich and Mazurenko1999). Clearly, these strategies act as a measure of developing or restricting a topic. The more ideas that are generated at this stage the more structural focus the writer would obtain from this initial piece of writing. The purpose of this first step then is to establish some sort of structure to the ideas that are generated. Thus, if a writer decides to choose free-writing as a means of initiating the writing process then the writer may begin to write on a topic without interruption until everything the writer knows about the topic is exhausted on the paper. In this case there may no adherence to grammatically correct structures such as spelling, punctuation or even paragraphing. The words that appear on the paper would be an exact replica of the thoughts that flow through the mind. The second step involves the actual composition of the paper. Some writers use this stage as a means of creating a rough draft of the final paper. The previous stage which may or may not have included free-writing is the precursor to this writing stage where the writer brings some sort of focus to the writing. During this stage therefore the writer must adhere to the mechanics of writing which were previously ignored in the earlier stage. There is need to organize the work in terms of correct punctuation, paragraphing and other grammatical structures which may have been non existent in the previous stage. Consequently, the major purpose for this writing stage is to add content and organization to the work. The more time a writer spends on this initial writing stage the less work will be needed to complete the final draft. Revising, the third step in the writing process

Japanese culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Japanese culture - Essay Example The researcher states that the Japanese constitution is believed to have some very serious translation errors; yes, rendition errors are part of this constitution since its origin. Article 9 of this Constitution relinquishes war or forbids the traditional warfare in Japan. Article 9 says. â€Å"Japanese people desire to renounce war and refer to international peace as a system of order and justice. They consider it an autonomous national right of the people of Japan and also abandon use of force as a means of settling international disagreements.† In order to come in compliance with this rule, sea, land, and air forces as well as other war related forces will never be sustained. The supreme right of bellicosity of the state will never be documented. The Japanese version and English version of Japanese Constitution differs to such an extent that most people are unable to comprehend that these two are just a translation of one another! As we all know that Americans wrote the Con stitution of Japan after World War II, weight of English version should be more than Japanese one but Japanese version is considered as the original, source document and what is written in it matters most to the Japanese than English one. The Constitution of Japan was written by U.S Occupation Authority and MacArthur in the wake of World War II. And then it was converted into Japanese. The Constitution bears keen interest among Japanese linguists and translators as it looks peculiar when translated into Japanese. (Wallace, 2011) The Constitution sounds very aberrant in Japanese, as if it wasn’t meant for this language. It looks very unnatural and peculiar. In English, the later paragraph says, â€Å"sea, land, and air forces as well as other war related forces will never be sustained†. However, the Japanese take it differently; instead of ‘will never be sustained’, they say ‘will not be sustained’ or ‘shall not be sustained’. The Japanese have not used the word â€Å"never† anywhere in the text. Neither had they expressed it in a written form or implied it anywhere. During the course of time, English version had become the accepted one and Japanese one had been rejected. Strategists and scholars outside of Japan rely on the English version when considering Japanese policy and politics. (Wallace, 2011) The English version is found in modern Japanese politics and history, in college textbooks, in media reports, and is used as a model for all other countries of the world in relation to pacifistic propensities and anti-war strategies. Bilingual experts have seen the dispute between the Japanese version and English version long ago. But, until recently it wasn’t seen that a modification to Japanese constitution was likely to take place, so this impediment of translation was not given a second thought. Now, if the Japanese alter their Constitution or not, it does not genuinely matter as Article 9 doe sn’t say anything permanent. (Language Realm) This translation error in the Constitution does imply to the fact that Japan has one of the best equipped and third biggest military in the entire world. Japan uses its self defense forces in military action. This is a clear contradiction to its Article 9 of the Constitution as of the English version of the Constitution. The translation issue is regarded as less important due to the truth that Japan is keeping fast breeder reactors and is likely to become a nuclear country within twelve months of actually deciding to be one. But, this is reality is also important that the words in Japanese Constitution are not only taken gravely by people around the globe, but by Japanese themselves as well. (Language Realm) In 2009, an annual poll conducted by Yomiuri on revising the Constitution of Japan once again found out that a clear majority-51.6 is in favor of the revision. The

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Let's Be Lefties For a Day Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Let's Be Lefties For a Day - Assignment Example ch ensures that employees maximize their contribution to the organization while enabling them to reach their own potential; creating a win-win situation for all. Diversity in the workplace refers to the variety of employees in a given work environment. Every organization today is made up of employees from a variety of ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds, add to this diverse group a mix of genders. Managers and professionals in such settings are responsible for molding this diverse group into a cohesive unit that benefits the organization, while ensuring that every employee is enabled to reach his/her potential. The idea of diversity is acceptance of differences and respect for them. In essence this means accepting that each individual is unique and is different from another in certain respects. These differences can be in a wide variety of spheres ranging from cultural and racial to religious and gender. Exploring these dimensions and understanding them can lead to an enriching experience – the ability to not just make allowances for but to appreciate them and celebrate the unique qualities they contribute. Diversity does not mean just physical diversity in outward appearance or speech. People who grow up in differing environments or come from different educational backgrounds also think and respond differently. The difference lies not only in how they are perceived but also how they perceive others and themselves. This also affects the way they interact with others especially those they perceive to be different from themselves. The result can be discrimination where those who ‘belong’ are at an advantage while those who do not are at a disadvantage. The challenge for the manager or professional in a business setting is to build bridges across differences and strengthen bonds to enable a work environment sans discrimination. The simple experiment of using the left hand instead of the right for ordinary activities like turning the pages of a book or

Monday, July 22, 2019

Law with Tort of Negligence Essay Example for Free

Law with Tort of Negligence Essay The application is under s1 sale of goods act there is a contract form between me and Mandela where I have agreement, intention and consideration to buy the armchair from Mandela, thus contract is form. Besides that, armchair is considered goods and there is consideration of money where I paid Mandela for $1500 and lastly there is also transfer of property where I paid $1500 for the armchair from his shop. Hence, in conclusion the armchair that I purchased is under Sale of Goods Act. Another issue in the question is whether we can insist Tyson (owner) compensate me for $500 that I (buyer) spent on fixing the chair and either return the chair and insist upon a refund, specifically under consumer guarantees s 55 fitness for purpose? In the question the law would be s 55 ‘there is an implied guarantee that where the buyer expressly or by implication makes known to the seller the particular purpose for which the goods are required, and shows that judgment and seller, the goods must be reasonable fit for purpose’, based on the case Grant v Australia Knitting Mills and Wallis v Russell. In the question Tyson has breach s 55 fitness for purpose where he is selling furniture in his Classic Antiques Store but the furniture that he sell are fragile. In s 55 there is certain condition we must satisfy. First, buyer must express or the seller has known the buyer particular purpose for the goods they required. Second, has the buyer relied on the seller’s skill or judgment? Third, are the goods of a description which it is in the course of the seller’s business to supply? And lastly, has the buyer ordered the goods under their trade name so that it is clear there is no reliance on the skill of judgment of the seller? Based on the condition above, I had satisfied all the condition, where I express to Mandela (salesperson) that I want to use the armchair as my new house furniture. On the other hand, Mandela stated that ‘It is a solid old thing. I sit on it all the time. ’ Hence, I relied on his judgment and bought the armchair. Moreover, Tyson business are selling furniture’s where the armchair is considered as a furniture, thus it is also satisfied goods are descriptive under the course of the seller’s business. Lastly, although I didn’t buy the armchair based on the trade name, but I rely on the skill or judgment by Mandela. In conclusion, the seller has breach all the criteria in s 55 and under s 261 consumer have the right to choose either a refund or replacement of the products if supplier fail to fulfill with consumer guarantee, as a result I can insist Tyson compensate me for $500 for fixing the chair and also can return the chair and insist upon a refund. Â  Based on the question, the issues would be based on Mandela’s statement that ‘It is a solid old thing. I sit on it all the time. You will be used it safely for many years. Will it lead consumers to believe that it can be used as furniture and can be used safely for many years, specifically under consumer guarantees s 18 Misleading or Deceptive conduct? In the question, the law would be s 18 where ‘A corporation shall not engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive’, based on the case of Eveready Australia Pty Ltd v Gillette Australia Pty Ltd ,Henjo Investment Pty Ltd amp; Ors v Collins Marrickville Pty Ltd and Taco Company of Australia Inc v Taco Bell Pty Ltd. In the application, there are 3 elements which must fulfill breach of s 18. First of all, Mandela engage in conduct with me that the armchair is safe and can be used for many years more which imply a false representation of the fact to me where the armchair was actually fragile. Furthermore, I purchase the armchair under trade and commerce whereby under mutual communication, and I negotiated 30minutes orally with Mandela (salesperson) to sell me the armchair with $1500. Moreover, Mandela conduct was misleading or deceptive where he stated he sits on the armchair all the time where he actually doesn’t sit on it and the fact that the chair was actually fragile. Refer to Taco Bell to determine whether the conduct is misleading or deceptive that there are certain criteria to justify whether they are mislead or deceived. First, the conduct is based on me which is justified the targeted by the conduct of the defendant. The time I was in Tyson’s shop, Mandela forms an erroneous conclusion to me, that the armchair is safe and can be used as furniture where it was not the fact. Hence, proves the conduct by Mandela skilled of being misleading or deceptive. In conclusion, Mandela has breach the 3 elements in s 18 of ACL for misleading and deceptive. Based on the question, Tyson is the owner of the shop (Principle), Mandela is the store manager and also salesperson (Agent) and I am the buyer (Third Party). In the question the issue is whether or not Mandela had authority to sell the chair at that price under Agency scope of an agent’s authority? Law is express authority where the agreement is created between agent and principal in the w ritten or oral form based on the case John McCann amp; Co v Pow. In addition, apparent authority is also applied here where the principle, either by words or conduct, may leads to third party mistaken to believe that an agent has authority to act on the principle’s behalf, based on the case Tooth amp; Co v Laws. Moreover, duty of agent where the agent must follow the lawful and reasonable instruction of the principle and be honest in performing the job is set by the principle’, based on the case Bertram, Armstrong amp; Co v Godfray. Hence in the application, Mandela has breach express authority under agency where he doesn’t follow the oral agreement by Tyson to sell the armchair for at least $3500 and he sold the armchair for me with $1500. Besides that, under apparent authority, Tyson either by words or conduct leads me to believe that Mandela has authority to contract on their behalf and I couldn’t know Tyson has instructed Mandela to sell the armchair for at least $3500. Based on the question, the issue is whether I can sue Tyson under tort of negligence and claim compensation? The law tort of negligence was recognized in the case Donoghue v Stevenson where the plaintiff must establish that, the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty, and lastly the plaintiff suffered damage as a result of the breach in tort of negligence. Hence in the application, Tyson (defendant) has owed a duty of care to me (plaintiff) based on the test and relationship. All the risk in the shop must be reasonable foreseeable, however the armchair was not reasonable foreseeable where the armchair looked nice but actually was fragile, even though Tyson does put a sign on the wall of the shop mention that ‘Please do not sit on the chair-fragile- considered sold if damaged’ but as a furniture shop, customers might need to try or test the quality of the products. In addition, there is a vulnerable relationship where Tyson hires Mandela as a manager and salesperson to control the shop, and I was reliant on Mandela, thus Mandela has the duty to protect my safety in the shop. Hence, Tyson has breach duty of care under magnitude of the risk of likelihood of the occurrence where the armchair was not covered or blocked to prevent customer sitting on it which same case as Bolton v Stone. Thus, he had fail to exercise the required standard of care due to the armchair being fragile and I sit on it, the chair had collapsed under my weight and has been injured when I fell to the floor. Hence, I have suffered damage due to the chair collapsed and I fell to the floor. However, Tyson have defenses to negligence under voluntary assumption of the risk where the plaintiff had full and absolute knowledge of the risk where defendant had actually put the sign on the wall that said ‘please do not sit on the chair- fragile- considered sold if damaged’. Besides that, the plaintiff had sufficient appreciation of that particular risk where plaintiff had saw the sign on the wall but ignore the sign. Lastly, there was voluntarily acceptance of that risk as the plaintiff knew the chair were fragile but doesn’t care and sit on the chair. Hence, at defendant point of view plaintiff should bear the risk. In conclusion, as I am the plaintiff I can sue Tyson under tort of negligence and claim for compensation, because Tyson should need to be more aware and cover or block the fragile furniture instead of just putting a sign on the wall due to customer might ignore the sign and sit on the chair.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Benefits of Nanotechnology on Health and the Environment

Benefits of Nanotechnology on Health and the Environment Aleksandar Banic Abstract Nanotechnology is concerned with manipulating matter to near atomic scales between one and 100nm (nanometers-1 billionth of a meter). This technology has recently gained popularity due to its potential in altering the behaviour of individual molecules and has opened the door to new applications. Many researchers have pinpointed the potential risk of nanotechnology on the environment and on human health. This is due to the fact that the extremely small nanoparticles can penetrate into human cells. This paper aims at determining ways in which this new technology can benefit the environment and the state of people’s health. Typical expectations of functional paints and coatings include: durability, reproducibility, easy application and cost effectiveness, tailored surface morphology and environmental friendliness. Through the use of nanotechnology, these properties can be achieved; therefore inflicting less environmental damage and cost. Discussion As shown in figure 1 (refer to appendix), the list of benefits for paints containing nanoparticles is extensive. It is also apparent that nano titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most common nanoparticles in both the paint and lacquer industries. The primary reason for this is its ability to make the paint more durable (refer to figure 2 for following references). The wavelength of the visible light spectrum ranges between 400 and 700nm, whereas TiO2 is much shorter (200-350nm). This property renders the coating transparent and more aesthetically pleasing whilst also allowing UV absorption smaller wavelength means more energy. Therefore, when moving from left to right in figure 2, the different types of radiation become increasingly destructive. During UV radiation, UV photons can cause ionization, where electrons break away from atoms and this vacancy affects chemical properties. As a result, the paint could begin to flake, otherwise known as ‘chalking’ where it is th en washed away into the environment (1)(2)(3). Nano TiO2 coating serves to prevent this and is therefore considered to be an advantage to the environment. As durability is increased, the longevity of the paint does likewise and therefore, the rate of production is lowered. This means that energy and resource outputs are decreased, thus benefiting the environment once more. Figure 2: electromagnetic spectrum image displaying frequency and wavelength. Also highlights visible spectrum (3) One of the most advantageous characteristics of nanoparticle paints and coatings is their self-cleansing property. Nano scale titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most often employed nanoparticle that exhibits this property. As TiO2 is photo catalytic, when illuminated with an ultraviolet (UV) source (e.g. sunlight) in the presence of water, valence electrons are transferred into the conduction band of TiO2 and then react with oxygen. Super oxide radicals result. These photo-produced radicals are powerful oxidizing species and can cause the deterioration of organic contaminants or microbial pieces on the particle surface. Furthermore, nano TiO2 is super-hydrophilic, i.e. the entire surface attracts and spreads water out into a thin film (4). Therefore, water and rainfall easily wash away contaminants when the coating is applied on an exterior surface. Figure 3: Hydrophilic coating (right) with TiO2on float glass for comparative purposes. Notice how right side is spread out thinly to cover as much surface as possible. This allows for a more consistent cleaning (4). Self-cleaning surfaces can decrease the amount of cleaning required. In the case of industrial cleaning in particular it can reduce labour costs and extend a materials durability. Lower energy costs and less use of cleaning detergents are expected to be the primary environmental benefits (5). In fact, nano TiO2 was proven to achieve the following: Reduction in re-paint material consumption by over 75% Reduction in labour and energy costs by 50% In summary, the photo catalytic and hydrophilic features of nano T (Environmental Protection Agency , 2015)iO2 result in the benefit of self-cleaning. When compared to that of standard paints, this is also beneficial to the environment whilst also being more cost effective. In addition, paints coated in nano TiO2 have also managed to reduce surface pollution. Paint which photocleans the air of automobile-produced nitrogen oxides (NOx) is currently under heavy promotion. NOx are formed during the combustion process when nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) are present at elevated temperatures. They also serve as key precursors for ozone and this can lead to numerous health effects as outlined in the figure below. Figure 4: The relationship between the severity of the effect and the proportion of the population experiencing the effect can be presented as a pyramid. Many individuals experience the least serious, most common effects shown at the bottom. Fewer individuals experience the more severe effects such as hospitalization or death; however, they are still possibilities especially after prior health issues or prolonged exposure (6). In the presence of sunlight, TiO2 nanoparticles in the paint, form hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals, which then react with NOx in the air to produce nitric acid. This reacts further with calcium carbonate in the paint matrix to generate minute quantities of calcium nitrate, water, and carbon dioxide (CO2). Calcium nitrate is especially useful as a fertilizer; therefore it is not harmful to the environment. And although CO2 is considered a greenhouse gas, it is nontoxic (7)(8). Figure 5: graph compares the surface area covered by anatase (one of the three forms of TiO2) to the % of NOx removed from that vicinity. Eventually it will plateau as the production of NOx will be no longer be able to reduce by more than is being created (7) In an experiment, a 4,100m2 wall was subjected to paint containing TiO2 nanoparticles. Results showed that each square meter could remove 80g of NOx from the atmosphere per year. Furthermore, NOx levels in the vicinity of the wall were compared to that of other areas of the city and a 57% decrease was found. It can be concluded from this information that health effects would also be lowered proportionally (8). As the effects of nano TiO2 particles in paint are evidently advantageous, it supports the statement that in general, the positives of nanoparticles outweigh the negatives. If nanoparticles are firmly imbedded within a coating matrix, current risk assessments conclude that the probability of a harmful impact on the environment is very low. However, nanoparticles may be released as a result of weathering on the coating matrix. An investigation conducted in 2010, has shown that very small amounts of TiO2 (between 20 and 300nm in size) are released by house paints due to weathering. They can then enter the soil via rainwater drains. As stated previously, the photocatalytic activities of TiO2 are able to produce oxygen radicals. They are in fact toxic for aquatic organisms. However, the release of nanoparticles into the environment can be reduced or prevented if nanomaterials and coatings are designed accordingly. Regardless of the fact that surface coatings which contain firmly embedded nanoparticles currently pose a minute risk to the health of users and consumers, special attention is required for those that manufacture nanoparticulate raw materials. (4) (9) (Chang)Nevertheless, there are currently no known long-term health effects as a result of nanoparticle paint, and the short-term effects are easily reduced or prevented when safety measures are taken accordingly. Although possible health and environmental effects may exist, they are unsupported and easily outweighed by the positives of nanoparticle paints. Conclusion Several advantages for nanoparticles used in paint and lacquer have been focused on throughout this paper. Although many more are possible as outlined in figure 1 (appendix), it is evident from the properties of UV absorption, self-cleansing and NOx reduction alone, that it overcomes the unfounded negative impacts. In fact, the only undesirable aspect is the danger that nanoparticles could inflict upon the appliers and manufacturers. However, there is very little supporting evidence and can therefore not be used as a counter argument for the use of nanoparticle paints. It is important that the public understands how beneficial this technology is they would be doing themselves and the environment a great disservice. Bibliography Wick, P. (2012). Nanoparticles in paints: A new strategy to protect faà §ades and surfaces? . International Conferences on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials , 10. Popov, A. (2008). TiO2 NANOPARTICLES AS UV PROTECTORS. UNIVERSITATIS OULUENSIS. OULUN YLIOPISTO. New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Electromagnetic Spectrum. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Electromagnetic_spectrum Nanotechnology solutions for self-cleaning, dirt and water-repellent coatings . (2011, January 11). Retrieved May 4, 2015, from Nano Werk: http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19644.php Environmental Protection Agency . (2015, January 31). Health Effects of Ozone in the General Population. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from Ozone and Your Patients Health Training for Health Care Providers: http://www.epa.gov/apti/ozonehealth/population.html Dalton, J. (2002). Photocatalytic oxidation of NOx gases using TiO2: a surface spectroscopic approach. Elsevier . Bendak, S. (2010). Potential Environmental and Health Benefits of Nanotechnology. Journal of Materials Science and Engineering , 4 (1), 2. Joseph, R. (2011). Nanotechnology-A New Prospective in Organic Coating Review. International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications , 2 (4). Chang, X. Health effects of exposure to nano-TiO2: a meta-analysis of experimental studies. Nanjing : Springer . Appendix Figure 1: above table states the various advantages of nanoparticle paints and coatings along with their respective nanomaterial and industrial branch (1) Bibliography (Popov, 2008) (New World Encyclopedia) (Nanotechnology solutions for self-cleaning, dirt and water-repellent coatings Read more: Nanotechnology solutions for self-cleaning, dirt and water-repellent coatings , 2011) (Wick, 2012)

Internet of Things (IoT) in Insurance

Internet of Things (IoT) in Insurance There are many Insurers with well-defined IoT based solutions in their core business product space, such as Usage-Based Insurance in auto insurance, discounted smart sensor device offers etc.   Large Property and Casualty (PC) insurers have been watching the IoT technology space mature over a period of last couple of years, and thus have capitalized well on their learnings and analysis.   Expectations from IoT continues to grow in the field of insurance. IoT is not just about the connected devices, but any IoT solution is incomplete without capturing the real-time and relevant data.   This captured data should be available in cloud, to have the ability to run advanced analytics to provide appropriate customer and other stakeholder dashboards.   It is key for the insurers to leverage their existing high volume of data, and develop the ability to drive improved outcomes for customers, brokers partners. In this article, we review the journey of IoT in the insurance industry, and we discuss what to expect from IoT in future.   Other aspects of this article includes the impact of other technology trends with IoT, such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language processing etc. Influence in PC (Property Casualty) and (Life Annuities) LA industries IoT has been able to mark its impact in PC market, but LA market still needs exploring opportunities.   PC insurers have deployed more IoT projects than LA players have. Connected ecosystem is one of the core IoT trends in the insurance space.   Approximately 34 percent of customers have indicated that they would be inclined to smart homes and real estates.   Close to follow in terms of trends are the wearables with 30 percent customer interest. In terms of numbers, LA has only 5% projects deployed, whereas in PC percentage is 12%. The trends clearly indicate that growth of IoT based solutions in both the domains is obvious. As IoT grows in adoption, leading insurers will find ways to leverage the data available from these technologies to improve operations and better engage customers. BI Intelligence recently projected that by 2020, there will be over 34 billion connected IoT devices, and over $6 trillion spent on IoT solutions in the next 5 years. With this expected growth in IoT and wearables, insurers need to plan for their use by consumers and the impact of these devices on consumer behavior and expectations. Below are a couple of success stories in the PC world where IoT has played a significant role in improving their business: Progressive Snapshot ® Progressive insurance groups Snapshot ® product is a flagship initiative that primary deals with IoT and high volume of data with analytics to provide Usage-based insurance to its customers.   Its primary intent is to reward good driving, and thereby encourage insureds to save in their insurance costs.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Snapshot ® is an OBD II based simple device that pluggable into most modern cars.   This device keeps a track on the driving habits such as usage of brakes, average speed etc., along with other relevant data such as time of driving etc. Liberty Mutual Google Nest Liberty Mutual has collaborated with Google Nest to provide its customers an ability to prevent perils.   Customers are offered the Nest protect device along with their insurance at no extra cost.   This IoT device helps customers identify and alert on critical parameters such as smoke, CO emission levels, temperature variations etc. It rewards the insureds for staying safe. Challenges and Barriers for IoT in insurance Some of the apparent challenges that comes along with IoT based solutions in the insurance industry are: Security Risk IoT is susceptible to cyberattacks as it involves multiple devices and multiple protocols.   IoT based solutions are effective with very large volumes of data flow between entities, over networks and many a times over public networks.   Such solutions make the Insurance Company vulnerable to interceptions. Large investments are required to secure IoT generated data, to avoid intrusions as well as misuses of such data for fraudulent activities.   IoT solutions should include a clear focus on identifying and addressing the possible security risks and threats as an important aspect.   Insurers and the insureds should understand the security dimension of such solutions to ensure appropriate measures are in place. Data Volume management Strength of IoT solution is to provide and capture data (real-time in most cases), which is added to the Insurers big data repositories.   Such large datasets are the assets for the insurance companies and the whole solution relies on how stakeholders utilize these large volumes for the benefit of all.   With large data volumes, comes the volume management challenges that requires significant planning and appropriate enterprise strategy.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   It is also very important to plan the inclusion of the IoT real-time data with the historic data such as Policy, Client, and Claims data etc. Data ownership is also a challenge with IoT data management strategies.   It is always a challenge to understand if the data belongs to the insured or the insurer.   There are other data challenges such as privacy, data tampering etc., which need absolute attention from the Insurers while defining and establishing a long-term solution. Standardization and Regulation With an increasing trend of growing numbers of IoT devices, interoperability is already a challenge.   Plenty of startups as well as large players are trying to capitalize on the IoT market by deploying and integrating devices.   With lack of regulations and agreements in place, the IoT solutions are bound to fail.   There have been quite a few initiatives by many players on this front, but the process maturity will take some time. Disruption to existing large business models Insurance industrys business relies on the right balance between the volume of risk managed, and the claims associated with the covered risks.   To understand this better, insurers always seek to contain the volume of claims by preventive measures to have a good handle on the loss ratio.   This leads to have a direct impact on their written premium to losses ratio and thus improves their margins.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   IoT solutions give a great advantage in avoidance of claims by providing relevant indications and alerts for most of the critical major perils. There is always a threshold to such business theory because if the claims keep going down then it will have a direct effect on bringing down the premiums as well.   Insurers need to ensure the IoT based solutions provide the right balance and manage the alignment between solutions and core business models. IoT with other technologies Insurance industry has recognized the importance of IoT in its business, and we have seen a clear growth trend for the last couple of years. We believe that the trend will continue in the same direction, with an increase in the implementations of IoT based solutions.   IoT solutions involve multiple technologies to maximize benefits for stakeholders.   For example, IoT solutions are inclusive of Analytics, Cloud, protocol management etc. Some of the other trends where we see an immediate impact in the insurance industry are: Natural Language Processing Talking to devices is not something new for the human beings.   We have had our smartphone based digital assistants in existence for quite long now.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Amazon echo has already pioneered in the home digital assistant space.   Imagine a situation where an IoT device like Amazon echo, captures the conversations by a senior citizen living alone.   IoT devices can be extremely beneficial in emergencies for senior homes, and NLP capabilities to such sensors can help prevent any medical situation by understanding, processing and alerting appropriate agencies for help. NLP and Text processing is predicted to have a positive disruption in the insurance industry by providing abilities such as information retrieval from unstructured data, sentimental analysis to streamline the flow of information to customers thereby improving customer relationships, kiosk based Chabot etc. Blockchain Blockchain looks very promising when it comes to providing some of the challenges that IoT solutions possess.   Roadblocks such as inorganic scaling of IoT devices (without identity, or interoperability), information and privacy concerns etc. can leverage the fundamental principles of Blockchain technology for an appropriate resolution.   We foresee Blockchain considered as a heavyweight partner technology for IoT based initiatives. Insurance companies and their technology arms will need to understand and implement the appropriate solutions involving Blockchain.   Blockchain comes with its own baggage of challenges hence we recommend a thorough study of the problem scenario. Artificial Intelligence IoT generates high volumes of data, and such significant and relevant data is of no use if we do not have machine-learning capabilities introduced in our IoT based solutions.   As the devices are increasing, so will the data volume as well.   This significant and invaluable data will help our systems to understand what is working vs what is not working. This data volume goes beyond human capabilities for analytics; hence, a machine learning will be inevitable to maximize the return from IoT based solutions. Future Impact of IoT in Insurance Industry IoT based solutions have done tremendous development in all horizons of human life and the impact has been on positive as well as negative side. On the positive side, IoT provides real time data, which provides useful information ahead of time to both Insurers and Insureds that helps them in taking preventive action and reduces/eliminates losses. On the negative side, IoT brings risks, both physical and financial; with the connected devices over Internet. Some of the significant areas of IoT impact listed below: Need of Cyber Insurance policies will grow With the growth of IoT, the risk of data loss and resulting liabilities will increase. Cyber insurance policies provide coverage against data liability losses and the costs involved due to data breaches, hence there will be improved focus on cyber insurance products, which increase the sale of such policies. List of excluded risks will increase in cyber policies With IoT penetrating more and more in human life the risk of cyber-attacks on IoT devices will also increase. Providing coverage against all these risks will be loss for Insurance carriers hence insurers will provide specific exclusion for cyber perils. Minimize the insurance need IoT based solutions will continue to alter the risk associated with customers and their perils, which will make both Insurance carriers Insureds aware of the risks before time. This will have an impact on the global insurance market, as the chances of error will reduce which results in shrinking the insurance market thereby minimizing the need for insurance. Artificial Intelligence and containers will distribute IoT: The year 2017 would see Internet of Things software distributed across cloud services, edge devices, and gateways. Further, machine-learning cloud services and Artificial Intelligence will be used to mine data from IoT devices. Role of Insurance carriers in IoT security will increase More and more inclination of consumers towards IoT enabled devices lead to more security risk for them. Since IoT technology is changing so fast, it has become a big challenge for the insurance regulators to cope up with that and design the new products accordingly. Insurers are taking on the financial risk associated with the increase use of IoT; hence, they will address the IoT security via proper underwriting. IoT will affect the mobile industry in both directions Many upcoming solutions will create enhanced mobility solution requirements and at the same time, we will see some IoT solutions making mobile apps redundant.   With increased connected devices, mobility solutions will enhance the user experience using digital assistants, smart watches etc. IoT certification will suppress Industry specific certification In order to get into the nerves of IoT, the vendors will be motivated to get IoT certified inspite of having Industry specific certified. Investments will be focused on minimal cost based trainings and certifications along with maintaining high standards of these certifications. Along with it, all major industrial vendors will come together to jointly certify their IoT-enabled products with enterprise vendors. *Forrester ICRMC Report NIIT technologies IoT We have been participating in the growth of IoT based solutions across industries.   NIIT Technologies Ltd has already worked with a large US based insurer to come up with a complete connected solution suite.   This solution involves end-to-end IoT based package for the Personal lines insurers, especially dealing home and dwelling insurance based. NIIT Technologies also has in-depth experience with IoT based devices including, but not limited to, Bosch XDK, Google Nest, Amazon Echo, VR devices, Pressure and Temperature measuring devices as well as expertise in learning and research devices such as Raspberry pi, Arduino etc.   Our dedicated IoT lab and its experienced resources work closely with our Data Analytics experts to design comprehensive solutions for the insurance industry. NIIT Technologies is also working on other relevant initiatives i.e.   IoT solutions integrated with NLP, machine learning and Non Natural disaster artificial intelligence solutions etc. Recommendations for Insurers Research and understand customer needs and identify how IoT based solutions can improve your business model.   Understand your capabilities and whether you have the right solutions in place with the existing landscape for data management IoT in isolation is not beneficial for long term; invest on solutions that are beneficial for all stakeholders. Invest on partner technologies, as per relevance with your business Start looking beyond business as usual.   Disruption in business has already become a norm, hence business, technology and product research should be an ongoing process.   Focus on impact by IoT innovations on insurance products, for example, insuring driverless cars, drones etc. Enhance your business model and focus on how to help customers adopt the IoT based solutions.   Without customer buy-in, IoT solutions will have no value, and the benefits to the insurance companies is quite high hence, it is worth the focus. For many insurance products, IoT has minimized the need of large historic data and maturity.   This has happened because IoT has the ability to provide real-time, more relevant and custom user specific data to improve and customize underwriting.   This has allowed smaller players to jump in to participate in this levelled field.   Large insurers need to be flexible to customization of products and need to bring in more agility in product designing as well. Insurers should invest on appropriate Proof of Value and Proof of Concept initiatives for IoT solutions with their trusted partners before initiating any industry scale implementation or solution. Abbreviations and Acronyms IoT Internet of Things PC Property and Casualty insurance LA Life and Annuities insurance NLP Natural Language Processing